Warfare

Fleets engaging in battle within a star system.

Warfare is a core aspect of galactic conquest in New Stars. Empires build fleets to defend their territory, besiege enemy colonies, and eliminate rival powers. This page covers declaring war, fleet combat, colony sieging, and making peace.

Declaring War

War is declared through the Diplomacy Panel by selecting a rival empire and choosing Declare War. War can only be declared when you:

Are not already at war with the target.
Are not in a friendship with the target.
Are not bound by an active truce with the target.

When war is declared, all allied empires on both sides are automatically pulled into the conflict. Embassies are dissolved, trade agreements cancelled, and a peace cooldown of 360 days is imposed before negotiations become possible.

Template:Ns-color Declaring war deals major opinion penalties — Trust drops by 100 and a War modifier of −50 is applied to all affected empires.

Fleets

Fleets are groups of ships that traverse the galaxy through star systems via Hyperlanes. A fleet's total combat power is the combined sum of all its ships' stats. Fleets can be merged to concentrate firepower, or split to patrol multiple systems simultaneously. Winning a battle rewards the victorious fleet with EXP.

Ship Types

Military ships come in five combat classes, each suited to different engagement ranges. Non-military ships (Explorers, Colonists, Builders) cannot participate in battle.

Ship	Role	Range	Description
Gunboat	Short-Range Skirmisher	Short only	Gunboats are the smallest military vessels and only carry short-range weapons. Best used in large numbers for early-game warfare.
Destroyer	Skirmisher	Short & Medium	Destroyers are versatile ships effective in both short and medium-range engagements.
Light Cruiser	Medium Fighter	Medium	Light Cruisers form the backbone of mid-game fleets, specialising in medium-range combat.
Heavy Cruiser	Ranged Combatant	Medium & Long	Heavy Cruisers provide heavy firepower at medium and long range.
Star Cruiser	Long-Range Powerhouse	Long	Star Cruisers are formidable capital ships built for devastating long-range bombardment.

Fleet Stats

Each fleet's combat power is the combined sum of its ships' individual stats:

Stat	Description
{{#switch:shields	science =	shields =	siege =	speed =	star_cruiser = }} Shields	The first line of defense. Shields absorb damage before the Hull is hit. Shields regenerate out of combat each month.
{{#switch:hull	heavy_cruiser =	hull = }} Hull	Core structural integrity. A ship at zero Hull is destroyed. Reduced Hull also reduces Damage output — see Critical Damage below.
{{#switch:damage	double_cooperative =	double_isolationist =	double_militarist =	double_pacifist = }} Damage	Raw offensive output per turret shot. Actual damage in battle depends on turret type and engagement range.
{{#switch:speed	science =	shields =	siege =	speed =	star_cruiser = }} Speed	Movement speed across the galaxy, and the source of Evasion — faster ships dodge up to 25% of incoming attacks.
Template:Icon/r Regen Rate	Monthly rate at which Shields and Hull recover when not in combat.
Fire Rate	How often turrets fire. Combined with Damage, determines effective damage per day.

Turrets

Ships are equipped with turrets that fire during battles. Different turret types are effective at different ranges:

	Turret Type	Best Range
	Rockets	Short
	Standard Turrets	Medium
	Missiles	Medium–Long
	Plasma Cannons	Medium
	Spice Phasers	Long

Combat engagements occur at approximately medium range. Turrets whose minimum effective range matches the engagement distance deal full damage; turrets outside their optimal range deal only 50% damage.

Combat

Battles begin automatically when enemy fleets occupy the same star system. Ships target the nearest enemy and exchange fire each combat tick.

Damage Resolution

Incoming damage is resolved in this order:

Shields absorb damage first. Any excess carries over into Hull.
Hull takes remaining damage. As Hull is reduced, the ship's Damage output scales down proportionally — a ship near-zero Hull deals only ~50% of its base damage (Critical Damage).
A ship at zero Hull is destroyed and removed from battle.

