Astari development update

Today's session pushed V0.6 from research tooling into something that plays like a war story.

Research & loadouts

• Research tree with branch tabs (Exploration, Industry, Science, Ships, Colony)
• Scientists and Engineers spent on projects
• Module craft gated by completed research
• Individual ship hull sheets (no more ambiguous stacks)
• Fit scanners, shields, weapons, drives on specific hulls

Surveys

• Surveys are timed missions (travel + on-site + return)
• Intel only lands when the Scout returns; hull is spent on a successful survey
• Cancel supported: return time based on time already spent outbound
• Live countdown on en-route surveys

Harvesters & threat

• Alien fleets seed at the galaxy foothold (Raiders, Cutters, Barges)
• Raids commit real ships; survivors return after resolution
• Inbound threat power hidden until workforce allocation locks (or Deep Space Radar research)

Combat (the big one)

• Replaced single-roll / best-of-3 dice with two-stage HP combat
• Orbit first: ships and modules form HP pools; both sides fire every volley
• Ground only if orbit falls
• d20 scales damage (Nat 20 / Nat 1 swing a volley, not the whole war)
• Holding orbit (no boots on the ground) grants a stronger morale win
• Full combat reports with orbit/ground HP tracks and volley logs

Quality of life

• Fleet link in main nav and on the Military tab
• Combat report pages (`combat_report.php?id=`)

Looking at V0.7

• Pilots & Commanders as living military specialists (grades, assignment, permanent loss)
• Heroes feeding orbit/ground HP and offense
• Further balance on volley damage and Harvester growth

Boots never touched the dirt tonight — that's the goal.