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Is there a way to transfer EP from one power to another?

I was hoping to also to find a way an advanced empire could help a primitive power catch up in tech, but that seems to be absent.

In fact, the whole tech level part of the game seems to be very, very basic. If an empire starts out with a higher tech level than someone, they will always stay ahead. So much for my Haven ever making up ground on Manticore.

Of course the plus side is that Grayson will never become a juggernaught, like they do in the novels.

It depends upon how many EP the faction has to spare to put towards research...

If Haven can pile the pressure on the Manties then they may be spending their EPs on repairs and new vessels, and be unable to meet the research requirements for the year, enabling Haven to catch up.

Also remember that an empire can overspend on tech to push its advancement up to 2years per year,

Additionally espionage: Tech does give you a few options (as does one of the treaties IIRC).

Grayson does have the advantage that its tech target is relatively moderate,

However, generally you are correct, and I believe 2e may include some further ideas in this area,

As for transferring EPs, I seem to recall that it's possible, but can't offhand remember how,

I assume a transport can carry them and deliver them and they would be reported as Misc. income on the following turn.

How many could a transport carry? 10 seems excessive. Maybe 5?

jscott991 wrote:Is there a way to transfer EP from one power to another?

I was hoping to also to find a way an advanced empire could help a primitive power catch up in tech, but that seems to be absent.

If you haven't looked at them, there are a couple of treaty types in the campaign moderators guide which might help or give you a starting point.

The Research Treaty is one option which supports a yearly boost to the tech investment based on how much each partner invests. The other one (which may serve as a better starting point for what I think you are after) is the tribute treaty. As written it doesn't really cover the aid being sent to Grayson from Manticore, but it could probably be turned around and used as the basis of an economic aid treaty. There is likely a Naval Appropriation Treaty between them as well.

In addition, each of these treaties include some aspect of passing EP between states. In each case the treaty specifies the terms and amounts and then the transfers just happen. There is no requirement for a set amount of trade or transport fleets to support the transfer.

An empire can always transfers economic points to another power, and they do so simply by recording the order in their turn orders. For example, the Manticore player could include an order dispatching 20 EP to Grayson this turn. That money would be transported transparently by the background civilian fleet network between the two powers on that turn, arriving in the Grayson point pool as miscellaneous income on the following turn. No physical/manual transport of the EP is required.

It is fairly easy to fall behind on tech in 1E, especially if you end up having to pay so much in maintenance on your military that you simply can't afford tech payments. This is exacerbated if the Wartime Economy optional rules are in effect, in which case it is very common for a war weary empire to go into a marked state of decline after a war until they can manage to scrap or mothball enough military hardware to get their maintenance expense back under control. As Gareth mentioned, a power can get up to two tech advances per turn if they overpay, so it is possible for an empire to catch up over time, but it will take time.