I know one of the key issues with the game currently is that it
moves
too
slow.
to remedy this, and to increase the viability of blitzkreig and divisionary strike forces, I propose a certain class of ship beyond the capital ship and the frigate, a mothership by no doubt.
one of the mothership's most important roles should be as a mobile frigate factory. frigate factories would help sustain any incursions into enemy territory that might otherwise be easily bogged down and unrealistically halted by a few turrets and a few inhibitors on a few planets. currently most games are tip-toeing matches where the opponents dont really throw a hard jab at one another, rather just kind of poking with big forces, and then either capping one planet at a time or retreating. a mothership would catalyze the creation of more large-scale battles and increase the importance of any military-strategic manuver. this would be a mothership's central role. perhaps even a super-class mothership that is capable of producing capital ships instead of frigates.
additionally a mothership should function as any one group's flagship, the inclusion of the mothership near any allied planet should automatically increase that planet's culture by 5% even if that brings it beyond its limit. additionally ships in proximity to the mothership should have certain bonuses (preferably bonuses that diminish with increased damage to the mothership, actually hurting nearby units if it is severely damaged or destroyed) take for instance the japanese yamato, big-ass ship. moral booster, but of course people wont appreciate it when its so easily sunken.
finally the mothership should have a certain embargo effect on enemy planets and should be LADDEN with anti-air guns to protect it from bombers.
the super-mothership, on the other hand, would have none of these embargo/moral bonuses or exceptional ammounts of anti-fighter weaponry, it should simply be wholly dedicated to constructing capital ships.
obviously these ships should be rediculously expensive, and require the utmost in technology to construct, but I personally think their inclusion would speed games up far more, as military maneuvers would no longer be so simply halted.
