Thanks for taking the time to check this out.

Regarding equipment assembly on the planet:

The fiction is the MCC has to stay in high orbit to keep out of the reach of the Orbital Cannons so the Equipment Assembly Units are the mechanism that allows the parts for things to be dropped to the troops.

The game mechanic is that resources for battles can be controlled by how much the players want to invest in attack or defence and these units are the vehicle by which that is realized: the more of them / kind of them / ... you pay for the more support you provide your troops.

If the attackers are willing to bring the MCC into low orbit the EAUs are not necessary but the attackers are put at risk of getting thrown off the planet early.

Regarding factions:

I'm not sure I agree. Certainly, deep in a faction's territory the likelihood of an attacker having the logistics to stage an attack would be low -- but at the edges and in contested territory I don't understand why it could not happen.

Regarding Game Modes:

I'm not sure I understand what you mean by game mode.

There are three basic game modes here: beachhead, single target capture the flag (advance/counter-attack with single targets and final push) and multiple-target capture the flag (reconnaissance/counter-attack with multiple targets).

The variation are with time outs, equipment progression, transportation requirements (managed by spacing of objectives) and resource constraints.

If the attackers just hid out in the reconnaissance battle future battles would be all multiple target capture the flag. If they identified all the OCs then future battles would be all single target capture the flag. So for any particular territory the attackers would have some control over the kinds of battles to be fought.

For territory where there was no player-owner the game system would assign resources, decide if the MCC should be brought in, and manage battle difficulty. It would allow for match-making and be part of the information available to players/corporations before they signed up for the battle.

Additional Thoughts

You got me thinking that the history of the fights over a territory could be a matter of record so players signing up for a contract could see how things played out in the past. It would give a sense of real stability if (for example) who fought over the territories, who owned them and how things played out could be part of choosing where to fight next. A running history of the world.

Thanks for the help with the lore.

I don't think I can make worthwhile adjustments until I understand what you mean by game modes. What modes would work better for PC and FW and how would those modes be better? Could you give me some examples?

I too wish that Legion moved away from the lobby mechnics and found a way into a more free, roaming mode in the likeness of EVE.

Lobby matches seems so detached from the real thing.