Preliminary memo. Concept document to follow when available.

This would be an Omega expansion involving "warships" that being later-history ships which have adequate (or more than adequate) warp power.

Unlike previous plans to split the 22 races across two products with both products having gunboats and "warships" this product will focus only on warships.

I don't have a moderator yet.

NOTE: NO MATTER WHAT, only one of the three Omega products will get printed, but it's a fair bet one of them will be.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Saturday, January 27, 2007 - 03:57 pm: Edit

Note on all three Omega modules.

One is about "the First Great War", one is about "fast patrol ships" (along with PFTs and maybe SCS and DCS ships), and one is about "warships" (late period, fully capable, fight the alpha ships dead even). Anything that doesn't fit those categories (say, additional races like the zosmans, Paravians, Jindarian freehold) is not currently under development and won't be considered. Each topic will have a different moderator. I have a volunteer for First Great War and would consider offers to moderate the other two.

Only one will be selected in the May 07 countersheet batch, but it's 95% likely that ONE of the three WILL be selected.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Wednesday, January 31, 2007 - 06:55 pm: Edit

Petrick is working on the concept document.

The general idea is to pick four classes (say, CB, CW, DW, BCH, maybe not those four) and do them for the 20-odd races, making a nice 80-page SSD book of "modern, full speed, 30 points of movement" ships while preserving the unique flavor of Omega. Some races won't need ships (or at least not four) and can donate their pages to others. Some may need extra space and the SSD book could grown to 96 pages.

By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Tuesday, July 02, 2013 - 11:14 am: Edit

Thanks for opening this thread for a fresh round of discussion!


At present, most Omega fleets have the equivalent of Alpha Octant Middle Years fleets. In most cases, frigates can (just) go speed 31, destroyers speed 29, light cruisers 28, heavy cruisers 27, and dreadnoughts 25. (The Federal Republic have a slight advantage, in that all of their ships from CL down can go speed 31. But their MC 1 cruisers are currently limited to speed 29, and their DN at speed 27. While most of the Bolosco fleet is capped at speed 25, due to those ships being designed to act as tugs.)

I suppose the closest equivalent is how the Middle Years Kzintis and Hydrans have a number of slower-than-average ships in their pre-refit fleets.


In order to get past this, there are three waves of historical development, in terms of what we know to happen for the "normal" empires (those with tactical warp drive who use starships that aren't tamed space monsters).

In Y173, the Mæsrons (with FRA assistance) make a "major breakthrough", which allows them to start fielding cruisers capable of going at speed 31.

In Y187, the Mæsrons and FRA make another joint advancement, by developing the first war cruisers and war destroyers seen in the Omega Octant. (Presumably the prior speed-31 ships were still built to peacetime standards.)

And in Y198, the Mæsrons (them again) take the first steps towards X-technology, but mostly in isolation due to the Andromedan invasion. They make the choice to send samples of X-tech (and the "volatile warp" gunboat emgines shown in Module Omega 5) to their neighbours and former rivals, as a last throw of the dice in order to avoid seeing the entire octant fall to the invaders.

(It's not known yet if any of the Omega empires go on to develop second-generation X-technology prior to the end of the timeline covered in the data tapes.)


In all cases, one key note is that each technology type takes time to spread across the Octant; and that in some cases, they may not be adopted at all. For example, of the two speed-31 cruisers available to the Vari in Captain's Log #23, the earlier of the two (the Command Cruiser) has a YIS date of Y177. The other ship, the Wing Cruiser (intended to replace the light cruiser) enters service in Y185.

(The gunboats in the last module are another example of this. It takes almost a decade for each of the operating empires to adopt their own PFs, highlighting the trouble the Mæsrons had in running the Andromedan gauntlet.)


So, all in, that is three waves of advancement so far, and a number of questions to ask at each step. (Even if X-ships aren't on the table for now, the question of if/when they might appear may still be worth clarifying in terms of how it may affect the other two categories.)


*First off is this question: When the first move to speed-31 happens, can an empire refit their existing ships to go at that speed, or do they need to build a brand new hull type instead?

The Vari decided to build the WC (which is still techncially a "pre-war" ship, in terms of the standards it was built to) in large numbers as a replacement of the CL. But did that mean the CL itself was incapable of having its engines upgraded, or did the Vari simply prefer to switch to the new ships instead?

(Personally, I like the idea of this being a different answer for each empire. While some empires may be able to refit their older ships, others should perhaps be forced to wait until the new generation comes along. Kind of like what happened to the Eneen out in the Lesser Magellanic Cloud, who were stuck with clunkers in their line fleets until they switched to their "war" classes.)


*When the first "war" hulls show up, is the operating empire able to upgrade a "peacetime" hull to this class (akin to how the Lyrans can turn a DD into a CW), or do they have to build brand new warships mostly or wholly from scratch (as what happened when the Romulans developed the SparrowHawk, or when the WYNs built the fish ships)?

Again, this should arguably give a different answer for different empires. Some Omega empires already have certain hull limitations that might make a brand new hull type necessary (as what happened to the Mæsrons; their current DN maxed out the degree of expansion possible with the original aft firing platorm, requiring them to build an entirely new DNH when the time came for one). Others might have more options available.


*And in terms of X-technology, which (if any) of the older hulls can incorporate this kind of technology?

This may not need to be answered right away (except perhaps to decide if a given empire needs to build all of its X-ships to peacetime standards or not); but given how late some of the other warp drive advancements are in the octant, there may be a degree of overlap in terms of when an empire starts fielding both "war" classes and X-ships (and gunboats, for that matter).


This is a lot to try and tackle in a single post, so I plan to do separate posts below for different groups; each based on the empires' respective alignments during the Second Great War of Y180-Y191. (This is the largest multi-sided conflict known to date, and the era in which the speed-31 ships and "war" classes started to come into their own.)

The first group will be the published members of the United Alliance (Union), the second will be those in the Imperial Bloc, while the various Mercenary and Non-Aligned powers will also be grouped together.

By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Tuesday, July 02, 2013 - 12:44 pm: Edit

Second Great War - United Alliance (Union)

The Union is the closest Omega equivalent to the General War's Grand Alliance. While some empires joined the war out of respect for their embattled allies, others signed up out of more cynical reasons (mainly in order to prevent the Bloc empires from gaining an advantage).

The list below is ordered in terms of when each empire joined the fray in the Second Great War.


*The Mæsron Alliance:

The Second Great War started when the Vulpa insurgents allied with the Sig-infested Nucian Treska Clan to attack the Mæsron Alliance in Y180. The Mæsrons were the pioneers of all three waves of "standard" warp drive advancement listed above. But they have questions to answer regarding how they go about integrating them.

