The Horwasp are presently under development, which means they will frequently be receiving enhancements and bugfixes. Because of this, the documentation will also be frequently changing, and may be slightly behind development. This means that at any given time the documentation might not be complete, and could contain errors. In addition, there are probably interactions that aren't yet known.
Until such time as the Horwasp race is officially Production, this page of documentation will not contain history information.
If any errors are noticed in this document, please inform one of the Planets.nu Editors.
This page describes the Horwasp starships and the way in which they interact with planets and other starships.
The starships of the Horwasp are significantly different from the starships of the other races. This is due to a combination of:
Horwasp starships do not have Friendly Codes or a Primary Enemy. In Combat, these starships always function as though they have a Kill! mission set.
Horwasp engine efficiency is equivalent to that of a standard a "Quantum Drive 7" (Tech Level 7).
When clans are placed into a starship, they enter a state of hibernation, and require no food to survive.
The crew on a Horwasp starship will not suffer from the radiation issued by a star cluster, but clans in the hold will. When all the clans in the hold are dead, the starship will continue to its waypoint, with only the crew.
Horwasp weapon strength and combat mass is calculated by the number of clans on board in relation to the cargo capacity of the vessel. A fully loaded unit will have Tech 10 weapons and its combat mass will be double its hull mass. The number of fighters is also determined by this ratio. Horwasp starships have unlimited torpedoes.
When a Horwasp starship takes damage, the clans onboard are killed and the combat effectiveness is reduced. This happens after combat completes. If there are not enough clans on board then some of the damage will remain. Additionally, Horwasp ships automatically regenerate damage at a rate of 5% per turn.
When a Horwasp fighter is destroyed, a pulse of psychokinetic feedback will be generated that will kill clans on the starship that launched the fighter. When a fighter launched by a Hive is destroyed, 20 clans on the hive will be destroyed. When a fighter launched by any other Horwasp starship is destroyed, 2 clans on the launching starship will be destroyed.
The Horwasp can not capture or be given enemy starships. Enemy starships which run out of crew during combat are destroyed.
The Horwasp never signed the Treaty of Nimbus 7. They will attack ships without fuel.
Horwasp starships and pods can not be captured or given away and they will disintegrate if they run out of neutronium fuel, whether due to poor planning or being the subject of a Rob mission. Horwasp starships and pods are immune to web drain.
When a Horwasp starship or pod is destroyed 10% of the clans on board will be distributed to all planets within 100 light-years.
Powered Starships Hive Soldier Brood Jacker Combat Ballistic Starships (Assault Pods) Accelerator Sentry Stinger Protofield Armoured Nest Non-combat Ballistic Starships (Pods) Nest Farm Dunghill Non-combat Ballistic Starships (Rocks) Duranium Rock Tritanium Rock Molybdenum Rock
These are like normal starships, except they're built on the planet, and not at a starbase. They carry fuel, and use it as they move. They have the ability to change direction each turn. Other races sense them like any normal starship.
This starship is the largest and strongest fighting starship of the Horwasp fleet. It also is the only Horwasp starship that's capable of performing a Swarm mission.
It is also possible to target the Swarm mission. When this is done, all the clans in the Hive will be transported to the targeted planet.
A Hive starship has 9 beams, 6 torpedoes and 6 fighter bays. The strength of these weapons and the number of fighters onboard depends on the number of clans onboard, and is described in the Horwasp Combat Strength page. The torpedoes are generated by the Horwasp psychokinetic forces, and are available in unlimited quantities.
Hives over 5000 KT cannot be towed.
Whenever any Hive comes within 100 light-years of a planet, the happiness of colonists and natives begins to drop. The closer the Hive gets to a planet, the worse the effect. The impact on happiness will be between -1 and -10 happiness per turn in 10 light-year increments. This effect is not cumulative with multiple hives and does not affect natives on unowned planets.
Distance (LY) Impact Distance (LY) Impact 91-100 -1 81-90 -2 71-80 -3 61-70 -4 51-60 -5 41-50 -6 31-40 -7 21-30 -8 11-20 -9 1-10 -10
The number of Hives that a player can build is limited to the number of planets that the player controls.
