Voran Colonial Authority // Field Manual VCA-FLEET-03

Fleet Command
Field Manual

Fleets are how you organize your ships into units you can move, repair, reinforce, and send into battle as a group. This manual covers everything you need to build and manage a fleet.

FleetLogisticsCombat
Section 01 // Command Structure

Getting Started

A fleet is a named group of ships assigned to one of six divisions. Every fleet gets an automatic fleet number drawn from its division’s number range, and an optional role tag (a short label like “Strike” or “Convoy”) that feeds into its suggested name — e.g. Fleet #101 with role tag “Strike” is suggested as “101st Strike”.

You build a fleet two ways:

Manual pick — hand-select specific ships by unit ID.

Auto-pick — name the ships you want (types and counts) and a target system, and Fleet Command gathers the nearest matching hulls for you, drawing from your other fleets if you allow it.

Section 02 // Organization

Divisions & Fleet Numbers

Each division has room for 99 fleets. Numbers are assigned lowest-first within the division's range when a fleet is created.

DivisionNumber RangeTypical Use
Battle101–199Combat fleets
Cargo201–299Hauling / trading
Repair301–399Repair ships
Mining401–499Asteroid/planet mining
Defense501–599System defense
Exploration601–699Scouting
Moving a fleet to a different division (Reassign Division) gives it a brand-new number in the new division’s range — it doesn’t keep its old number.
Section 03 // Readiness

Fleet Status

A fleet's status is derived automatically from its current condition — checked in this priority order (first match wins).

PriorityStatusTriggered By
1Under AttackFleet is currently in a battle
2DamagedOne or more ships have taken damage
3UnderstrengthFleet is below its baseline ship count
4FragmentedShips split across more than one system and not currently rallying
5RallyingShips from multiple systems are converging on one destination
6MovingEvery ship in the fleet is in transit
7Awaiting OrdersFleet is idle with no active order
8ReadyNone of the above (default)
A fleet can only show one status at a time — if it’s both damaged and understrength, Damaged wins and takes display priority.
Section 04 // Combat Rating

Fleet Power & Strength

Each fleet reports an Attack / Defense / Support power triple, computed from its ships' stats.

AttackAttack = Weapon Slots × 1
DefenseDefense = ( Base Health + Base Shield ) / 1000
SupportSupport = ( Salvage Count × 10 ) + (Resource Capacity / 100,000 ) + ( Settler Capacity / 10,000 )

Strength% compares your fleet’s current ship count to its baseline — the highest ship count the fleet has ever held.

Strength %Strength% = ( Current Ship Count / Baseline Ship Count ) × 100
The baseline is set when the fleet is created and updated whenever you reinforce it. If ships are lost and never replaced, strength drops below 100% and the fleet is flagged Understrength.
Section 05 // Fleet Actions

Building a Fleet

ActionWhat It DoesRules / Limits
CreateNew fleet in a division, from manual unit IDs or an auto-pick specAuto-pick creation fails entirely (rolls back) if any requested ships are missing
RenameChange the fleet's display nameName required, can't be blank
RetagChange the role tag only
DisbandReturns all ships to your unassigned pool, deletes the fleetCancels any active move/rally order first
MergeAbsorb one or more fleets into a surviving fleetAbsorbed fleets' orders are cancelled; baselines are summed into the survivor; absorbed fleets are deleted
SplitPull specific ships out into a brand-new fleetBlocked if the source fleet has an active order — cancel or wait it out first
Reassign DivisionMoves the fleet to a different divisionFleet gets a new number in the new division's range
Section 06 // Automated Assembly

Auto-Pick

Auto-pick musters a fleet for you instead of making you hand-pick every ship.

You specify a composition (ship type + count for each type you want), a target system, and whether to include ships already assigned to other fleets. The server finds matching ships ordered nearest-first and allocates them greedily against your request.

You get back:

Sources — which system(s) the picked ships are coming from.

Donor Fleets — any existing fleets ships would be withdrawn from.

Missing — any ship types you asked for that couldn’t be fully filled (requested vs. available).

Always run a preview first. The Auto-Pick Preview works out the exact same selection without committing anything — if nothing comes back missing, the real fleet will form cleanly. Skip the preview and create blind, and a single shortfall scraps the whole fleet with no ships assigned. A commander scouts before they commit.
Section 07 // Logistics

Movement & Orders

Fleets take one of two order types: Move — travel directly to a single destination system — or Rally — converge on a destination from multiple source systems at once.

ETAETA = sum of per-hop travel time along the route, at the Slowest Ship’s Speed

A fleet only ever moves as fast as its slowest member. Use Route Preview before committing to see the per-source-system breakdown, the slowest ship, the fleet’s jump range, and the overall ETA.

Docked ships cast off automatically when a fleet is ordered to move. Ships already in transit — or that can’t undock in time — are left behind and reported to you, so you always know who didn’t make the jump.

Giving a fleet a new order while one is active replaces the old one. Cancel Move / Cancel Rally stops the current order.

Set Home Base assigns a fleet’s rally point and can optionally chain a follow-up move or rally in the same call.

Section 08 // Maintenance

Repair

Open Repair Options on a damaged fleet to see what's available — you'll be told how many ships are hurt and up to three ways to mend them.

