Task Groups

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Task Groups Window (F12)

Task Groups are groups of ships, and the means by which orders are issued. All ships must be part of a task group, although ships may be moved between them freely. Task groups are part of a Task Force.

Most task group functions are managed through the Task Groups window, accessible by choosing the window from the Empire menu dropdown, clicking Fleet Orders in the System Map, or simply by pressing F12.

Overview

The top left of the task group window contains navigational elements allowing the selection first of an empire, and then of task groups within that empire. Task groups are alphabetized within the dropdown list. Below the navigation dropdowns, the Location and Task Force fields give the location and parent task force of the currently selected group.

To the right, a listing of ships within the task force is available. Double-clicking on any entry in this list will bring up the Ship Window (F6) for that vessel.

The bottom half of the window contains four tabs, each with its own function.

• Task Group Orders is used to issue orders to the currently selected task group, displays information about total fuel and cargo capacity, and allows for storage and retrieval of order templates.
• Special Orders / Organization allows for the definition of default or conditional orders, as well as the transfer of ships to nearby task groups.
• History / Officers / Misc displays the history of the task group, as well as any ranking officers present in its constituent ships.
• Naval Organization contains an interface for editing your overall fleet structure.

Finally, some buttons on the bottom provide additional functionality. The left group contains commands for task group management, while the right grouping contains quick actions for easy access to group functionality without navigating away from the Task Group window interface.

Window Fields

Task Group Header Area

• Empire allows the selection of any of empires that are currently viewable by the player.
• Name allows the selection of any of the Task Groups that have been created within the currently selected Empire.
• Location displays the system in which the currently selected task group is located.
• Task Force displays the task force of which the current Task Group is a member.
• Cur/Max Speed displays the maximum task group speed (equal to the slowest ship in the group) as well as an option to set it to a slower speed if warranted.
• Centre Map centers the map on the task group currently selected.
• Show Ground toggles the display of ground units in the ship listing.
• Survey Points shows the value of any installed Geological Survey Sensors or Gravitational Survey Sensors in the fleet.
• Initiative displays the current Task Group Initiative, with the option to set lower if necessary.
• Senior Officer displays the ranking officer in the task group.
• Time and Distance displays the current distance and time remaining before the next objective is complete. This may be toggled to display for the entire queued order list as well.

The Ships in Task Group window displays all ships in the task group as well as basic information about them. Double-clicking on these ship entries will open up the Ship (F6) window. Of particular note are the Morale, Grade Bonus and TF Training columns, which provide information about the state of the Ship Crew.

Special Orders/Organization

Formations

Protected Threat Axis: You can select one fleet as the main body of a larger formation and set other fleets to maintain positions relative to that fleet's course or relative to both the fleet and a hostile contact. It could be as simple as telling an escort to maintain a position 200,000 kilometers from the fleet in the direction of contact xyz, extending the point defence coverage of the fleet in that direction.

Naval Organization

See Naval Organization.