This is the small warship of the Horwasp, and has 3 beams, 6 torpedoes and 3 fighter bays. The strength of these weapons and the number of fighters onboard depends on the number of clans onboard, and is described in the Horwasp Combat Strength page. The torpedoes are generated by the Horwasp psychokinetic forces, and are available in unlimited quantities.
As with the Hive, the number of Soldiers that a player can build is limited to the number of planets that the player controls.
The Brood is a medium strength starship, having 6 beams, 3 torpedo tubes and 6 fighter bays. The strength of the weapons and the number of fighters onboard depends on the number of clans onboard, and is described in the Horwasp Combat Strength page. The torpedoes are generated by the Horwasp psychokinetic forces, and are available in unlimited quantities
The Jacker has a heavy hull. This causes 75% of fighter beam hits to do no damage.
The Jacker is a lightly armed starship, having only 3 torpedo tubes. The strength of the torpedoes launched depends on the number of clans onboard, and is described in the Horwasp Combat Strength page. The torpedoes are generated by the Horwasp psychokinetic forces, and are available in unlimited quantities.
These are unlike any other starship at Planets.nu. All the fuel for a trip is consumed at the time of launch, placing the Pod on a ballistic trajectory. They carry a minimum amount of fuel (1 KT, 2 KT if accelerated) for course adjustments, terminal maneuvers and reentry braking.
All Horwasp Pods can be launched at either warp 3, 6 or 9. In addition, Pods launched from planets with Ghipsoldal natives can be launched at warp 7. Launching a Pod consumes Neutronium fuel. The amount of fuel consumed is based on how far and how fast the Pod is planned to go.
When a Pod is dragged by an Ion Storm, it will lose its navigation lock on the destination, lose its momentum and drift with the storm.
When a starship makes a tow lock on a Pod, the Pod will lose its navigation lock on the destination amd lose its momentum. If a Pod is towed to a planet it will always soft-land and not cause damage.
Any Pod which reaches a planet will land, unless destroyed in combat at the planet. Any clans that are carried by the Pod will be soft-landed on the planet.
Pods can only change direction when they encounter an Accelerator pod. The use of an Accelerator is described below.
Most Pods must have a planet as a final destination. Only the Sentry, Accelerator and Protofield can have a final waypoint that isn't a planet.
Due to the fact that Combat Pods don't run their engines after launch, they emit little energy, making them difficult to target. For those pods with this advantage, the low power usage causes other races to only be able to detect them at 50 light-years (60 light-years by starships on a Sensor Sweep mission).
An Accelerator is used to increase the speed of Pods and Rocks that go through it. When a Pod or Rock sets an Accelerator as an intermediate waypoint, the number of light-years travelled per turn will be increased by 50%. The speed of a Pod or Rock can only be increased once. In addition, an Accelerator can be used to change the direction of a Pod or Rock. To use the Accelerator, set it as an intermediate waypoint, on the way to the final destination. Only one Accelerator may be used by any individual pod.
As with the Hive, the number of Accelerators that a player can build is limited to the number of planets that the player controls.
The Accelerator increases the speed of other Pods by transferring energy from the interplanetary psychokinetic mesh that it connects to when it achieves final position. The connection to this mesh has a side effect of not allowing the Accelerator to be towed. Only the imense power of a Class-4 or Class 5 Ion Storm can move an Accelerator once it has connected to the interplanetary psychokinetic mesh.
When an Accelerator increases the speed of another Pod, it also generates 1 KT of additional fuel for that starship, to help with reentry braking.
The Accelerator is a lightly armed Pod, having only 3 beams. The strength of the beams depends on the number of clans onboard, and is described in the Horwasp Combat Strength page.
Starships at the same location as an Accelerator will receive 25 KT of fuel per turn.
As with the Hive, the number of Sentries that a player can build is limited, based on the number of planets. For the Sentry, the limit is half the number of planets that a player controls.
The Sentry is a lightly armed Pod, having only 6 beams. The strength of these beams depends on the number of clans onboard, and is described in the Horwasp Combat Strength page.