MethodWhen It's OfferedWhat Happens
In PlaceRepair-capable ships are present locallyDamaged ships repair on the spot
Dispatch FleetRepair-capable fleets exist elsewhereLists candidate fleets with ETA/jumps to send help to you
Move to SystemSystems with repair facilities are reachableLists candidate systems with ETA/jumps to travel to
Whichever method you choose, you’ll see which ships were repaired or sent for repair and which were skipped (and why) — and if the order put ships on the move, it’s tracked like any other movement order.
Section 09 // Replenishment

Reinforcement

A fleet that bleeds ships and never replaces them is a fleet slowly dying. Reinforcement fills the deficit — the gap between a fleet's baseline (its highest-ever ship count) and what it has now, broken down per ship type.

Reinforce Preview reads the fleet’s losses before you commit a single ship. It reports the deficit, where replacement ships would come from, how many you’d gather in all, and whether the fleet can be brought back to full strength or only partially restored.

Reinforce carries out the order — you choose how the ships are gathered and whether to draw from your other fleets. It reports back how many ships joined, which fleets gave them up, and rallies the reinforcements to you if they have to travel.

Reinforcement Candidates lists your other fleets fit to help, each with its own health, strength, and firepower, and how far it is (by time and jumps) from the fleet in need.

Send Reinforcements peels ships off a chosen fleet and rallies them to the one that needs them.

Section 10 // Engagement

Combat

When the shooting starts, orders are given ship by ship, not fleet by fleet. You can commit one fleet, several fleets, or a hand-picked group of ships to a single command — the battle line is yours to shape.

Attack — name your attackers and a target to concentrate fire on it. You must already be a combatant in that system, and only ships you own will answer the call.

Retreat — name the ships you want pulled out of the fight and break them off.

Force Retarget — any combatant can force an enemy to pick a new target, throwing off its aim.

Because combat is fought at the level of individual ships, your fleet organization is what makes it fast to muster the right ones — a quick “every Battle-division ship in this system” beats hunting for hulls one at a time when a battle is already underway.
Section 11 // Records

Activity Log

Every fleet keeps its own record, and a command-wide log gathers the history of all your fleets — filterable by what happened or by division. It tracks the moments that matter.

Event TypeVisibility
Fleet CreatedStandard
Fleet DisbandedStandard
Fleet MergedCommander-level
Fleet SplitCommander-level
Division ReassignedCommander-level
Merge, split, and division-reassignment events are flagged as commander-level, so they show up in your global activity feed by default even if you’re only watching high-level fleet changes.
Section 12 // Operational Doctrine

Fleet Command Checklist

From your first fleet to a mature, multi-division force — follow each tier in sequence as your fleet operations mature.

1Setting Up Your First FleetNew Commander
1Pick a division — based on what the fleet will do — Battle for combat, Cargo for hauling, etc.
2Use auto-pick with a preview first — if you don't want to hand-pick ships — make sure nothing comes back missing before you commit.
3Give it a role tag — it feeds directly into the suggested fleet name and makes it easier to identify later.
4Set a home base — if the fleet will operate out of one system regularly.
2Keeping Fleets HealthyOngoing
1Watch for Understrength and Damaged status — these mean lost or hurt ships that need reinforcement or repair.
2Reinforce Preview before committing — know whether you'll get a full restore or only a partial one before you give the order.
3Consolidate Fragmented fleets with a Rally order before relying on them for anything time-sensitive.
4Repair immediately after combat — a damaged fleet is weaker and flagged as such until fixed.
3Advanced ManagementVeteran
1Merge scattered small fleets in the same division instead of managing many understrength ones.
2Split off specialized detachments — but remember you can't split a fleet with an active order; cancel or wait first.
3Use Reinforcement Candidates to see which of your other fleets are best positioned (by ETA/jumps) to help a fleet under strength.
4Reassign divisions as a fleet’s role changes rather than disbanding and rebuilding it — you keep the ships and just get a new number.
Section 13 // Threat Assessment

Warning Signs

Watch for these problems and fix them quickly — an unaddressed fleet issue only compounds the longer it's ignored.

Under Attack
CauseFleet is in an active battle
FixReinforce, attack back, or retreat the ships out
Damaged
CauseShips have taken hull/shield damage
FixRepair in place, dispatch a repair fleet, or move to a repair system
Understrength
CauseCurrent ship count below baseline
FixReinforce — check the deficit breakdown by ship type
Fragmented
CauseShips spread across multiple systems
FixIssue a Rally order to consolidate
Awaiting Orders
CauseFleet idle with nothing queued
FixGive it a Move, Rally, or combat assignment
Create or reinforce comes up short
CauseNot enough matching ships within reach (or you didn't allow pulling from other fleets)
FixPreview first, adjust what you're asking for, or let it draw from your other fleets
Split rejected
CauseFleet has an active Move/Rally order
FixCancel the order first, then split
Section 14 // Commander's Briefing

Key Tips

Distilled fleet doctrine — the habits that separate a well-run fleet from a scattered one.

Slowest Ship Sets The Pace
A fleet moves at its slowest ship’s speed. Don’t mix a fast scout with a slow hauler if speed matters.
Always Preview First
Auto-pick, Reinforce, and Route all have preview calls that show you the outcome with zero risk — use them before committing.
Status Priority Matters
Under Attack always outranks Damaged, which always outranks Understrength — fix the highest-priority issue first.
Baselines Only Go Up
Reinforcing raises a fleet’s baseline; losing ships without reinforcing just widens the deficit against the existing baseline.
Combat Ignores Fleet Boundaries
You can focus-fire or retreat any combination of owned units regardless of which fleet they’re in.
Merging Deletes The Absorbed Fleets
Their ships and baseline move to the survivor, but the fleets themselves are gone — make sure you’re merging into the one you want to keep.