The only nuclear-armed state to survive the Third World War relatively intact was France, although it suffered considerably from environmental damage and the mass movement of irradiated refugees. With the withdrawal of most remaining combat forces from the planet, France found itself in a dominant military position, but had to use that military in the short-term to defend its borders against a tide of humanity that threatened to completely overwhelm its food reserves.
As the years passed, France expanded her borders with little resistance from the scattered and disorganised survivors and began to absorb more and more of the Earth’s population. With no real enemy to fight, the resources devoted to the military were reduced in favour of disaster relief efforts. Even so, the task was so immense that disease and starvation were still rampant. The French government tried to maintain the ideal of liberté, égalité, fraternité and extended the voting franchise to everyone within the borders of the republic. This led to politicians being elected who promised greater and greater wealth distribution, but in the crippled French economy there was not enough wealth to provide relief to everyone.
The second French Revolution began twenty years after the end of the war. The limited armed forces were overrun, the government fell and anyone seen as wealthy or privileged was dragged into the streets by the mob. Many different political organizations arose and fell, or merged with each other. The various revolutionary groups fought amongst themselves and low level conflict spread around the globe. Eventually, a global, monolithic communist state emerged from the chaos. The People’s Republic of Terra dispatched troops to the moon and quickly conquered the nascent Lunar states that had formed after the war.
Even though the notional country of France no longer exists, the People’s Republic of Terra is strongly influenced by French culture and French is the common language. The People’s Republic has the largest population, industry and armed forces in the Sol system, but is at a technological disadvantage compared to the other Solarian powers, particularly the Martian Republic. Terran propaganda blames this disparity on the other powers dedicating all their resources to the pursuit of military superiority, while the People’s Republic is dedicated to improving the lives of its citizens. The reality is that the purges following the Second French Revolution were particularly hard on scientists and engineers, who were seen as too privileged.
Following significant losses suffered in trying to secure territory from the other Solarian powers, the People’s Republic has accepted that scientific progress is vital and is attempting to close the technological gap. In the meantime, Terra is building up its forces in order to prove the old maxim that quantity has a quality all of its own.
The Naval Forces of the People’s Republic (NFPR)In general, the People’s Republic has dedicated its research and construction efforts to combat capability rather than economic advancement. Therefore, its naval forces lack Sorium harvesters, terraformers or orbital miners. While the economic limitations may be a problem in the future, the focus on warships has created a formidable combat fleet, especially when considering Terra’s technological disadvantages. Although the People’s Republic has developed the 15cm laser, it has yet to improve wavelength technology beyond infrared and has not conducted research into beam fire controls. Therefore, there are no energy-armed warships in the NFPR.
The République class Missile Cruiser is essentially a mobile platform for launching the MM50 Exocet missile. Given that Terra has not yet developed ion engines, the République could not catch a Martian or Jovian battlecruiser even if the design emphasised speed, so the opposite approach has been taken. The République has a lower percentage dedicated to engines than other large Solarian designs so that more space can be dedicated to missile launchers and magazines. The same technological constraints apply to missile design, making it difficult for the People’s Republic to create a long-range missile with sufficient speed to trouble enemy point defence. The MM50 Exocet is a creative attempt to solve that problem. The huge missile, double the size of the Martian Gladius ASM, is long-ranged but slow. However, once it moves within four million kilometres of its target, it releases three sub-munitions with a speed of 20,000 km/s and a strength-4 warhead. While the sub-munitions are not as fast as the ion-engine anti-ship missiles of the Jovian Federation or the Colonial Coalition, they are much closer in capability than might be expected. With eight Exocet Launchers, the République can generate a salvo of twenty-four sub-munitions. With fifteen République class cruisers in service, the potential salvo size should trouble even the higher tech powers.