- Can they refit their "middle years" ships? Possibly. It may be as simple for them as to install 15-box warp nacelles into their heavy cruisers, and so forth. But then, we don't know for certain what kind of engineering limitations these base hulls have. Personally, I'd just allow them to have "plus-refits" for the ships involved; 15-box nacelles for the CA, 10-box nacelles for the CL, 8-box for the DD. (Maybe say that the older Wallimi SR could not be upgraded, due to its older hull design; and that the DN was too big for the Masrons to upgrade.)

- Are they required to build wholly new "war" classes? Personally, I'd say yes. What I would like to see is the Alliance engineering corps take the time to develop a brand new firing platform, as well as a set of hull types (from DW through to DNH) designed from the keel up to integrate them. Since they need to build a brand new DNH anyway, I think it would be an ideal time to make the "war" fleet work as a cohesive whole, akin to the Baduvai and Eneen "war" series out in the LMC.

- What about X-ships? The Mæsrons seems to be fairly "normal" in terms of starship construction. Plus they are co-operating with the Aurorans, who would presumably be under similar restrictions as their Alpha Octant cousins. So, regardless of the base hull type used for X-tech, presumably a familiar set of cut-off points are in play; no SC 2 X-ships, and all hulls need to be built to peacetime standards. (Perhaps the first X-ships might be based on older refits through the end of Operation Concerted Strike, and that the Alliance was only in a position to afford X-hull versions of wartime-hulls-built-to-peacetime-standards during the subsequent Mæsron Renaissance.)


*The Federal Republic of Aurora:

The FRA jumped into the 2GW in Y181, in response to the Trobrin entry earlier that same year. As noted in the previous post, they already have something of a head start in this regard, courtesy of their Star Fleet (with a dash of Klingon) heritage.

- Can they refit their "middle years" ships? I'd say yes. Just as the Terran hulls in Alpha were rugged enough to simply take off the older nacelles and put new ones in their place, I'd just go ahead and do the same for the CLA and BC. The only issue there is that the BC, with a YIS of Y177, is shown to have the same 14-box nacelles as the CLA. This might indicate how the Aurorans may have struggled to pay for their "plus refits" while trying to juggle all of their other priorities. (They may have simply not had enough 15-box nacelles to upgrade all of their MC 1 hulls until later in the timeline.)

- Are they required to build wholly new "war" classes? This might be a personal request seeping in here, but I really want the Aurorans to get a brand new series of "war" classes; ones built from the keel up to do for the FRA what the SparrowHawks and fish ships do for the Romulans and WYNs respectively. By Y187, I would argue that the Aurorans had finally matured enough as an Omega power to have brand new ships of their own design, without the kind of jury-rigging and odd mating of older designs seen in prior generations. (A good case of this shift would be in the destroyer class. The FRA DD is an effective ship, but its awkward hybrid appearance betrays how the class only happened because one of the Klingon ships that came over with Kraknora got itself crippled and ripe for reverse-engineering. By the time the FRA start designing a war destroyer, I would hope they would prefer to go with a more fully integrated hull design, both in its own sake and in how it works alongside their other "war" clsses.)

- What about X-ships? There is no guarantee that FRA X-ships will look anything like those of their Federation counterparts. As with the "volatile warp" engines used in their conjectural gunboats (but in reverse), the template of X-conversion will have to be worked out for the Mæsrons first and then brought over to try and make an Auroran X-ship work. But again, no SC 2 X-ships and the requirement for "peacetime" standards would still apply.


*The Probr Revolution:

The Probr joined the Union in Y182, in defence of the Mæsrons and out of respect for the FRA. (This would make it their third of four knwon major wars aganst the Trobrin Empire.) One thing that might make Probr interesting is the nature of their starship construction. With a highly decentralised array of yards building each hull and wing component (as was done for the Romualn Hawks), and an eye towards cutting corners in terms of cost (due to the perilous state of the Revolution's finances), they would have an interesting set of options to explore.

- Can they refit their "middle years" ships? Maybe, but maybe not. Ostensibly, one could simply build better wings and switch them in on the current hull forms, or perhaps upgrade the warp drives in the central hulls themselves. But then, what if the same methods of construction that allows the Probr to assemble these hull types into different classes of ship fails to lend itself well to such upgrades? Or, what if the investment required to build up a series of better engines can only be covered by the Supreme Council if it is tied to a series of new hull types optimised to use them?

- Are they required to build wholly new "war" classes? Depending on the answer to the first question, this may be a very important issue for the Revolution. I'd say that they could take the time to work out what a new base hull (and set of wing types) might look like, and then invest in the infrastructure needed to do all of these ships in the one go as a long-term effort. So you'd have a brand new centre hull section plugged into new (small) wings for a DW, two of these new hull types linked together and with two (new) medium wings to get an NCA, and three of these new hulls with a pair of (new) large wings to get a heavy dreadnought. (A CW would be a single new hull with two of the NCA's medium wings.) The new hulls and wings may be incompatible with the older wings, but that might just be something the Probr would have to live with.

- What about X-ships? The Probr habit of cutting corners might make adopting X-ships difficult. But, on the other hand, perhaps they are unique in terms of what standard of base hull they can add X-technology to? (They might still not be able to use "wartime" hulls right away, but perhaps they only partially need to be built to peacetime standards, where another empire would have to go the whole hog. So, in F&E terms, the Probr would pay one less EP to build a wartime hull to "good nough for X-conversion" standards, before spending the XTPs needed to upgrade the ship to X-technology.) They would have no SC 2 X-ships.


*The Koligahr Solidarity:

The Koligahr joined the 2GW in Y182, who attacked the Vari Combine when two of the three Vari cells who had allied with the Trobrin in the Superpower Wars declared war against the Union. Their hips are constructed in stages, with each sphere built underwater (where the aquatic Koligahr can operate freely) and launched into space where a fleet yard installs each sphere into a lattice that results in a Koligahr warship. As with the Probr, this unorthodox construction technique might make things quite interesting.

- Can they refit their "middle years" ships? I'd say yes. Simply put, the Koligahr would build new "engine spheres" underwater, launch them into orbit, and have their fleet yards install them onto their pre-existing ships. This might lead to a few compromises here and there, however; the current 13-box engine-spheres on the CA also mount a pair of PM-1s apiece. Perhaps the 15-box engines of the "plus refit" can only be built by taking out the microphasers, forcing the Koligahr to find somewhere else on the ship to install these weapons instead (and to decide what else might ned to be taken out in order to make room for them). That might give the refitted ships an interesting dynamic, in that the increased warp power comes at the cost of having to re-think one's weapon options.

