[Commander G]

I like the idea of paying maintenance on resupply rather than continuously. How does a ship off in deep space exploration cost its empire upkeep (accrual accounting, I guess)? It should be charged when it returns to port. Worse yet, a damaged, stranded ship that cannot return to port still costs maintenance. In those cases, you head for the nearest black hole or enemy planet to get destroyed!

One big problem with basing maintenance on resupply, is that Units and Space Stations do not consume supplies. I think everything should use supplies and thus require maintenance.

As far as food goes, leave that out of the game. Some races might not require intake of organic substances to live (mobile plants). Lets just consider organics, to be components or supplies that are derived from organic sources such as oil, pLastics, etc.