Democratus
Mongoose
Ships of the Gaim Intelligence
For a minor League power with few holdings, the Gaim fleet is surprisingly efficient and effective. They aim to smother their enemies in a tide of fusion explosions and endless fighter waves. Their greatest weakness is their dependence on the queens. Any foe knows this and will strive to exploit it.
Boom. Sooner or later...boom
The Gaim have a love affair with energy mines. Most ships carry them and many are armed exclusively with this weapon. They are slow loading, so it is possible for a ship to have no weapons available on alternating turns. These should be the turns your fighters dash in for the attack.
Flight or Fight
The Gaim use huge numbers of fighters. Every ship has at least one flight and most have several. The driving ambition of any fighter pilot in the Gaim fleet is to die gloriously as a guided missile. When fighting fighter-heavy enemies, use your own fighters on defense. When the skies are relatively clear, overwhelm your foes with concentrated waves of crewed missiles.
It's good to be the Queen
Other fleets may have flagships that coordinate and provide command abilities, but this is nothing compared to the interdependency of a Gaim fleet with its Queens. These ships provide a CQ boost to all friendly ships around them. Make sure they are nearby when you must perform critical Special Actions or opposed CQ checks.
Save the Queen
The flip side of this is that a Gaim fleet that has lost its queens is greatly handicapped. Should this terrible event befall your fleet, stick to Special Actions that are automatic. Queens provide double Victory Points, so loosing one of these can cost a victory even if the enemy suffers greater losses. This also serves to keep a fleet from purchasing too many queens as it makes it too likely that a ships can cost the battle.
Hold the Line
Most ships in the Gaim fleet are built to fight from a distance, particularly the queens. This leaves the difficult task of pinning the enemy down to a very few hulls. Be sure to buy enough of these "brawler" ships to occupy the enemy or you may find it too difficult to play keep away.
Gaim Ships:
Ships in the Gaim navy carry two kinds of weapons: long range e-mines and short range lasers. The tactics of the fleet are dominated by making sure each ship is in its proper place during battle.
Auxiliary Craft:
Like a swarm of locusts, the Gaim flood the sky with countless tiny vessels intent on destroying or, worse, capturing enemy ships.
Breaching Pod
This is the "agile" version of the breaching pod, thus it is more vulnerable to Anti-Fighter batteries. Use it in large numbers to insure some reach their target. This is easy because numbers is the one thing the Gaim have got.
Klikkita Light Fighter
A capable, if fragile, space superiority fighter. It has good speed and average Dogfighting capability. It's doesn't have much firepower but the gun will suffice to serve as an Interceptor if needed, which isn't very often.
Klikkitak Crewed Missile
In numbers, these vessels can rain destruction on the enemies of the Intelligence. Keep an eye on the tempo of the battle and know when it is time to switch your fighters from defensive tools to offensive weapons.
Patrol Ship:
The Gaim have only one ship in this class.
Stak Scout
This is a better than average scout ship, thanks to its excellent Stealth trait and speed. It even has a fighter and more troops than most ships of this class. Keep it out of trouble until the time comes to sacrifice for the Queen.
Skirmish Ships:
Here we begin to see the Gaim design philosophy, with a close combat ship and a Queen support ship.
Sataaka Gunship
A solid skirmish ship, this is the first hull where we see the appearance of the ubiquitous photon bomb. The laser makes for a good primary weapon at the skirmish level. The single fighter can serve as an interceptor when alone or can go join the swarm of other fighters in a larger fleet. When in a fleet, the Sataaka will need to close with the enemy to keep them engaged and away from the queens.
Shuuka Queen Light Cruiser
Like most queen ships, the Shuuka is intended as a stand-off combat platform. Stay at range and depend on your photon bombs and fighters to do the fighting for you. They are expendable, a queen is not. Be aware of threats at all times as this ship will give up double VPs.
Raid Ships:
All the ships at this level are well designed and have a specialized use in the Gaim order of battle.
Shaakak Queen Light Cruiser
Another ship designed to stay far away from danger, delivering long ranged damage and fighters to the battle. This ship is very tough for the class, with a strong hull and active defenses. Watch out for long range beam weapons.
Skrunnka Assault Ship
The Skruunka is a powerful ship at Raid level, designed to get in the middle of an enemy fleet and deal damage from every quarter. It's primary weapon, though, are its troops. Few ships can withstand a boarding attempt from this ship, much less a huge wave of breaching pods combined with a "Launch Breaching Pods and Shuttles!" order. This is the other ship (besides the Sataaka) that is designed to hold the front line and keep ships from closing with the queens.
Suteeka War Carrier
This is the primary ship used to deliver the clouds of fighters the Gaim are famous for. With all its weaponry mounted in the Turret arc there is no reason this ship should ever even face the enemy, much less get close to them. Spend the first two turns launching fighters and then just hover at the edge of the battle, throwing in photon bombs where they are needed. This ship is as easy to fly as a Vree.