- Are they required to build wholly new "war" classes? Maybe yes and no? It could be that the spheres needed to be built for wartime ships are intended to work along with a number of the "peacetime" spheres when it comes to assembling the ship. Or it may be that none of the old spheres work with the new ones, forcing the Koligahr to build entirely new "war" types. Even if the former was the case, you wouldn't technically be upgrading an old ship; rather, you'd be taking out the spheres you can use in the new ship, combining them with the new ones, and framing them around a new shared lattice in order to hold the ship together. (So, technically, you can gut an older ship to get a newer one, but through a more convoluted process than others might go through.)

- What about X-ships? This could be an important question. Can the Koligahr install X-tech into their current spheres, or do their "X-spheres" (and X-lattices) need to be entirely new construction? If the former, perhaps they can get a discount on their X-tech war class upgrades, if part of the base hull would have been built using peacetime spheres (as in the idea from the prior paragraph). Still no SC 2 X-ships, though.


*The Hivers:

The Hivers were in the process of fighting their own private war (with the Alunda) before being inadvertedly drafted into the Second Great War. (The Hivers and Alunda went at it once again in Y181. When the Vari made a failed attempt to establish the Vari Buffer between the two rivals that same year, the Hivers attacked the Vari in response. So, when the Vari entered the 2W, they essentially dragged the Hivers and Alunda into the fray with them.) The key element for the Hivers is their two-sizes-down design setup, where each ship class is two steps down from what most of their neighbours would field.

- Can they refit their "middle years" ships? That depends on what clases are being talked about. Their "frigates" are fighters, which can have WBPs already (though few Hives use them). Their "destroyers" are PF-sized, but I have an idea about those I want to go back to a bit later. Their larger ships may, or may not, be able to incorporate larger warp engines as "plus refits". It may depend on how late the concept of speed-31 warp technology spreads to the Hives, and how quickly they are able to integrate it (if at all).

- Are they required to build wholly new "war" classes? Again, this would vary class-by-class. They are said to have "heavy frigates" (heavy fighters) that might be worth publishing as their "war frigates". So far as "war destroyers" go, I like the idea of giving them the same "volatile warp" technology seen in Module Omega 5, and lettimg them use this tech to build what they would consider to be war destroyers. If they are capable of building larger "war" classes, the reduction in service life would not be a problem for the Hivers, whose drones are expected to die en masse to protect their Queens (or who mostly kill themselves anyway once their home Queen is dead).

- What about X-ships? They are known to have X-ships in service by Y202, which are noted as being countered by the Alunda's new "Sig-Tech" Host ships. Uniquely, they may be in a position to field an "X-dreadnought", since their DNs are SC 3. Whether or not they could field a Barb-X (akin to a Stinger-X) remaisn to be seen, but I would be reluctant to see them get an X-tech version of their PF/"destroyer" class.


*The Chlorophon Association:

The Chlorophons somewhat reluctantly joined the Union in Y183. Their ships are already quite different to the Omega norm, in that they are relatively fast (but still not speed-31 in cruiser size) but have poor agility and awkward MC rates. How they move forward will depend to a great deal on how they decide to move forward as a newly independent realm.

- Can they refit their "middle years" ships? I'd probably say yes, if only to make things less awkward for them. The Phons are limited in ship numbers mainly due to a shortage in qualified "pilots" (young Phons small enough to fit in a starship and adventurous enough to venture into space). Given that their ships are designed to allow the Phon to be removed and replaced (how exactly this is done is not quite clear), I'd simply have it that a new speed-30 aft boom and warp engine is installed in such-and-such a year when a new commander is assigned to the ship. (Perhaps their DNH would be designed as a speed-31 hull from the outset.)

- Are they required to build wholly new "war" classes? This is going to be something of a problem. If the Phons insist in using themselves to fly their ships (a role for which Keepers are wholly unsuited), the answer will be no. Each Phon needs an on-board support ecosystem that likely cannot be cut corners on in order to work. However, it is noted that numerous "exile species" were left behind when the Mæsrons (and later the Probr) withdrew from Association space, akin to how the Hydrans were left with numerous Klingon and Lyran subject species as "exiles" post-Liberation. If these exiles are loyal enough (which, given how much they depend on Phon goodwill and protection to survive, should be a given), perhaps the Phons might be willing to augment their fleet numbers by overseeing the construction of a few smaller "war" classes for use by the exiles? (Perhaps nothing bigger than a CW, in order to ensure the Phons themselves retain the size advantage.)

- What about X-ships? X-ships are likely going to be a big deal for the Phons, as a way to finally do something about making the most of the starship hulls they have on hand. If all of their "Phon-flown" hulls are decided to be built to peacetime standards in any event, they could invest in X-technology as a priority once the technology reaches the Association. Whether or not they would also design an "exile" X-ship to bolster their forces might be another matter, but those (were they to exist) might probably need to be built anew to peaetime standards before installing X-technology.


*The Branthodon Regime:

The Branthodons were the last major addition to the Union side of the 2GW, joining the fight in Y185 at the behest of the Hivers. Unfortunately for them, this would signal thh beginning of the end for the Regime, as the Alunda decided to launch the Genocide Operation in Y187, making it all the way to the Branthodon homeworld in Y189. This brought an end to the Branthodons as a space-faring power in the Omega Octant.

- Can they refit their "middle years" ships? No. Their dragonships already have optional upgrades in the OMRB, and are dangerous enough in their own right.

- Are they required to build wholly new "war" classes? Also no. To the Branthodons, "cutting corners" with a Dragonship clone means hatching it at a certain size, or stopping its growth at a certain age before deploying it. "War" hulls, as another empire might understand it, simply do not fit into this paradigm.

- What about X-ships? And no again, for the simple reason that the Regime is long gone by the time X-tech becomes a reality. And that's before trying to work out exactly how one might go about "converting" a dragonship to the equivalent of X-tech in the first place. The only empire to evwntually show up in what was once Branthodon space that would have to worry about X-technology will be the as-yet-unpublished Echarri Dynasty.


That should cover the Union empires. Next up will be the Bloc.

By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Tuesday, July 02, 2013 - 01:42 pm: Edit

Second Great War - Imperial Bloc

The Bloc is the Second Great War's answer to the General War's Coalition. As with the Union, not all Bloc members joined for the same reasons, and nor did they all stay "on point" in terms of their primary strategies.


*The Sigvirion Expansion:

The Sigs were one of the (secret) instigators of the Second Great War. The Nucian Treska Clan (which had been wholly taken over by the Sigs) started the war alongside the Vulpa insurgents. Only in Y181 (when the Mæsrons uncovered the truth behind the Sigvirion takeover of the Treska) did the Sigs drop the façade and start building their own ships.