République class Missile Cruiser 20,000 tons 535 Crew 2,354 BP TCS 400 TH 960 EM 0
2401 km/s Armour 6-65 Shields 0-0 HTK 126 Sensors 15/6/0/0 DCR 11 PPV 96
Maint Life 2.22 Years MSP 846 AFR 278% IFR 3.9% 1YR 231 5YR 3,468 Max Repair 120 MSP
Magazine 1,068
Capitaine de frégate Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months Morale Check Required
Saint-Pierre-Gasnier Marine SPGM-240 Nuclear Pulse Drive (4) Power 960 Fuel Use 46.19% Signature 240
Fuel Capacity 1,000,000 Litres Range 19.5 billion km (93 days at full power)
Exocet Launcher (8) Missile Size: 12 Rate of Fire 35
Falcon-Segre FC70 Missile Fire Control (2) Range 70.8m km Resolution 120
MM50 Exocet (89) Speed: 7,200 km/s End: 153m Range: 69.6m km WH: 0 Size: 12.00 TH: 24/14/7
Falcon-Segre AS-70 Active Search Sensor (1) GPS 12960 Range 70.8m km Resolution 120
Bellegarde-Beaumanoir BB-15T Thermal Sensor (1) Sensitivity 15 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 30.6m km
Bellegarde-Beaumanoir BB-6E Passive EM Sensor (1) Sensitivity 6 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 19.4m km
Terran strategic doctrine emphasises the need to strike at economic centres so that hostile forces are drawn deep within Terran missile range. One of the disadvantages of the MM50 Exocet is that firing at close to maximum range risks fast moving targets turning away and escaping the missile’s maximum range. The Normandie class escort cruiser is intended to protect the Républiques as they approach their target, allowing the NFPR to choose the engagement range. Because of the need to design a nuclear pulse anti-missile missile that is faster than most opposing ion anti-ship missiles, the Mistral AMM is twenty-five percent larger than the Jovian SA-N-1 Strela and fifty percent larger than the Martian Pugio AMM. Fifteen Normandies are in service.
Normandie class Escort Cruiser 10,000 tons 207 Crew 1,215.7 BP TCS 200 TH 480 EM 0
2400 km/s Armour 5-41 Shields 0-0 HTK 59 Sensors 5/0/0/0 DCR 5 PPV 22
Maint Life 2.03 Years MSP 379 AFR 160% IFR 2.2% 1YR 122 5YR 1,832 Max Repair 120 MSP
Magazine 814
Capitaine de frégate Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months Morale Check Required
Saint-Pierre-Gasnier Marine SPGM-240 Nuclear Pulse Drive (2) Power 480 Fuel Use 46.19% Signature 240
Fuel Capacity 520,000 Litres Range 20.3 billion km (97 days at full power)
AMM Launcher (15) Missile Size: 1.5 Rate of Fire 15
Falcon-Segre FC-14A Missile Fire Control (3) Range 14.4m km Resolution 1
Mistral AMM (542) Speed: 26,400 km/s End: 1m Range: 2.2m km WH: 1 Size: 1.50 TH: 96/58/29
Falcon-Segre AS-14M Active Search Sensor (1) GPS 108 Range 14.4m km MCR 1.6m km Resolution 1
Bellegarde-Beaumanoir BB-5T Passive Thermal Sensor (1) Sensitivity 5 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 17.7m km
The Implacable class Missile Defence Base is a Normandie class escort cruiser with the engines and fuel removed, the armament doubled and the armour increased. Eight bases are in orbit of Terra.
Implacable class Missile Defence Base 10,000 tons 227 Crew 1,398.5 BP TCS 200 TH 0 EM 0
1 km/s Armour 6-41 Shields 0-0 HTK 69 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 3 PPV 45
Maint Life 1.27 Years MSP 262 AFR 266% IFR 3.7% 1YR 170 5YR 2,544 Max Repair 108 MSP
Magazine 1,485
Capitaine de frégate Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months Morale Check Required
AMM Launcher (30) Missile Size: 1.5 Rate of Fire 15
Falcon-Segre FC-14A Missile Fire Control (6) Range 14.4m km Resolution 1
Mistral AMM (990) Speed: 26,400 km/s End: 1m Range: 2.2m km WH: 1 Size: 1.50 TH: 96/58/29
Falcon-Segre AS-14M Active Search Sensor (1) GPS 108 Range 14.4m km MCR 1.6m km Resolution 1
The People’s Republic of Terra has completed its own geological survey of Sol, using the four Lapérouse class survey vessels. The Lapérouse is similar in concept and capability to the Jovian Armstrong, although approximately twenty-five percent slower and twenty-five percent larger. It is unarmed.
