First off, my apologies if I've missed a pre-existing thread for this.
With the kind of ups and downs which have been in play as of 3145, there's been a lot of talk generated by fans of various factions involved. Davion fans have been worrying about how they hold back the Red Green Show, Liao and Kurita loyalists are wondering when the other shoe is going to drop, everyone over on the anti-spinward side of the map is trying to work out what's going to hapen next, and the Homeworld Clan fans have been speculating on when, or even if, their favoured factions will join the fray. And so on and so forth.
But when it comes to the Republic of the Sphere itself, or its current division into the Fortress and the Remnant, there seems to be more talk around or about them than as them, if that makes sense. (To put it another way, many people seem to be talking about the fate of the Republic as it would potentially affect their chosen faction, but not in the sense of worrying about them as their own.)
And even looking back from the precipice of 3145, there are other venues in which the Republic has been, or will be, presented; such as Field Manual: 3085 and the upcoming Historical: Wars of the Republic Era. But to use the Capellan Crusades as an example, there seem to be more Capellan fans looking to see their side of events than Republic fans doing the same on their own side.
So, I guess my question is this; where are the fans of the Republic of the Sphere?
Even the Terran Hegemony has its fanbase, no doubt bolstered by the Star League Era books charting its rise and fall. But if there is any sort of sizeable fanbase on the boards for the Republic, despite (or, perhaps, because of?) the central role it plays from 3081 through (at least) 3145, it seems to be fairly quiet.
Or are the Republic fans out there simply holding their breath for the data in Field Manual: 3145 before really getting the discussion on "their" faction going?