- Can they refit their "middle years" ships? Well... They currently have an "NCA" and "NFF", but those are basically old hull types refitted to use newer weapons (such as wide-angle phasers). They are already quite fast, but the way in which they are constructed (essentially as flying saucers) might make it difficult to take out the warp drive and install a better one.

- Are they required to build wholly new "war" classes? No - in that they would likely be defeated long before that becomes an issue. The "Treska" are destroyed in Y184, when other Nucian Clans (incensed at the prospect of a Sigvirion takeover when a Mæsron-supplied antivirus reveals dozens of Sig "spies" among their own people) make a rare show of co-operation to annihilate them. It's not quite clear how much longer the Sigs stayed in the war in their own right; but the next time they are heard from again, it's when they show up on the Alunda's front porch and offer to become their new chauffeurs.

- What about X-ships? Nope. Their route to "Pseudo-X" tech lies elsehwere...


*The Trobrin Empire:

The Trobrin jump into the Second Great War in Y181, becoming the first Superpower to take part (and triggering the others to gradually turn what had been a more local conflict into an Octant-spanning clash of empires). The Trobrin have a particular way of doing things, that in my view should reflect on how they move their technology forward.

- Can they refit their "middle years" ships? Maybe. All of their warp engines are to aft, so perhaps could be removed and replaced with more powerful examples. (The CA has nine-box L and R warp engines and an eight-box C warp engine sitting between them. I'm sure there could be some combination of box additions that would allow them to go up to speed 31.) Or not; they might be stuck at the speeds they were built to fly at.

- Are they required to build wholly new "war" classes? I would say yes. And I would also say that they should perhaps stick with the same high-low mix they have already. Right now, there is no CL or DD in the "middle years" Trobrin fleet. Personally, rather than giving them war cruisers and war destroyers to fill the gap, I would rather see them get a war frigate and a new heavy cruiser, with nothing (save for a war frigate leader) in between. Perhaps the Trobrin have problems making their warp engines power a ship with a MC of .5 or .66/.75. Or maybe they don't see the need for them. Or maybe they are simply too stubborn in their doctrinal mindset to admit to what other empires might see as a notable gap in their fleet setup. As for the ships themsleves, they might still need armour (not least to act as a secondary food source for their silicate crews), but have to make certain decisions as to which kind of firepower options to go for.

- What about X-ships? There's no reason for the Trobrin not to build X-ships once they become an option. They may not be in a position to afford many of them prior to Operation Concerted Strike. The usual caveats of no SC 2 X-hulls and no base hulls built to wartime standards would apply here.


*The Vari Combine:

Two Vari cells jumped into the fray in Y182 at the Trobrin's behest. It's not clear if any other cells formally declared war on that front, but the Combine as a whole was by no means short of enemies in this time period. Uniquely, we actually have samples of speed-31 SSDs for the Vari, which can help when it comes to working out what else they might need.

- Can they refit their "middle years" ships? Given the examples of the CC and WC (both of which being wholly new designs), I'd say no. The Wing Cruiser is a "peacetime" hull (albeit one built in wartime), andis noted as being built in significant numbers and with several yet-to-be-published variants. I'd say this indicates the inability (or unsuitability) of the older hulls for this purpose. In any event, leaving more room for WC variants (or sister hulls, like a "wing frigate"?) would be a better use of SSD space than worrying about "plus refits" for their older ships.

- Are they required to build wholly new "war" classes? There are two ways to appraoch this, in my view. One is to say that yes, they are; just as the WC needed to be a new hull, so did the CW (were they to build one; perhaps the WC served that role for them instead). Another might be to turn to the older hulls and plug in a series of refits; if not to turn them into "true" war cruisers, at least perhaps to let them serve as "system defence" ships (akin to the Tholian CAN or the ISC NCA/NCS). I'd sooner lean towards the former, personally.

- What about X-ships? Nothing wholly new here. Since they don't build SC 2 ships and would have a lot of "peeacetime" WC hulls available by then, any surviving Vari cells capable of performing X-tech upgrades should have plenty of options in doing so. However, it might be something that only the Vriss really make a proper go of attempting, as part of their successful efforts to unite all Vari under their rule.


*The Alunda Host:

The Alunda were at war with the Hivers from Y181 already, but formally joined the Second Great War by attacking the Koligahr in Y183 and signing the Treaty of Kadaza that formally brought the Imperial Bloc into existence. However, as an empire with a distinctly biological approach to "starship" technology, they have a few problems - and opportunities - with this setup.

- Can they refit their "middle years" ships? I'm not so sure. The Alunda struggled to improve their Host ships, due to the limitations imposed by the host species' biology. (The male "wild" Alunda was frigate-sized, and enlarging captured samples to destroyer size was difficult. Similarly, the cruiser-sized female Alunda was a significant challenge to grow large enough to work as a dreadnought, and a below-average one at that.) I'd simply say that "plus refits" are beyond them.

- Are they required to build wholly new "war" classes? An Alunda Host ship is what it is. What can a living bio-ship cut corners on and still be able to function? I very much doubt this to be an option.

- What about X-ships? Here is the saving grace for the Alunda Host (at least prior to the Echarri conquest of their home space in Y218). A Sig refugee ship shows up in Y192, offering to take over and operate the Host ships. While the Alunda (well, the land-octopus Mirn operators) agreed, it wsn't until Y202 that "Sig-Tech" ships were confirmed to exist (when they were first encountered by Hiver X-ships in the wake of the Andromedan collapse post-Unity). To be clear, this is not the Sigs controlling the Alunda directly. Rather, the Sigs were taking over the bioligical interfaces which the Mirn used to control the bioships originally. (The Sigs weren't running the Alunda "brains" or "bodies", but were still offering an improvement over what the Mirn could do by themselves.) I could imagine an X2 "Sig-Tech" ship as being some form of Host creature grown from conception with Sig infestation factored in somehow; but it may be that such an option was simply impossible, even if the Echarri didn't derail things by then in any event. I suppose one upshot could be that the Alunda might be able to give a (partial) "Sig-Tech" refit to their dreadnought? That might be a unique option.


*The Worb Technocracy:

The Worb joined the Imperial Bloc in Y185, on the promise that the Vari would fully commit to a joint campaign against the Drex once the war was completed. However, their real focus remained on the Drex front, which only tapered off when the Andromedans and Souldra forced the Technocracy to look to its own defence. The need to make room for turrets makes most Worb ships quite large for their class, which may be a factor in their later development.

