The recent discussions about "Dark Futures" and Gary Carney's suggestion for converting the Federation DNL or DLV into an RTN hunter by converting two phasers to Special Sensors got me thinking about other possible RTN hunters that could be used in either the "finder" or "responder" role. Here is my suggestion for a Tholian ship.

Start with the CAX. Convert the LF/L and RF/R disrutors to Special Sensors. Convert the two snares to tractors. Add Mech links to all 4 tractors. The ship carries 2 Arachnids and 2 Arachnid-Ws as part as it's standard complement.

The Special Sensors are for RTN finding rather than EW support during a battle. But the ship, with its PF complement has enough firepower to survive reasonably well. The force has a total of 11 disruptors and 20 phaser-1s, along with more than enough power to use them effectively. It also has the speed to respond quickly.

A Tholian with no web systems is admittedly unusual. But it is not unprecedented. The PC+ has no webs, for example. And with 2 of the PFs being Arachnid-Ws (the -W modification replaces the phaser-3s with web generators, which can be upgraded to snares) the force is capable of laying web if necessary.

SENT TO R13 FOR PETRICK REVIEW. NO SVC ENDORSEMENT IS INTENDED OR IMPLIED.

By Richard B. Eitzen (Rbeitzen) on Sunday, January 31, 2016 - 07:49 pm: Edit

I don't think the Tholians would modify such a heavy unit to not have web capability.

By Richard B. Eitzen (Rbeitzen) on Sunday, January 31, 2016 - 07:50 pm: Edit

I don't recall the YIS, but they do have an advanced technology HDW type ship. They could perhaps configure it as a PFT which would do the job nearly as well (and be better able to maintain the PFs).

By Scott Tenhoff (Scottt) on Sunday, January 31, 2016 - 08:08 pm: Edit

Doesn't it have Webcasters (as I believe the CAX does, but if it doesn't, do this conversion on a CCX) and 2xArch-Ws count?

By Alan Trevor (Thyrm) on Sunday, January 31, 2016 - 08:11 pm: Edit

Richard,

I don't see why the Tholians wouldn't be willing to lose the web snares for this ship. It is, after all, a special purpose warship and the web snares aren't as useful as adding another two PFs for that purpose. And as already stated, with two of the PFs being Arachnid-Ws, the force as a whole does have web capability.

As for the Tholian HDX (note that the Tholians don't have an HDW but do have an HDX), yes it can be modified to be an RTN hunter with PFs. But it just isn't as effective in that role as this CAX-derived version is. It doesn't have the power, shields, or firepower to do the job as well.

By Alan Trevor (Thyrm) on Sunday, January 31, 2016 - 08:13 pm: Edit

Scott,

The Tholian HDX cannot be given webcasters. The CAX doesn't have them but, as you say, the conversion could be done to a CCX instead.

By Richard B. Eitzen (Rbeitzen) on Sunday, January 31, 2016 - 08:53 pm: Edit

It would be a casual tender and couldn't really count on always having the PFs. It also can't repair any damage to PFs, leaving it vulnerable to losing what web generating capacity they might provide, as well as being unable to flush their engines of ionic charge or whatever that is that must be done at a true tender.

I still think that the Tholians wouldn't leave web generating capacity off of such a large unit, to the best of my knowledge they have never done this with size three or larger warships, and I imagine that a ship with the power generation that a CAX has would not be an exception. It might have to defend a Tholian webbed base, and it would not be able to help maintain the web in such a case.

By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Sunday, January 31, 2016 - 09:01 pm: Edit

While I do believe that at last one "minor empire" (the Vudar) might do with an X-PFT for use in the "RTN-hunter" role, the Holdfast does at least have the advanced PF Tender (R7.211) in Module X1R to work with, alongside the HDWX-P. Although the base CWPX hull is a bit short on direct-fire weaponry relative to some other empires' X-PFTs, due to a lack of disruptor or photon firepower. And the R-section notes that only one historically existed.


Alternatively, one interesting option could be to take the Sojourner (the Draco-Tholian survey ship noted in Loren Knight's Tholians of Draco article from Captain's Log #39) and make an impromptu RTN-hunter out of it.