Ships can also evade an attack entirely. Evasion chance is derived from Speed and is capped at 25%.

Retreat

A fleet automatically retreats from battle when its combined HP (Shields + Hull) drops below 30% of its maximum value. Retreating fleets immediately leave the star system.

Starbases in Battle

Starbases participate in combat as fixed defenders, engaging enemy fleets directly. Their stats improve significantly with each upgrade tier. Higher-tier Starbases also grant a damage bonus to all allied ships in the system.

20% Allied Damage
Level	{{#switch:shields	science =	shields =	siege =	speed =	star_cruiser = }} Shields	{{#switch:hull	heavy_cruiser =	hull = }} Hull	{{#switch:damage	double_cooperative =	double_isolationist =	double_militarist =	double_pacifist = }} Damage	Allied Bonus
1 (Basic Outpost)	250	250	25	—
2	500	500	50
3	1,000	1,000	100

See Starbase for full stats by type and designation.

Colony Siege

The red siege icon marks a colony under enemy occupation pressure.

Capturing an enemy colony requires sieging it — a gradual process driven by sustained fleet presence in the colony's star system.

Siege Progress

Every colony has a Siege Progress value from 0 (fully unoccupied) to 1 (fully captured). Progress shifts based on which side has fleets in the system:

Condition	Effect on Siege Progress
Only occupier fleets present	Increases. Occupier fleets exert 1.75× effective siege pressure.
Only defender fleets present	Decreases (Liberation in progress). Liberation is 40% faster than sieging.
Both sides have fleets present (Contested)	No change — the siege is contested and stalls.
No fleets on either side (mid-siege)	Slowly deteriorates toward 0 at ¼ of the normal siege rate per day.

Siege Difficulty

How quickly a colony can be sieged depends on its Siege Difficulty, which is the sum of:

Soldiers assigned to the colony × the per-soldier siege difficulty stat.
Building Siege Difficulty (including Forts and other colony buildings).
Half the colony's Population.
Tile building contributions.

A higher Siege Difficulty means a longer siege. The time is calculated as:

Time to Siege = max(5.1 + SiegeDifficulty × 0.4, 5.1) (game days)
Time to Liberate = Time to Siege ÷ 1.4

Occupation Outcome

When Siege Progress reaches 1 and the colony was unoccupied, it becomes Occupied:

Colony buildings are damaged.
Colony ownership transfers to the occupying empire.
Endgame defeat/victory conditions are checked.
If the occupier is a Barbaric faction, the colony is permanently razed (destroyed) and the system's Starbase is deconstructed.

When Siege Progress returns to 0 and the colony was occupied, it is Liberated:

The colony reverts to its original owner.
Siege Progress resets to 0.

Colony Defenses

Colonies can be fortified with Fort buildings, which substantially raise Siege Difficulty and slow any enemy siege. The Soldier job also contributes directly to siege resistance.

Level	Name	Description
1	Outpost Barricade	Basic colonial fortification. Provides an early line of defense against potential threats.
2	Armored Garrison	Reinforced walls with trained soldiers and advanced weaponry.
3	Citadel Fortress	State-of-the-art defenses with energy shields and powerful artillery systems.
4	Celestial Bastion	The pinnacle of colonial defense — advanced energy weaponry and force fields capable of repelling any assault.

Making Peace

Peace is negotiated through the Diplomacy panel. Both empires must agree, and all of the following conditions must be met:

Both empires are currently at war with each other.
The peace cooldown (360 days) from the start of the war has elapsed for both sides.
Neither empire is Barbaric — Barbaric factions cannot negotiate peace.

Upon peace being made:

Relations are reset to Neutral.
A Truce is imposed for 1,080 days, during which war cannot be re-declared.
Occupied Starbases in the opposing empire's territory are either transferred or deoccupied.
If an empire is no longer at war with any opponent after peace, all of its occupied colonies are liberated and all siege progress is reset to 0.

Warfare

Contents

Declaring War