- Can they refit their "middle years" ships? In principle, the Worb may be able to remove the slower warp engines from their current ships and install new ones instead. (Each of their ships has a pair of warp nacelles with pylons linking them to the base hulls.) But, perhaps some of their ships might have struggled to maintain a stable warp field with a more powerful set of warp engines. It might be a tough call.

- Are they required to build wholly new "war" classes? Even if they build "war" classes, the reliance on turrets might make them larger (and more expensive) than most. I suppose they could build turretless warships if they needed to, but that might be less interesting from a game design perspective. I could see them needing to go with less turrets (or smaller ones, perhaps) on a given "wartime" hull, relative to what its "peacetime" equivalent could mount. (And given that their DN is already at MC 1.75, I shudder to think just how big a heavy dreadnought might be...)

- What about X-ships? The Worb were defeated as an empire by the Souldra in Y196, but a combination of factors (such as a fresh round of Souldra-Andromedan battles in the region, and a relief effort by the Mæsron Alliance) allowed the Worb to survive long enough to secure their homeworld by Y201 (when they repulsed an Andromedan assault on that world that same year). The R-section for the Worb SCS notes that they had to wait until their primary shipyard was rebuilt before they could field more than one space control ship; but the year in which the new yards were completed is not quite clear. (The SCS R-section lists High Worb fighter squadrons as available from Y205, and Broad Worb squadrons from Y206. Maybe the Y205 ship was a pre-existing hull, and the Y206 squadron indiates when the yard was in a position to build the ship it woudl fly off of?) The needs of the Worb recovery efforts might put a premium on XTPs, and on Worb X-ships, making them a strictly Seventh Cycle innovation.


That covers the five Bloc empires that are currently in print. Next will be the mercs, and finally the non-aligned empires.

By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Tuesday, July 02, 2013 - 02:06 pm: Edit

Second Great War - Mercenaries

Three groups of mercenary forces were commonly deployed in the Second Great War. Of those, only two (the Bolosco and Iridani) are in print; the third (the Zosman Marauders) still lie in wait.


*The Iridani Questors:

While certain Quest ships might be sent to act as "allies" (mercenaries) to a given 2GW faction, the two largest Iridani expeditions to the Omega Octant in this era were the Quest of the Flag (a spectacular mission led by a Man-O-War battleship which tried - and failed - to halt the Second Great War entirely) and the Iridani New Kingdom (led by Grand Duke Vehra, who led two other dukes to form a series of colonies on the Galactic Rim in Y187, which were eradicated by a Dominator-led Andromedan force in Y191.) The real use for the new Iridani ships came with the Grand Quest to liberate the home Cluster from Y195 to Y197, and the subsequent Crusade Quests back into the galaxy from Y199 through to Operation Concerted Strike.

- Can they refit their "middle years" ships? Right now, they actually have a speed-31 MC 1 ship, the Clipper. That ship has room for only one module (instead of th two in the Galleon) and instead makes room for a truly massive C warp engine in the aft hull. (The L and R warp nacelles are unchanged.) The Clipper is a RPW vessel, but is not quite intended as a "line" ship. If the Iridani were to be in a position to give "plus refits" to their Galleons, they might have to design new L and R warp engines to replace the old nacelles. (Would putting those on a Clipper allow them to have a "true" fast cruiser, and would they have to remove some of the "broad-siding" weapon sponsons in the process?)

- Are they required to build wholly new "war" classes? I'd say yes. Their standard ships are deisgned to go on long-range Quests, and to mount a series of modules (from the Caravel upwards). Even if the Iridani were to built "wartime" hulls once the Grand Quest was completed, they'd still have to be able to make it back and forth into the galaxy and they'd need new slipways in order to be constructed. (It's noted that the full fleet yard isn't finished until Y208, but it may have been a priority for them to get smaller slipways finished and into service before getting to the slips needed to build more Brigantine-Cs.)

- What about X-ships? This would also be tied to the problems the Iridani have in rehabilitating the Cluster. With the above shipyard in mind, and the open question as to whether their home space can actually generate XTPs or not (we don't know what kind of trace elements are available out there), Iridani X-tech might struggle to get up and running. Fortunately, with the Andromedans defeated in Operation Concerted Strike, the list of candidate empires in any sort of position to once again threaten their home Cluster is likely to be very short indeed...


*The Bolosco Merhcant Guilds:

The Bolosco made a fortune acting as the principle agents of Octant-wide commerce, and while they sent ships on mercenary contracts to both the Union and Bloc belligerents were able to maintain the neutrality of their home space. None of this, sadly, was enough to stop the Souldra from draining their home colonies of all life, forcing the survivirs into exile in Mæsron space (where they joined the New Alliance).

- Can they refit their "middle years" ships? Hmm. their ships alre already slower than average, due to the assumption of pod usage. (Their ships are mostly speed 25, with or without pods.) It could be that even if they can have "plus refits", they might only be able to get as far as other empires were before their own warp drive upgrades; so a Merchant Cruiser would go to speed 27 rather than 31. This might still make for a notable upgrade, given how dangerous the Bolosco are if you let their bigger ships get close.

- Are they required to build wholly new "war" classes? This would likely be pre-empted by the Souldra invasion. With only two years between the onset of the first "wartime" hulls and the fall of Bolosco home space in Y191, they simply wouldn't have had the time to develop such hull classes before it was too late. (Any Bolosco refugees in Mæsron space might simply serve on Mæsron warships instead.)

- What about X-ships? Unless the Mæsrons allowed the Bolosco refugees in the New Alliance to incorporate X-tech to whatever ships they had left, any Bolsoco X-ships would be strictly for use in the simulators. (And again, would the Alliance not simply encourage the exiles to serve on Mæsron X-ships, which would be easier to maintain?)


Last up will be the seven non-aligned published empires, who had different reasons for not taking part in the Second Great War (at least not directly).

By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Tuesday, July 02, 2013 - 02:55 pm: Edit

Second Great War - Non-Aligned Powers

The remainder of the published Omega empires did not formally join the Second Great War, for various reasons. Since they stayed out of the conflict, I'm orderign them by OR-section listing (as with the mercenaries above).


*The Drex Unity:

The Drex were persistently hassled by the Worb throughout the Y180s, but the real danger would come from the Andromedans in the Y190s and early Y200s. (The Andromedans made it as far as the Drexari colony worlds in Y201, a feat even the Ymatrians failed to accomplish.) Once the Andromedan invasion ebbed away, the Drex were desperate to re-establish their chains of border fortresses, and to keep others (like the Worb and Paravians) out.

