Was the First Order actually supposed to be a government in control of trillions of people? I'm not sure how they maintained that order with such limited ships or how they plan to maintain order with even fewer ships now.
Basically it sounds like the First Order is a conquering Force. They talked about Rose's backstory for example. The First Order showed up at her planet and strip mined it of all resources, and then basically when they were done they took the people that they wanted, and shelled the planet.
So my guess, is that the planets that the First Order Controls, are basically resource hubs with a weakened population, and they leave enough of a detachment there to keep control.
The Empire gained power via taking control of the democratic republic. Presumably were able to use infrastructure already in place on various planets.
Palpatine planned for every eventuality, that's what operation Cinder was. Basically if he was killed off then the Empire was too weak for his greatness and a more pure Empire would have to rise. So basically while he was ruling he established store houses and weapons depots out in Wild Space, he also sent a Super Star Destroyer out there with the best and brightest of his Empire.
If the First Galactic Empire fell, then Operation Cinder was put into effect, which meant that the remnant of the Empire went around destroying everything in the Empire, first of all to weaken a New Republic, second of all to kill off those too weak or flawed to serve the Empire. Those that were strong enough received the coordinates to Wild Space, where the Empire would rebuild as basically pure strength, the brightest and Strongest of the Empire.
The name First Order came from Rae Sloane who issued the first order which was to make a better Empire.
If the FO has no support from any planets, and the only forces they have are the ones that are currently surviving, are they just a rogue group of terrorists at this point? Surely some wealthy planet has the resources to deal with them?
The entire government of the First Order was on that ship, it was the capital, the logic being that they could never be defeated by one strike on one planet or base, the Supremecy just floated out there, the big mistake was on Snoke for actually bringing it into play.
Think of it as a floating island supported by planets too enslaved and too weak and too disciplined to form a rebellion.
The first order strategy was actually pretty smart, because they spent a lot of time advancing and designing advanced weapons, they might be smaller and more concentrated then the Empire was, but they were extremely well prepared and competent.
Plus by not growing into an actual Empire and staying small, the New Republic ignored them as not a threat and went about the business of coming to a peaceful resolution with the Old Empire, right to the point of inviting them into the government, where the Imperial Representatives tied things up in knots, and helped the New Republic to basically disarm, and beat the swords into plow shares.
Then when the First Order decided it was time, those old Imperial Worlds defected and gave the New Order, not only a big foothold in the inner rim, but also resource rich, wealth loyal worlds. They basically shifted the balance over night, but the New Republic still didn't see them as a threat, because they didn't see that the true power of the First Order wasn't in numbers, but in the pure concentrated ability of a relatively small force.
With the Republic in denial, and with the Resistance being tiny and not well funded, and with no ship yard or training facilities to target because they were all on one overwhelming mobile platform, weakening the New Order would have been extremely tough.
Is this whole thing just a handful of people just sorting out their personal beef at this point?
The funny thing is that its not a beef per say, the First Order was never about avenging Palpatine's death, that was the lie that sold Operation Cinder. They were never about taking back the Empire.
The officers that started the first order believed though the message that Palpatine put out there. That freedom and democracy are really agents of chaos and the galaxy is too big to allow that kind of chaos. That a galaxy wide government, needed to be all on the same page and that no strife could ever be allowed or you'd see civil war without end.
They were all about what they believed which was harmony through discipline and the imposition of order.
JJ Abrahms basically stated the idea of the new order came from a late night discussions about the Nazi's fleeing to Brazil. What would happen if they had gotten there after Hitler's death and spent that time refining, and rearming and even redefining Nazism without the hatred based philsophy of Adolf Hitler.
So then you spin it.
What if the Empire went into hiding and spent 40 years developing its military effectiveness, and training and weapons, and didn't waste time on the things that caused the cracks in the Empire which was Palpatine itself.