DELETE

[Hastings]

True, but Thatcherite Britain didn't have battleships in space either.

The same principles apply.

I'm not saying Bretonia would choose to scale down as a long-term economic strategy, I'm saying they would be forced to re-configure their economic strategy and allocation of civilian and military resources to face an immediate threat to Bretonian existence. Especially in a situation where the economy is close to cracking on one hand and the war is going terribly wrong on the other, it seems wise to 'pick your winner' instead of having to try and sustain two different operations with the risk of losing both. Besides the relocation of Essex would not mean the end of BMM operations, they would just suffer a temporary setback in Dublin until the balance against Kusari is restored.

RP wise Bretonia is not "losing", they are at a stalemate with Kusari in Leeds.

The loss of the Essex means that the BAF no longer has a secure base to deploy from, it means the loss of a safe waypoint between Graves and the jump gate, and it means a significant loss of political leverage in the system. The Essex is quite crucial to Bretonia's presence in the system and there really is no point to removing it despite what the complaints of lazy pirates may otherwise infer.

I also think that in a dire situation, such as Bretonia is facing up to 4.86, the overall protection of the Empire's very existence takes priority over any corporate agenda, no matter how economically sensible that agenda is in the long run or how influential that corporation might be. Also, even though gold is vital for ship building, for production it cannot be needed in those insane quantities we see it mined on an average basis - it's not like the Bretonian ships are built of gold (and as we all know, the gold goes straight to Detroit anyways). The government would be forced to make a short term solution for an urgent problem, at the expense of a long term more viable economy, trying to compensate for this setback by granting Bowex extended rights. And who knows what will happen in the Kusari war - perhaps the relocation of Essex would push the Kusari back, allowing for Essex to be stationed back in Dublin once again?

We'll discuss 4.86 when it happens, not before. Furthermore, security is one thing but if you cannot sustain that level of security financially then you've already lost - BMM is one of the cles de voute in Bretonia's economy and impairing their ability to operate is idiotic from an administrative standpoint.

You're confusing player output with RP - by that logic the BAF would consist of less than 50 people.

And once again, your solution is quite ill-contemplated. Bretonia holds a near-monopoly on gold in Sirius, and it provides a steady stream of income to support the war effort; there is no impetus to fuel a major economic shift when the current methods are working quite well for the short term.

I doubt one battleship would be able to turn the tide since in-RP the BAF warship arsenal comprises of several hundred vessels.

It would just be so sad to see the mining go. Personally none of my characters really had a financial stake in it (had a miner for a few days but i got incredibly fed up with shooting at rocks, and i transported a bit of gold but got tired of that too), but I often go to Dublin to just watch thie drama unfold. No other system has that 'wild west' feel of desperation, although there truly is a need to put a lid on it somehow. Perhaps a simple reduction of ore prices will do the trick, but just turning the mod off seems like removing a brilliant and unique aspect of Disco.

I'm not arguing to have mining go, I'm arguing against this fixation with using the Essex as a scapegoat for more deep-seated problems.

---