Now that I'm well into an interstellar war, I'm pondering the details of how NPR empires work. Some questions:
- Do NPRs need wealth the same way I do? Do they get that wealth from trade? Will destroying trade ships actually hurt their economy?
- My NPR trading partner has literally hundreds of civilian ships. Does this actually reflect their economic strength and industrial production, or do they just appear magically?
- On a similar note, do NPRs have to use factories and shipyards to build warships, or do they just get them periodically?
- Do they need actual mineral access? I have never seen an NPR mining colony, asteroid miner, or mass driver.
- Do NPR establish colonies? I have never seen a colony beyond the homeworld.
- Do NPR warships follow the general rules for ship movement? I have had NPR warships appear in a place where it is almost impossible for them to have been (four FAC in a system where there had been no base or carrier for several years).
- Do NPR ships need fuel, maintenance, ordnance?
- use SM to see their colonies, ship designs