Built as a LTT expressly for towing captured galactic races pods.

Not a success, though several were built. Pods block the rear F torps?

By James B. Pennington (Cutlass401) on Monday, April 09, 2007 - 05:09 pm: Edit

could not any ISC ship tractor a captured pod back to base?

I doubt the ISC would capture so many pods that they would need a special ship just for that task.

JBP

By Michael C. Grafton (Mike_Grafton) on Monday, April 09, 2007 - 06:01 pm: Edit

As far as I know you have to have your "tug" attached to achieve high warp with a pod/ pallet in tow.

And I would think the reverse. All those captured freighters that get shot up engines/ comtrol modules because they won't surrender, pods at bases captured/ destroyed, on the ground waiting pickup, empties sitting in orbit or whereever.

PLUS everyone BUT the ISC (and the Gorns somewhat) use the standard sized pods (more or less per the CL article). So when the ISC get some stuff from planet XYZ, do they leave one of their unique pods for a load? Sit around on their hands while loading? What about captured CommPlat/ System Activity Stations and such? All are configured AFAIK to be toted as galactic pods. And the ISC have Unique pods, in fact they have unique tug and LTT pods, strangely enough.

PLUS there has to be trade with the major powers as they settle in for the occupation. You don't really think they send all their food and supplies from the ISC homestars, do you? MOSTLY they will use captured, bought or ISC built freighters, but there are bound to be shipments that are vaulable enough to give this ship work.

For exampe, the Klingons have a spybase/ minibase station sitting at NoWhereIstan behind a minefield (to deter random raiders and Orions) with a couple ISF ships. The ISC capture it (why would the Klinks self destruct, when they might be recapturing it soon?) or they will sit at range 15 plus and bombard it to destruction safe from the defenders weapons (the phaser 1s, PPD and Plasma S of a CS, DD, 2 FF echelon should be fine after they run out of weasels). Then the ISC thinks HMM, this would be better at OverThereIstan. So they disassemble it, and tote it on this ship.

I could be understanding the deal worng, but in my pointy head it is perfectly understandable and reasonable.

By Jim Davies (Mudfoot) on Tuesday, April 10, 2007 - 05:38 pm: Edit

As a general rule, you can move any pod by clamping a freighter around it. It'll be slow and non-functional, but it works. Likewise you can drag pretty much any pod around with any tug, though again it'll simply be a big box hit as Cargo.

So there's no need for a specialist ship.

By Michael C. Grafton (Mike_Grafton) on Tuesday, April 10, 2007 - 06:03 pm: Edit

Jim, the ISC have unique tugs that do NOT use the normal pods, as I am sure you are aware.

Would you take a freighter along on a logistics raid? As SVCs canon states, one of the goals of the pacification, besides seperating the races, was to throttle back their economies by reducing trade.

BESIDES, how else can you get some use from the captured galactic battle, carrier and SCS pods?

Especially once the Andros carve up the ISC corridors, the ISC will be scrambling.

All I ask is for SVC to look at the concept and say yeah it agrees with the background (given the ISC unique pods for their two kinds of tugs) or NAY it is unneeded.

By John Trauger (Vorlonagent) on Tuesday, April 10, 2007 - 10:38 pm: Edit

The problem then becomes one of logistics.

OK so yo (the ISC) build this neato tug that's pod-compatible with, say klingon/kestrel/lyran pods. Great.

Where do you station it? Do you have any really good idea where the next usable enemy tug pod is going to be captured? Odds are the hull is going to sit around waiting for pods to turn up.

Another tug or freighter can bring the pod to the opportunity tug but that comes at the cost of whatever other war materials that ship could be moving instead.

It's a great idea if you can arrange for the opp tug to be present when pods are found, but it is a problem otherwise.

Then there's the question of matching pods. The opp tug can't run mismatched pods so to get full use out of it you have to be sure to capture 2 of what you want to put on it. Not problem for cargo pods probably, but a lot of other pods might only get captured as singletons.

The least likely pods to turn up are the combat variety because the combat ones are going to be on the tugs if possible. Not that you really want combat pods anyway. You don't want to have to pay the money to support the alien weapons technology and converting them to ISC tech can be expensive too (except kestrel pods).

So the pods that are most likley to be captured and would be the most use are the cargo pods, which are also the easiest for the ISC to manufacture.

"Here's a pod. Let's build a ship to use it" soulds like a good idea, but there are definite pitfalls.

By John Wyszynski (Starsabre) on Tuesday, April 10, 2007 - 11:00 pm: Edit

(R13.31) LIGHT TACTICAL TRANSPORT (LTT)
...
The LTT can carry (but not use) captured foreign pods ...

By Michael C. Grafton (Mike_Grafton) on Wednesday, April 11, 2007 - 09:11 am: Edit

OOh, John I think you have sunk my battleship.

By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Wednesday, April 11, 2007 - 09:07 pm: Edit

The ISC actually built their battleship? Cool...


Gary