Battle Ship:
There is one ship at this level.
Shrutaa Queen Battleship
When possible, this ship should be brought along as it is the smallest Fleet Carrier available. It will make your fighters into reasonable dogfighters and perhaps even recover a few destroyed flights. The weapons on this ship are even more extreme ranged, allowing you to direct combat from the next zip code over.
War Ship:
There is one ship at this level.
Sluuka Grand Queen
This is a monster of a ship with powerful active defenses on a tough-as-nails hull. Unlike other Queens this ship is designed to handle enemies that get too close. In fact its array of breaching pods, large troop count, and laser batteries demand that this ship fight in the midst of the opposing fleet. Just keep a "pocket queen" somewhere in the distance so you don't end up leaderless should the Sluuka be pulled down by enemy numbers.
Special Actions:
All Power to Engines!
Used by the drone ships to close with the enemy and by the queen ships to get out of uncomfortable situations.
All Stop! / All Stop and Pivot!
When a queen finds a good place to hole up and lob photon bombs, she may want to use this order to keep the forward batteries facing the enemy.
Close Blast Doors!
With all the active defenses on Gaim ships, this order should be given only when no firepower is lost or incoming fire is overwhelming.
Concentrate All Fire-power!
Never needed, as all Gaim weapons are energy mines or beams.
Give Me Ramming Speed!
Fighters aren't the only craft that can make the ultimate sacrifice. If it insures victory for the queen, it is a good day to die. Don't forget the CQ bonus lent by the nearby queen as it could be critical in the opposed roll.
Intensify Defensive Fire!
This can enhance Interceptors and Anti-Fighter to ludicrous levels. Keep in mind that Interceptor ratings past a certain point reach diminishing returns. Interceptors 10 is statistically little better than Interceptors 5.
Launch Breaching Pods and Shuttles!
Use this order as often as insect-ly possible. Flood enemy ships with chitinous warriors until the captains strike their colors! Then eat them.
Maneuver To Shield Them!
This is a common order given to drone ships in order to protect the queen. Nothing is more important than the queen. The queen is life!
Run Silent!
Sometimes appropriate for the scout...or a desperate queen.
Scramble! Scramble!
Another very common order. The first two turns of a battle see the Gaim fleet disgorging hordes of fighters. Get them out as early as possible.
Stand Down and Prepare to be Boarded!
The boost to Crew Quality given by the queens gives a better-than-average chance of success at this order. Ships with turret weapons can stay with the captured ship without loosing fire opportunities.
For a minor League power with few holdings, the Gaim fleet is surprisingly efficient and effective. They aim to smother their enemies in a tide of fusion explosions and endless fighter waves. Their greatest weakness is their dependence on the queens. Any foe knows this and will strive to exploit it.
Boom. Sooner or later...boom
The Gaim have a love affair with energy mines. Most ships carry them and many are armed exclusively with this weapon. They are slow loading, so it is possible for a ship to have no weapons available on alternating turns. These should be the turns your fighters dash in for the attack.
Flight or Fight
The Gaim use huge numbers of fighters. Every ship has at least one flight and most have several. The driving ambition of any fighter pilot in the Gaim fleet is to die gloriously as a guided missile. When fighting fighter-heavy enemies, use your own fighters on defense. When the skies are relatively clear, overwhelm your foes with concentrated waves of crewed missiles.
It's good to be the Queen
Other fleets may have flagships that coordinate and provide command abilities, but this is nothing compared to the interdependency of a Gaim fleet with its Queens. These ships provide a CQ boost to all friendly ships around them. Make sure they are nearby when you must perform critical Special Actions or opposed CQ checks.
Save the Queen
The flip side of this is that a Gaim fleet that has lost its queens is greatly handicapped. Should this terrible event befall your fleet, stick to Special Actions that are automatic. Queens provide double Victory Points, so loosing one of these can cost a victory even if the enemy suffers greater losses. This also serves to keep a fleet from purchasing too many queens as it makes it too likely that a ships can cost the battle.
Hold the Line
Most ships in the Gaim fleet are built to fight from a distance, particularly the queens. This leaves the difficult task of pinning the enemy down to a very few hulls. Be sure to buy enough of these "brawler" ships to occupy the enemy or you may find it too difficult to play keep away.
Gaim Ships:
Ships in the Gaim navy carry two kinds of weapons: long range e-mines and short range lasers. The tactics of the fleet are dominated by making sure each ship is in its proper place during battle.
Auxiliary Craft:
Like a swarm of locusts, the Gaim flood the sky with countless tiny vessels intent on destroying or, worse, capturing enemy ships.
Breaching Pod
This is the "agile" version of the breaching pod, thus it is more vulnerable to Anti-Fighter batteries. Use it in large numbers to insure some reach their target. This is easy because numbers is the one thing the Gaim have got.