- Can they refit their "middle years" ships? Drex ships are built to quite exacting tolerances. (This makes it difficult for them to mount casual PFs on mech links.) It could be that the tolerances were almost too tight for their own good, in that they could not apply a "plus refit" to their original ships. (I'm sure the enemies of the Drex would think of that as such a shame...)

- Are they required to build wholly new "war" classes? I'd say yes, again based on the tolerances involved. They may need to build brand new hulls to integrate speed-31 warp technology anyway, so that would be as good a time ad any to go about fielding "war" classes. (But then, what exactly would a Drex "wartime" hull not have that a "peacetime" ships has? Pretty much all of the Drex line ships are already built for war, with support roles a secondary consideration at best.)

- What about X-ships? There are already hints at Drex X-tech in the hypercannon rules. It isn't pretty. Drex X-ships will come, and they will be very bad news for their enemies. Whether they would get them until after the Invasions is another matter. (given the YIS date of Drex gunboats, probably not.)


*The Loriyill Collective:

The Home Stars were left unmolested during the Second Great War. But that didn't mean the Loriyill weren't busy in this time period. Aside from their efforts to encompass (and support) the recently-independent Singer Protectorate, they were busy sending increasingly large task forces into other partd of the octant and beyond, as they girded themselves for war with their anicent Souldra nemeses.

- Can they refit their "middle years" ships? Loriyill ships don't really follow the rules set by other, lesser empires. No-one who isn't a Lloriyill can begin to understand just how their butterfly-like ships actually work, and the Loriyill themselves are not interested in talking about it. Whatever it is they do when building their ships, I would simply let them have a "plus refit" and not think too much about how they actually manage it. (It is suggested that they may have had problems running their DN, so they migth have to wait until building a DNH before integrating more powerful warp technology in that size class.)

- Are they required to build wholly new "war" classes? I would be hesitant to say for certain just what it is the Loriyill actually do when constructing their starships, but maybe their "wartime" classes are of a new type relative to the ships they have already? ("Peacetime" hulls might be needed for some of their task forces, such as the Splinter Collective which fought at the Black Sun in Y198 and later settled in what had once been Bolosco home territory.)

- What about X-ships? Do Loriyll ships not already count as fantastical creations already? They have been shown to be capable of adopting other innovations (such as "volatile warp" technology), even if no-one can figure out exactly how they are doing this. So, X-ships would seem like a given. Where their unique type of ship construction begins and the limitations imposed by first-generation X-tech ends remains to be seen.


*The Souldra:

The Souldra are like the Andromedans, in that they are a mysterious invader from "out there" (in this case, from an alternate dark matter dimension rather than from another galaxy). As with the Andros, I would argue that their ships are what they are, for the most part, and don't really work with anyone else's paradigms.

- Can they refit their "middle years" ships? Not necessary; their ships are more flexible than others due to the inticacies of the "dark warp" engine system.

- Are they required to build wholly new "war" classes? I see this concept as a non-starter historically. The primary handicap for Souldra ships is their dependence on dark energy (or stored life energy) to survive. A ship designed for a reduced range would be counter-productive for their needs, when they already struggle to maintain their chain of dark matter caches away from the Black Sun. Unless someone wanted to give their "home" territory in the Void some sort of "Black Sun defence ships", the concept of wartime hulls would simply not apply.

- What about X-ships? As with the Andromedans, Souldra X-ships should (and would) be purely simulator-based only. No doubt some haunted soul has created some truly terrifying opponents for use at a local fleet academy, but the historical fleets of the Omega Octant were able to avoid such a threat.


*The Ymatrian Horde:

The Drex had bombed the Ymatrians back to the Stone age several decades before any of these innovations became a reality. The only time you'd see a Ymatrian aboard a more advanced warship is as a slave-soldier on a Paravian warship after the Paravians uncovered the Ymatrian homeworld in Y206.

- Can they refit their "middle years" ships? Not outside of the simulators.

- Are they required to build wholly new "war" classes? Not an issue outside of the simulators.

- What about X-ships? Nope. (I highly doubt the Paravians would trust their new slaves well enough to let them fly line ships, but I could envision the birds treating the bone-armoured bears as crew/fodder for gunboats.)


*The Singer Protectorate:

The Singers were late to the table. too late, as it turned out. They had an all too brief window of independence (from the Koligahr, who conquered them in Y143) before the Souldra drained their home world of all life in Y194. Any survivors fled to the Home Stars, and would not be seen outside of them again.

- Can they refit their "middle years" ships? Doubtful. They were already straining the limits of their technology and production capacity with the ships they already have. "Plus refits" might simply have been beyond them historically.

- Are they required to build wholly new "war" classes? It's probably irrelevant, since they wouldn't have the time to build more than a couple of prototypes before the end came. I'd say that campaign conjectural "wartime" hulls would need to be new builds, but I wouldn't be in a hurry to add them as historical units.

- What about X-ships? Not outside of the simulators.


*The Ryn Enclave:

The Ryn never mastered tactical warp drive prior to their mysterious disappearance between Y186 and Y188. The Andromedans would hold their now-abandoned home as their primary bastion in the Omega Octant from Y188 through Y204. Post-Concerted Strike, it seems (based on the Y210 map) that the Masrons currently hold the Ryn Nebula.

- Can they refit their "middle years" ships? No. They don't have "true" middle years ships to upgrade. Unless they found a way to improve their quantum transporters?

- Are they required to build wholly new "war" classes? Probably, but it seems that they may have already gone into who-knows-where by the time the first "war" classes entered service.

- What about X-ships? In the Omega Octant, no. In wherever they ended up going, who can say?


*The Qixa Amalgamate:

After the harrowing expeirence of losing the Qixavalor Cloud to the Sigvirions in Y103, and having to wait for decades before the Mæsrons (who had flushed the Sigs out of the Cloud that same year) abandoned it in Y147. (And even then, the Qixa exiles were only able to return home in Y160.) The Qixa were able to bounce back (ahem) upon their rebirth, but the lingering fear of Sigvirion infestation drove them to heavily fortify their home space.

- Can they refit their "middle years" ships? This is really two questions: can they refit their "in-cloud" war fleet, and can they do the same for their "out-cloud" trading cruisers? One problem might be the degree of interaction more powerful warp fields may have with the dangerous gases of the Qixavalor Cloud. Unless they can safely maintain a speed-31 cruiser inside their home territory, they may have to save any "plus refits" for their trade ships (and advise them to maintain a "speed limit" while still inside the Qixavalor Cloud).

