Fleet Spacing

I nearly forgot the big reason for at least initial
fleet dispersion:

FTL emergence mishaps.

A fleet of 100 SM boats is going to spread out over
a huge area in order to not accidently emerge within
6".

At a spacing of about 12" there is still a fairly
good chance that some of the boats will overlap.
That is over 120" of space, which takes even thrust
8 ships a good amount of time to cross.

This is another slight edge that heavier ships and
tenders have over small ships, they can emerge from
hyper in a more cohesive formation.  The larger the
point force you have heading towards a destination
the greater the premium for fewer heavier ships
which can survive FTL emergence mishaps better.

On the subject of FTL emergence, if I were designing
a system defense fleet I'd want firm rules before
I built the fleet as to how far away the hyper limit
was.  This is something the space nation's Admirals
and fleet designers would take into account.

If I could, I'd have Sensor Mines all along the edge
of the hyper limit.  I figure replacement mines
cost about 2 points each, with the mine laying
equipment itself costing 4, your figures may differ.
At 2 points they are cheaper than any sensor
platform except a 1 Mass non-ftl Merchant Ship.

For those fans of Honor Harrington, I believe you'll
agree that remote Sensor Platforms could add a great
deal to strategic and tactical planning.

Naturally, the Sensor Platform ring would be backed
up by scouts who would attempt to keep pace with
the enemy fleet and intercept enemy scouts.

Another idea I had for system defense:

The Nebula Generator:
2 Mass 6 points
Generates 1" diameter Nebula for each 10 Mass cargo
used.  Nebulas created this way last for weeks, and
are a peacetime navigation hazard.

Nebulas do not usually show up on Passive Scan.

Given enough time, the defenders could create long
skinny Nebulas to maneuver amongst.

As I understand it, entering a Nebula at 80 isn't
good for your ship... :) :) :)

Even if the enemy detects the Nebula and slows down,
that just makes them good targets for your System
Defense Missile boats, zipping by parallel to the 
Nebula.

Michael Sandy