Klikkita Light Fighter
A capable, if fragile, space superiority fighter. It has good speed and average Dogfighting capability. It's doesn't have much firepower but the gun will suffice to serve as an Interceptor if needed, which isn't very often.
Klikkitak Crewed Missile
In numbers, these vessels can rain destruction on the enemies of the Intelligence. Keep an eye on the tempo of the battle and know when it is time to switch your fighters from defensive tools to offensive weapons.
Patrol Ship:
The Gaim have only one ship in this class.
Stak Scout
This is a better than average scout ship, thanks to its excellent Stealth trait and speed. It even has a fighter and more troops than most ships of this class. Keep it out of trouble until the time comes to sacrifice for the Queen.
Skirmish Ships:
Here we begin to see the Gaim design philosophy, with a close combat ship and a Queen support ship.
Sataaka Gunship
A solid skirmish ship, this is the first hull where we see the appearance of the ubiquitous photon bomb. The laser makes for a good primary weapon at the skirmish level. The single fighter can serve as an interceptor when alone or can go join the swarm of other fighters in a larger fleet. When in a fleet, the Sataaka will need to close with the enemy to keep them engaged and away from the queens.
Shuuka Queen Light Cruiser
Like most queen ships, the Shuuka is intended as a stand-off combat platform. Stay at range and depend on your photon bombs and fighters to do the fighting for you. They are expendable, a queen is not. Be aware of threats at all times as this ship will give up double VPs.
Raid Ships:
All the ships at this level are well designed and have a specialized use in the Gaim order of battle.
Shaakak Queen Light Cruiser
Another ship designed to stay far away from danger, delivering long ranged damage and fighters to the battle. This ship is very tough for the class, with a strong hull and active defenses. Watch out for long range beam weapons.
Skrunnka Assault Ship
The Skruunka is a powerful ship at Raid level, designed to get in the middle of an enemy fleet and deal damage from every quarter. It's primary weapon, though, are its troops. Few ships can withstand a boarding attempt from this ship, much less a huge wave of breaching pods combined with a "Launch Breaching Pods and Shuttles!" order. This is the other ship (besides the Sataaka) that is designed to hold the front line and keep ships from closing with the queens.
Suteeka War Carrier
This is the primary ship used to deliver the clouds of fighters the Gaim are famous for. With all its weaponry mounted in the Turret arc there is no reason this ship should ever even face the enemy, much less get close to them. Spend the first two turns launching fighters and then just hover at the edge of the battle, throwing in photon bombs where they are needed. This ship is as easy to fly as a Vree.
Battle Ship:
There is one ship at this level.
Shrutaa Queen Battleship
When possible, this ship should be brought along as it is the smallest Fleet Carrier available. It will make your fighters into reasonable dogfighters and perhaps even recover a few destroyed flights. The weapons on this ship are even more extreme ranged, allowing you to direct combat from the next zip code over.
War Ship:
There is one ship at this level.
Sluuka Grand Queen
This is a monster of a ship with powerful active defenses on a tough-as-nails hull. Unlike other Queens this ship is designed to handle enemies that get too close. In fact its array of breaching pods, large troop count, and laser batteries demand that this ship fight in the midst of the opposing fleet. Just keep a "pocket queen" somewhere in the distance so you don't end up leaderless should the Sluuka be pulled down by enemy numbers.
Special Actions:
All Power to Engines!
Used by the drone ships to close with the enemy and by the queen ships to get out of uncomfortable situations.
All Stop! / All Stop and Pivot!
When a queen finds a good place to hole up and lob photon bombs, she may want to use this order to keep the forward batteries facing the enemy.
Close Blast Doors!
With all the active defenses on Gaim ships, this order should be given only when no firepower is lost or incoming fire is overwhelming.
Concentrate All Fire-power!
Never needed, as all Gaim weapons are energy mines or beams.
Give Me Ramming Speed!
Fighters aren't the only craft that can make the ultimate sacrifice. If it insures victory for the queen, it is a good day to die. Don't forget the CQ bonus lent by the nearby queen as it could be critical in the opposed roll.
Intensify Defensive Fire!
This can enhance Interceptors and Anti-Fighter to ludicrous levels. Keep in mind that Interceptor ratings past a certain point reach diminishing returns. Interceptors 10 is statistically little better than Interceptors 5.
Launch Breaching Pods and Shuttles!
Use this order as often as insect-ly possible. Flood enemy ships with chitinous warriors until the captains strike their colors! Then eat them.
Maneuver To Shield Them!
This is a common order given to drone ships in order to protect the queen. Nothing is more important than the queen. The queen is life!
Run Silent!
Sometimes appropriate for the scout...or a desperate queen.
Scramble! Scramble!
Another very common order. The first two turns of a battle see the Gaim fleet disgorging hordes of fighters. Get them out as early as possible.
Stand Down and Prepare to be Boarded!
The boost to Crew Quality given by the queens gives a better-than-average chance of success at this order. Ships with turret weapons can stay with the captured ship without loosing fire opportunities.
