FWIW, this is what we determined as the strength for Exodus. Here's a tidbit from a future episode:
Quote:
After the Battle of Molokay, where the 5th fleet was destroyed, the Colonial Congress opted to review the status of all Colonial fighting forces. The wholesale destruction of so many ships and crews, including the Battlestar Pegasus, inspired protests from the Pacifist Movement unlike any previously seen. They introduced theories that the battlestars, massive armored fighting ships capable of waging war across a dozen systems simultaneously, were actually a destabilizing element that helped prolong humanity’s conflict with the machine race. By employing warships of such power and prominence, the Colonial fleet was emboldened to launch attacks that forced the Cylons to respond in kind. This enflamed a continuing circle of violence that blinded leaders to other solutions that would end the destruction.
Conservative politicians, all former military officers, wholly denounced such ignorant thinking. They argued that the Colonial Fleet needed more battlestars as they were the centerpiece of the forces that not only inflicted so much damage against the enemy but also repelled their advances well before they threatened the integrity of the homeland. They pointed to the exploits of the Columbia and its successes as the best example of the great service the battlestars provided. The 14 battlestars still in service were the strength that kept the Cylons at bay.
The Pacifists were enraged. They detailed the great logistical burden even a single Battlestar inflicted on the people. The financial drain alone was staggering. The crew needed to operate each of these tremendous starships was greater than would be required if additional fleets of fighting craft were introduced into the forces. Since one Battlestar could only be in a single location at any given time, the military was actually undercutting its own fighting ability and emboldening its commanders to conduct operations that were better designed to give them personal glory than bring an end to the war.
These arguments gave the moderate leaders, always seeking some advantage to placate all sides of the political spectrum, an opportunity and they seized it. They proposed that the battlestars be recognized as critical elements of the military but that they be limited to a total of 12. With this, each of the 12 Colonies of Man would assume responsibility for manning and maintaining their own Battlestar, evenly distributing the burden among all. It was a controversial initiative that met much opposition but it finally passed. The two oldest battlestars were stripped clean and mothballed. The remaining ships were arranged into four fleets, with the Battlestar of the most prominent planets assuming the command positions.
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With this setup, we established that five battlestars went with the president. The rest were deployed in guard actions. The three baseships referrenced were the ones that directly attacked the president's fleet and then swept in to hit Caprica. Other warships engaged in the overall assault, smashing the Colonial fleet from the sides and then hitting their own target planets. Eleven battlestars were destroyed in all, leaving the Galactica "the last battlestar".
Its admittedly an after-the-fact patch to correct limitations imposed by the cost of special effects in the late 70s and some on-the-fly writing but it seemed to follow the "official" sources pretty well and stick with the fan accepted concept of 12 battlestars.
It doesn't mean its right in line with what Larson originally intended, but that's the best version we could come up with.
BTW - I like this discussion.
Sandy
