Now , I honestly know from personal expirience exactly how hard it is to make a faction work , when there is another one , bigger and better , that has already been created.
Having what looks to be the full support of the [RM] is one , very importnant step. Also , them being willing to give you two new ships is something that will surely atract people to the RFP|. But even that , might not be enought.
Here are two little suggestions that I have in mind.
First , why do you not name those two ships , the Command Centre and the HQ ? Simply having a plain names like that is not enought to capture people's imaginations and atract them to the faction. It may seem like a simple cosmetic ussue , but I assure you that names / and genaral naming , have alot to offer in terms of flavour , to any faction. That is even more important for factions that are trying to be the " every day man " of discovery. Rheinland offers , in my opinion , the best naming system of all. I strongly suggest you pick two , strong names for those ships. Cawdor is a master at giving German/Rheinland names to ships , you can contact him for advice if you can't choose yourselfs. Not only that , you can ask people from the [RM] , I'm sure they wont mind.
Another small thing that in my opinion will make you more popular. Imagine that someone from the RFP| realy needs to assist his felow rheinlanders in chasing of enemy ships of capital class from his home. Now , if that player is in something like the Phantom , he will feel completely useless in such a sittuation , but not only that he'll loose interest in being the "smallest" and "weakest" in that sittuation. Aldo his RP should indicate exactly that , we all know that the player has to be looked upon as a person aswell. And no person likes to be in such a dead-end sittuation. For that reason , I suggest (after the new mode is released. Cummon release it already!!!!!) creating a seperate , shared accounts that contain one / two SHB(s) and maby a SHF. That way the person would still like to get promoted , because he'll want to have one of those on his own , but at the same time have access to better tech. , if he is not able to be as active as other members. Those ships , if created , should be given to players with ranks , that don't permit them to have their own.