We don't know yet what type of hull the Sojourner was based on, but one option could be to re-purpose the campaign conjectural Neo-Tholian survey cruiser (R7.79) from Module R9 for use here.

The CL39 article referred to the original ship having an experimental sensor suite (of a kind which have yet to be given rules in SFB terms) when it first entered service. But one could imagine that being swapped out in favour of a set of "regular" special sensors upon the ship's arrival in the Holdfast, thus producing the NSR configuration shown on the R9 SSD. One could then consider applying X-technology to the ship, and/or adapting it into a PF tender.

That would allow the Sojourner to "earn its keep" during its, erm, sojourn in the Holdfast, yet still be in a position to lead an expedition back to the Draco-Tholian enclave once the Andromedan crisis has passed (as it is noted to have done historically).

By Alan Trevor (Thyrm) on Sunday, January 31, 2016 - 10:16 pm: Edit

Richard,

Please reread K.6.3. A casual PFT can flush PF engines of their ionic charges. And it would not be dispatched on a web hunting mission in the first place if there were no PFs available to support it. But given how cheap and numerous PFs are compared to X-cruisers, that's unlikely to be a problem. And while the ship itself can't reinforce web, it could still provide substantial firepower in support. By the X-ship era, any important Tholian base should have plenty of available power for reinforcement except in the case of a major Seltorian assault. This is due to a combination of the reduced post-Y175 maintenance costs of web, the proliferation of PFs (each standard Tholian PF flotilla includes two Arachnid-Ws) and the availability of the PCX. Tholian X-cruisers shouldn't be committed to web defense. They should roam Tholian space, reacting to threats as apprpriate. Sometimes those cruisers will respond to a base which is threatened. But to station them there permanently is a waste of a valuable asset.

Gary,

I'm not aware the Sojourner ever reached Tholian space in this galaxy. If it didn't your suggestion only works as a conjectural ship - no help for the SFU-historical Tholians.

By Randy Blair (Randyblair) on Sunday, January 31, 2016 - 10:35 pm: Edit

Just out of curiosity, CAN the Andromedans even have their RTN in Tholian space in the first place? Reason I ask is that not even Orion pirates operate in Tholian territory.
If not, why would they even care to build an RTN hunter/responder?

By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Sunday, January 31, 2016 - 10:40 pm: Edit

Alan,

I don't have my copy of CL39 to hand right now. But from what I recall, the Sojourner historically led a small expedition from Draco Dwarf to the Holdfast in the early-to-mid Y190s. It remained in the Milky Way until the mid-Y200s, at which point it led a task force heading back out to the Draco-Tholian enclave.

(I'm fairly sure that Loren's article lists the specific arrival and departure dates.)

This would put the ship in a prime window of opportunity for it to be re-tasked for this role - should the NSR SSD work as a basis for this ship, or should a brand new SSD need to be created in order to represent the Sojourner instead.

EDIT: I should note that the Draco article is also in Away Team Log, as part of the Tholian sourcebook preview in that volume.


Randy:

There are a few references in the Tholian R-section of Module X1R of ships being used to track down RTN nodes in Holdfast space, or (in the case of the X-tech Neos) to follow up and eradicate such bases once uncovered.

I would not be surprised if there was a lower than average number of satellite bases in (or near) Holdfast space, relative to elsewhere in the Alpha Octant.

Plus, the "dark future" timeline in Module C3A has the Holdfast abandon its outlying bases and colonies in alt-Y201, evacuating all of its citizens back to the Holdfast sphere. Which would indicate that the Andros managed to pose a substantial threat to the Tholians one way or another (or rather could have, had the Darwin not made it back to the "Prime" SFU timeline in Y195).

By Alan Trevor (Thyrm) on Sunday, January 31, 2016 - 10:44 pm: Edit

Randy,

My understanding (possibly I am misremembering) is that Andromedan incursions into Tholiam space were rare but they did occur. In any event, the Tholians did supply forces for the invasion of the LMC. So it's clear they would sometimes operate outside the Holdfast, if only because they knew their own survival required defeating the Andromedan menace.