[PvK]

Originally posted by Shoujo:
Could just be me, but I'd think that if you just had your main fleet crushed you've got a lot more to worry about than a few riots...

Not if you have a very large empire, with scores of planetary shipyards, and/or you're playing the unmodded game where it's not usually worthwhile to have long-term resource reserves. A few planets and fleets can cause practically every planet to riot, and thus cripple the entire production base of a very large empire, and make it much harder for the empire to get back on its feet. As I said, I have seen this happen quite clearly in several PBW games. The afflicted empires would have been able to rebuild fairly quickly from a local defeat, but instead their economy was paralyzed and their construction ability mostly removed (essentially, they went from very wealthy to having to rely entirely on trade and space-based construction).

PvK