- Are they required to build wholly new "war" classes? One thing the Qixa are not short of (aside from paranoia regarding the Sigs) is money, thanks to the huge profits they make in mining and selling the volatile gases of the Cloud to outsiders. They could likely afford to make an up-front investment in a new generation of "wartime" hulls, and reap the rewards as they save on each individual ship built. These would be strictly for "in-cloud" use, since wartime cuts into trading hulls would be bad for business. (That would dovetail nicely with the idea of saving plus refits for the "out-Cloud" trade ships.)

- What about X-ships? The first priority would be to install X-tech into the home fleets (likely done at the same time as gunboats were adopted). Only later would the issue of installing X-tech to a trading cruiser be a factor. (By that time, I would inagine any trade ship, X-tech or otherwise, would give the Alunda a wide berth, due to their collaboration with the hated Sigs. They would probably make a point of avoiding any refugee Alunda in the Vulpa Confederacy post-Y218 while they were at it, for precisely that same reason.)


So, unless I've missed someone, that should be all 21 of the currently published empires.

What awaits the fleets of the Vulpa Insurgency/Confederacy, the Paravian Jihad, the Echarri Dynasty, the Nucian Clans, the Jindarian Freehold, the Scon, and anyone else in line for "new empire" treatment (EDIT: such as the Zosman Maurauders) remains to be seen.


Does any of the above seem reasonable, or would you have other ideas as to how to go about things?

By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Tuesday, July 02, 2013 - 03:09 pm: Edit

Before I forget, I wanted to add that whatever set of modules handled "plus refits" and/or "wartime" hulls might also be a good place to include some more Omega battleships.

By Richard B. Eitzen (Rbeitzen) on Tuesday, July 02, 2013 - 03:17 pm: Edit

And the Zosman raiders.

By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Tuesday, July 02, 2013 - 03:23 pm: Edit

Added.


As noted in one of the other Omega threads, I think that if groups of seven empires are the way to go (as of the August 2012 memo), sticking with the 2GW might be a good option.

Put all seven Union empires in one file (many of whom will fight each other sooner or later), put the two published mercenary factions in with the five published Bloc members, and keep the unaligned powers together for a volume of their own.

(Not all 21 empires would get new technology warships outside of the simulators, so each group of seven would in practice scale down to a smaller number of empires per batch, allowing for more new ships to be added for each empire left standing.)

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, July 02, 2013 - 04:35 pm: Edit

The Zosman file was destroyed long ago and no data exists on them. We'd be down to making a new empire from scratch. Not a deal breaker, but not a priority.

Also, the vast majority of players are NOT interested in simulator or conjectural ships. They want real historical ships, at least for the vast majority of ships and empires.

By Richard B. Eitzen (Rbeitzen) on Tuesday, July 02, 2013 - 04:38 pm: Edit

If I recall the Echarri and Scon are in the same state?

By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Tuesday, July 02, 2013 - 05:27 pm: Edit

In the case of the Zosmans, there is at least a rough sense of what Bruce Graw had in mind for them in the Omega's Lost Futures article, but he did also note that he wanted to do them last (so that he wouldn't need to keep adding weapon modules based on technology stolen from empires not in the game yet).

Of the various "new" empires, I think the Nucian-Vulpa-Paravian trio proposed in the August 2012 memo would make for the best choice to start with, should the time come to add more empires to the setting rather than working to flesh out the ones we already have.

But of course, that in and of itself would be a matter for another thread.

(In any event, it might be as well to hammer out more of the speed-31 ships for the post-Collapse Mæsrons themselves before trying to work out how the Vulpa would take things along a parallel design path.)


So far as this set of ideas goes, I would consider myself one of those who greatly prefers historical ships to get priority. (Even in the case of battleships, the "unbuilt variant" hulls would be nice to see, but I'd be less bothered about the "impossible" ones.) So, if ships that would only exist in the simulators can be taken out of the mix when it comes to working up SSD lists, well and good.

Odd that I'd be of a majority opinion for anything to do with the SFU, though...

By A. David Merritt (Adm) on Tuesday, July 02, 2013 - 06:07 pm: Edit

Looking this over it appears to be a good starting place.

A suggestion,
The Federal Republic of Aurora:

Perhaps War Classes and some X-Systems could based on things found from the storms jetsam and flotsam?

By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Tuesday, July 02, 2013 - 06:27 pm: Edit

I really don't know about that. (Not that it's my call to make, but still.)

Up front, I will say that I want one last ship from the Alpha Octant to show up alongside the ISC colony (PX 123) in Y178. (I'd like an ISC SR without the rear plasma refit to make the crossing. No plasma mounts on the hull, but a well-built hull type for the Aurorans to pore over, plus whatever historical data the ship had on record by that date.)

But from then on, I'd want the FRA and Mæsrons to have to rely on their own shared ingenuity. (Even then, they'd have a massive head start with the records collected from the Alpha Octant and brought over with Kraknora, that Lyran ship they got in Y173, and PX 123. They'd already know what a wide range of currently-existing speed-31 ships, "plus" refits, and "wartime" hulls look like, even if they would need more time to work out the details on their end.)

And when it comes to X-tech, that's one I'd prefer to see the Mæsrons work out for themselves by Y198, with no knowledge of Alpha X-tech until the arrival of the Sakharov in Y214.

For the same reason, I would hope to see no more Alpha "freebies" show up in FRA space post-Y178, so that Omega gunboats and X-ships can be innovated without anyone saying "well, this is what they have back in that other part of the galaxy..." (Yes, the Andros may deploy mobile weapon platforms to the Omega Octant, but one of those does not a PF make.)

By A. David Merritt (Adm) on Tuesday, July 02, 2013 - 06:33 pm: Edit

To clarify, I am not suggesting more Alpha stuff, but stuff from somewhere else, like shuttle bombs.

By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Tuesday, July 02, 2013 - 06:48 pm: Edit

Well, they do have quite a lot of stuff from other places already.

One reason why the ISC ship I wanted them to get was an un-plasma-refitted SR (with no plasma torps or PPDs aboard) was to prevent the FRA getting a hold of more "non-local" weapons to try and evaluate. There's no guarantee they would adopt plasma just because it was there, but they have not been shy in making use of other technology samples that came their way. It may be better to "avoid the temptation", as it were.


But is there a particular system you'd want them to get a hold of?

By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Tuesday, July 02, 2013 - 08:17 pm: Edit

I was thinking of how to tackle the "plus refit" ships without having to eat up valuable SSD space in a new Omega module.

Right now, none of the five currently-printed Omega SSD books are on e23. But if they were to go on there, presumably they'd be updated to incorporate more recent details (Crawford boxes and suchlike) as well as to fix certain errata issues (phaser numbering, weapon chart errors, etc).

