As I spread my benevolence and enlightened rule to neighbouring planets, my Legions of Doom (tm) have encountered several unexpected difficulties:
I. There & Back Again, A Hobbit Legion's Tale
Building troop transports is simple enough, but there doesn't seem to be any sort of assault shuttle, dropship, transporter, or capsule system to get them from the starship to the planet. Either the darn things actually land on the planet, or Sufficiently Advanced Technology is in use.
II. War is Heck
Ground combat causes Collateral Damage to planetary installations (fair enough, I suppose) that appears to be based on the combined attack strength of all sides. Unfortunately, it also causes Radiation levels and Planetary Dust to soar. Why, oh why, did I arm my Legions of Friendly Persuasion (tm) with dirty bombs and hand-held nukes? I must have been mad.
Alas, for the inhabitants of a poor (ie low industry) planet called Dirt, the combination of Collateral Damage, Radiation, & Dust resulting from a visit by my Legions Pour Encourager les Autres (tm) wiped out planetary industry and rendered the place nigh-uninhabitable. "If only they'd nuked us from orbit," the Dirtlings cry, "we'd still have places to work and air we could breathe." Tragically, I chose the 'humane' option of planetary invasion.
III. War is a Continuation of Diplomacy by Other Means
Foolish me, I 'forgot' to issue a declaration of war before my Legions of (Gunboat) Diplomacy (tm) opened fire. It's fine though, the people of Dirt declined to declare war while being shot at. Once I did declare war, the people of Dirt were happy to return to Peaceful Relations, no questions asked. What they wouldn't do is surrender, even with no armed vessels & no ground troops left.
My Legions of Conquering (tm) were actually unable to conquer the defenceless planet of Dirt, due to a peculiar Dirtling construct: the Woden Base.
Woden class Base 14800 tons 250 Crew 593.5 BP TCS 296 TH 0 EM 0
Armour 13-53 Sensors 1/0 Damage Control Rating 0 PPV 0
Troop Capacity 6 Divisions
This design is classed as a non-combatant for maintenance purposes
This design is classed as a Planetary Defence Centre and can be pre-fabricated in 30 sections
Cleverly, the Dirtlings have constructed a PDC that is undetectable by Thermal or EM sensors, for some reason refuses to show up on active Grav sensors, and can't be shot at. My Legions of Incompetence refuse to conquer the planet due to the presence of this unarmed building.
IV. To the Victor Go the Spoils
The presence of this unarmed pile of rocks gives the Dirtlings great hope; occupying their defenseless planet with twenty divisions of battle-hardened troops and stationing a half-dozen battleships overhead to threaten orbital bombardment failed to influence their diplomatic outlook one iota.