Warfare system - balancing ideas

[Rockinsince87]

These are really good points.

Yes City loyalty was good. I know some did not like it but honestly it was realistic. There will be resistance always. 
I do like the idea of large empires having to struggle with loyalty that is realistic.

2&4 - Is a bit tricky yes. I like the idea of the new troop system. 

I would not limit the ship size. There are better solutions to that. 
Such as:
- Maintenance costs and consequences that require regular overhauls, meaning you can only travel so far from a yard that can perform the maintenance
   - Allow for a maintenance module that the bigger it is the longer you can be away from the yard
- Sensor overhauls change how ships work, passive/active design (allow for role based design) Sliders like resolution and range would be used for the customization of the modules (Thermal sensors and EM sensors) + Targeting Sensors
   - Thermal Signatures
     - Reactor size of ships
     - Colonies give off heat the bigger they are
        - Colonies can use planet and or solar system buffs to mask this to a degree
   - EM Signatures
      - Ships emit this based on output of power/systems
         - Hull armor that reduces this signature (not the best armor but good for stealth) 
         - Warp signatures would fall under this but would require higher resolution 
    - Active Sensors/Targeting computers
       - Different sizes of the module can have different capabilities
       - The moment you start sending out active scans everyone can see you
     
There is a ton more and I can go on forever but changes like this are required to prevent a one sided conflict regarding ships.