So, what if those ships and empires which are decided to be given plus refits get those refits incroporated into their original SSDs, matching what is done for ships in the Alpha, the LMC, and Triangulum?


For example, take the Mæsron ships currently in print in a published Omega module (not counting the ones only in Captain's Log).

Let's say, for argument's sake, that they get the kind of plus refits I had in mind up further up the thread; with more warp boxes for certain ships (like the CA, CL, and DD), but not for others (like the DN, SR, and FFN).

So, when the time comes for each e23 update/revision, the folowing SSDs could be modified:

Module Omega One:
*Mæsron Heavy Cruiser (add two shaded L Warp and two shaded R Warp boxes; plus refit YIS Y173)
*Mæsron Destroyer (add one shaded L Warp and one shaded R Warp boxes; plus refit YIS Y173)
*Mæsron Frigate (add one shaded L Warp and one shaded R Warp boxes; plus refit YIS Y173)
*Mæsron Missile Scout (add one shaded L Warp and one shaded R Warp boxes; plus refit YIS Y173)
*Mæsron Border Outpost (no changes)

Module Omega Two:
*Mæsron Fire Support Cruiser (no refit; served prior to the onset of speed-31 warp drive)
*Mæsron Dreadnought (no refit; engineering restrictions)
*Mæsron Light Cruiser (add one shaded L Warp and one shaded R Warp boxes; plus refit YIS Y173)
*Mæsron Strike Carrier (add two shaded L Warp and two shaded R Warp boxes; plus refit YIS Y180)
*Mæsron Early Carrier (add one shaded L Warp and one shaded R Warp boxes; plus refit YIS Y173)
*Mæsron Frignaught (no refit; engineering restrictions)
*Mæsron Bombardment Cruiser (add two shaded L Warp and two shaded R Warp boxes; plus refit YIS Y175)
*Mæsron Survey Cruiser (no refit; engineering restrictions)
*Vulpa Insurgent Blockade Runner (Uncertain; dependent on future material clarifying Vulpa access to more advanced warp technologies)

Module Omega Five:
*Mæsron Early PF Tender (add one shaded L Warp and one shaded R Warp boxes; plus refit YIS Y196)
*Mæsron Escort Light Cruiser (add one shaded L Warp and one shaded R Warp boxes; plus refit YIS Y173)
*Mæsron Space Control Ship (no refit; engineering restrictions)


In some cases, it should be noted that for hull variants with a YIS date post-Y173, I set the plus refit to that class' year of introduction. This would essentially allow them to serve with the refit installed from the get-go, but might also allow for the possibility of situational shortages of the new warp engines. (Perhaps a certain yard had to start building such-and-such a class without the plus refit, for lack of speed-30 warp engines.)


Similar lists could be drawn up for any other empires deemed capable of fielding plus refits.

And that would allow for the new modules to concentrate on new hull types, rather than duplicating refitted versions of older hulls.


How does that sound?

By A. David Merritt (Adm) on Wednesday, July 03, 2013 - 08:56 am: Edit

Gary, FRA;
Nothing specific, just suggesting that the FRA's improvements could continue to be something different, instead of mimicking the Federation's X-tech. i.e. instead of one turn arming photons, perhaps theirs become more accurate.

By Richard B. Eitzen (Rbeitzen) on Wednesday, July 03, 2013 - 09:01 am: Edit

I don't think you can do that with first generation x-technology - there isn't any example of that with any weapon currently.

1X tech currently increases capacitors, makes better seeking weapons possible and allows for more rapid firing of weapons. I suspect that anything other than that would be in the realm of the 2nd generation advanced technology.

By A. David Merritt (Adm) on Wednesday, July 03, 2013 - 09:06 am: Edit

Richard;
Hence the source of this upgrade being something dragged to the FRA through cosmic storm mcguffin.

By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Wednesday, July 03, 2013 - 09:33 am: Edit

In this case, there is no guarantee that Auroran X-tech will look anything like its Star Fleet counterpart, for the main reason that the primary source of the technology will be from the Mæsron Alliance rather than the Federation.

We've already seen how one form of technology ("volatile warp") has been innovated for Omega and spread to several operating empires. It is noted historically that the Mæsrons sent samples of their own X-technology in the same shipments that allowed other empires to develop their own gunboats. And if a shared "volatile warp" engine type can still allow for a wide variety of gunboat sizes and capabilities, perhaps the same might be true when applying the Mæsron X-template to the ships of other empires?

So long as something new and interesting can be worked out for Mæsron X-tech, applying that to the FRA (and to the Trobrin, Probr, and others) would essentially allow the "non-biological" Omega X-ships to be their own thing, rather than merely mimic what has been done for first-generation X-ships in the Alpha Octant. (Of course, Alunda "Sig-Tech" will have to be unique by its very unnature.)


So, the question then would be: what kind of X-tech will the Mæsrons come up with by Y198, and how can it be made to be "something different"? (Not necessarily better or worse, though it is noted that their first X-cruiser was not quite as powerful as those in the Alpha Octant. Which may not be so bad, if the ship is still at least broadly competitive and is good enough to prove its worth against the Andromedans.)

This may be a discussion for another thread, though.

By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Wednesday, July 03, 2013 - 11:23 am: Edit

Acually, I just posted up an idea about "something different" for Omega X-engines over in that other thread. Please feel free to pop over and see what you think of it (or to post any ideas of your own about how to make things interesting for X-tech in that region of space).

By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Thursday, July 04, 2013 - 12:40 am: Edit

I was browsing through some of the Omega SSD books, and got to thinking about the "plus refit" options for the Iridani.

Were they allowed to add plus refits to some of their currently-available ships, the most logical option might be to allow the port and starboard warp nacelles to be replaced with larger counterparts. For example, the Galleon has a pair of 8-box nacelles to port and starboard, plus a ten-box centre warp engine. Adding two L Warp and two R Warp boxes would take the ship up to speed 31. (Barring any finicky "engineering restrictions", I guess.)

But that same nacelle change would do something interesting for the Iridani Clipper, too. At present, the CP has the same 8-box L and R warp nacelles as the GL, but with a massive 16-box C Warp engine in the middle. If the same 10-box nacelles from the potential "GL+" above were added in here, you'd take the ship up to a total of 36 warp engine boxes. If you then swapped out the two front FEBs for a pair of PW-1s, you might be left looking at what someone in the Alpha Octant would consider to be a "true" fast cruiser.

(That said, I noted over in the Omega X-thread how tactical warp engine output outside of Alpha may not directly correlate to transit speeds in the same way it does in Alpha itself. So even if there was scope for a "CP+", it still might not end up with that elusive F note on its would-be MSC entry.)