Starships at the same location as a Sentry will receive 5 KT of fuel per turn.
The Stinger is a lightly armed Pod, having only 3 beams and 3 torpedo tubes. The strength of the weapons depends on the number of clans onboard, and is described in the Horwasp Combat Strength page. The torpedoes are generated by the Horwasp psychokinetic forces, and are available in unlimited quantities.
The Protofield is used to create fields of proto-molecules. When the Protofield reaches its destination, each clan onboard will be converted to proto-molecules. This starship has a low energy profile, and can only be attacked by a starship that is set to intercept it.
When a Protofield Pod is launched, a timer is set to one turn longer than the trip time, or to zero if the Pod's destination is the launching planet. When that timer expires, the clans in the Pod will be converted to proto-molecules and the Pod will self-destruct.
When the clans are converted to proto-molecules, each clan is converted into enough proto-molecules to occupy 3.1416 square light-years (1.7725 light-years x 1.7725 light-years). This is the same area that is covered by a single mine or web mine.
Fields of proto-molecules can overlap with other fields of proto-molecules, and with web minefields, but can not overlap with normal minefields.
When a starship travels through a field of proto-molecules, the hull will accumulate one proto-molecule per light-year traveled through the field. The crew can remove one proto-molecule from the hull each turn, and a repair ship, or a starbase (through the Fix capability), can completely clean the hull in one turn.
Proto-molecules damage the hull of starships, and can eventually destroy a starship they're attached to. The damage done each turn is equal to the square of the number of proto-molecules on the hull, divided by the hull mass of the starship, rounded up.
The psychokinetic capabilities of the Horwasp allow them to direct proto-molecules around their starships and pods, making them effectively immune to proto-molecule fields.
The Armoured Nest is used to transport colonists. It has three beam weapons, the strength of which depends on the number of clans onboard, and is described in the Horwasp Combat Strength page. This starship can only be attacked by a starship that is set to intercept it.
For Non-combat Pods, the low power usage causes other races to only be able to detect them at 25 light-years (30 light-years by starships on a Sensor Sweep mission).
The Nest is used to transport colonists. It has no weapons or defense. This starship can only be scanned by other races if within 25 light-years, and can only be attacked by a starship that is set to intercept it.
The Farm is the only starship that can transport natives. It has no weapons or defense. This starship can only be attacked by a starship that is set to intercept it.
If a Farm brings natives to a planet that has the same race of natives, the population will be increased. The native government level will end up as the higher of the two sets of natives.
If a Farm brings natives to a planet that has a different race of natives, the two races of natives will engage in ground combat. Most native races will fight at a 1:1 ratio (equal clan loses on both sides), but the Reptilians will fight at a 2:1 ratio (each lost Reptilian clan will kill 2 clans of the other race).
This pod is used to transport supplies between planets. When a Dunghill arrives at a planet, it will always soft-land, and not cause damage.
For Rocks, the low power usage causes other races to only be able to detect them at 25 light-years (30 light-years by starships on a Sensor Sweep mission).
A Rock is a specialized version of a Pod. They have two functions within the game. First, they can be used to move minerals between Horwasp planets. Second, the mineral rocks can be used to damage enemy planets, possibly destroying all colonists.
As with other Pods, Rocks consume all the fuel for the trip when they're launched. The little fuel remaining after launch is only enough to allow minor course corrections and to perform terminal manuevering, including a soft landing.
All Rocks can only be scanned by other races if within 25 light-years, which keeps any mines from being able to acquire them as targets. In addition, Rocks can only be able to be attacked by starships set to intercept them.
All Rocks must have a planet as a final destination.
When a Rock is launched toward an enemy or unowned planet it will impact the planet causing damage and putting its minerals in the ground. If a rock arrives at a friendly planet it will soft-land on the surface. The larger the Rock is and the faster it is moving the more damage it will do. Rocks massing 1,000 KT or more, traveling at warp 9 that have been accelerated have the potential to be planet killers.
This rock is used to transport Duranium between planets.
This rock is used to transport Tritanium between planets.
This rock is used to transport Molybdenum between planets.