Lapérouse class Geological Survey Vessel 5,350 tons 108 Crew 666.2 BP TCS 107 TH 240 EM 0
2245 km/s Armour 1-27 Shields 0-0 HTK 33 Sensors 15/18/0/3 DCR 5 PPV 0
Maint Life 6.37 Years MSP 389 AFR 46% IFR 0.6% 1YR 16 5YR 247 Max Repair 100 MSP
Capitaine de frégate Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 60 months Morale Check Required
Saint-Pierre-Gasnier Marine SPGM-120E Nuclear Pulse Drive (2) Power 240 Fuel Use 27.56% Signature 120 Fuel Capacity 1,250,000 Litres Range 152.8 billion km (787 days at full power)
Falcon-Segre AS-40 Active Search Sensor (1) GPS 4320 Range 40.9m km Resolution 120
Bellegarde-Beaumanoir BB-18E EM Sensor (1) Sensitivity 18 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 33.5m km
Bellegarde-Beaumanoir BB-15T Thermal Sensor (1) Sensitivity 15 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 30.6m km
Geological Survey Sensors (3) 3 Survey Points Per Hour
With future conquest in mind, Terra has invested in a significant troop transport capability. Six Jaguar class troop transports are in service, each with a lift capacity of 50,000 tons. The Jaguar is by far the largest ship in Terran service, with the second largest design being the Léopard class freighter at 52,000 tons.
Jaguar class Troop Transport 105,750 tons 596 Crew 2,336 BP TCS 2,115 TH 3,072 EM 0
1452 km/s Armour 3-199 Shields 0-0 HTK 271 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 1 PPV 0
MSP 13 Max Repair 80 MSP
Troop Capacity 50,000 tons Cargo Shuttle Multiplier 5
Capitaine de corvette Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months
Commercial Nuclear Pulse Engine (24) Power 3072 Fuel Use 4.05% Signature 128 Explosion 4%
Fuel Capacity 500,000 Litres Range 21 billion km (167 days at full power)
Falcon-Segre AS-20 Active Search Sensor (1) GPS 1200 Range 22.2m km Resolution 100
NFPR Order of Battle15x République class Missile Cruiser:
Condorcet, Danton, Démocratie, Dévastation, Diderot, Formidable, Justice, Liberté, Mirabeau, Patrie, République, Triomphante, Vergniaud, Vérité, Victorieuse15x Normandie class Escort Cruiser:
Alsace, Béarn, Bretagne, Dunkerque, Duquesne, Flandre, Gascogne, Languedoc, Lille, Lorraine, Lyon, Normandie, Provence, Strasbourg, Tourville8x Implacable class Missile Defence Base
4x Lapérouse class Geological Survey Vessel:
Beautemps-Beaupré, Borda, Lapérouse, Laplace6x Jaguar class Troop Transport
5x Léopard class freighter
5x Panthère class colony ship
The Ground Forces of the People’s Republic (GFPR)The ground forces of the People’s Republic are organised with a doctrine of mass infantry attacks supported by artillery. The major manoeuvre formation is the Line Infantry Brigade, which comprises three Line Infantry Regiments, two Artillery Regiments and a single Anti-Tank battalion. Each Line Infantry Regiment comprises two thousand infantry equipped with light armour and personal weapons, the command element and eight supply wagons. Unlike the ground forces of the other Solarian powers, the Terran infantry formations do not include powered armour, crew-served anti-personal weapons, anti-tank weapons or light artillery. The Artillery Regiment comprises eighty medium howitzers. With two such regiments in each brigade, the GFPR can bring down a considerable weight of fire to support the line infantry. The Anti-Tank battalion is smaller, with fifty medium anti-tank guns, and is generally held in reserve. The anti-tank guns are deployed if the line infantry encounters hostile armour. The total transport size of the Line Infantry Brigade is slightly under 50,000 tons, including additional supply wagons held at brigade level, so it can be moved by a single Jaguar class troop transport.
In addition to the massed infantry, the GFPR has a small number of light and heavy cavalry regiments. The Light Cavalry regiment comprises four hundred Hussars, a light vehicle equipped with a crew-served anti-personnel weapon. Terran light cavalry can be devastating when used against enemy infantry. The Heavy Cavalry Regiment comprises one hundred and twenty Cuirassiers. The Cuirassier is a 98-ton medium battle tank armed with a medium anti-vehicle weapon and a medium autocannon, making it one of the most formidable armoured vehicles of any of the Solarian powers. The People’s Republic has reached the same level of armour and energy-weapon calibre technology as the Jovian Federation, even though its general tech base is lower, so the GFPR is a match for the ground forces of other powers, especially when considering its superior numbers. A Cavalry Brigade comprises three Light Cavalry Regiments and one Heavy Cavalry Regiment. The single heavy cavalry formation has a cost close to that of an entire Line Infantry Brigade.
The total strength of the GFPR is fifteen Line Infantry Brigades and two Cavalry Brigades.
