I have kinda reached a dead end with the engine mods, barring the possibility that people will accept a single massive (like 2000kt massive!
) engine module for the Planet Killers that gives something like a 10-speed bonus.
The problem, as we all know by now, is the 255 limit to engines. Now, without bonus speeds, the planet killers can only move at speed 3, even if they devote 100% of their space to engines!
Unfortunately, as we know from "A Call to Arms" fleets were not limited by the speed of their planet-killers.
Now, since the speed of planet-killers will be determined almost exclusively by the bonus movement assigned by their engines, it seems that the only way to make them work is with a huge bonus, with a correspondingly huge component that provides the bonus (else other ships will use the component and get the bonus "unfairly.")
The system I will propose will take care of ships through 1250k tons very nicely, and through 2000kt with a slight loss of top speed. But the 5000kt ships simply throw all the rules out the window.
So, can people live with such a component? PF, can we get the AI to use it?