What problems would the Drifters from Peacekeepers of Sol and the Craftworld Aeldari face in maintaining large space fleets, and how could they survive?
Short answerShipborne societies have limited space, resources, and replacement populations; trade and immigration can help, but an irreplaceable habitat's destruction permanently reduces the fleet and society supporting it.
NotesLiving aboard a ship limits the space available to expand a population or build more industry. Warhammer 40,000's Craftworlds have grown since leaving the Aeldari empire, but the account here treats destroyed Craftworlds as irreplaceable. Each loss removes a population and the industrial base that supports its fleet together. Planet-bound societies have more resources and room with which to recover. Peacekeepers of Sol's Drifters partly offset their constraints through trade and by accepting people from planets. The Aeldari's fictional restrictions on population and soul replacement make their predicament more severe than an ordinary shortage of living space.