Archive through April 27, 2018
Star Fleet Universe Discussion Board: Star Fleet Battles: The Magellanic Cloud:
Magellanic Proposals:
Archive through April 27, 2018
Norman Dizon:
Nice try, but Doc's modified DeLorean had no trunk space or back seat space (why the girl friend had to sit in Marty's lap at the end of the first film) because while you saw the "flux capacitor" you had to remember that "nuclear component" that provided the power and got Doc shot by the terrorists. So all you have is the passenger seat.
Details matter.
The Master Speaks and the Apprentice Listens.
Always Two There Are.
Well, sometimes only one, or none. :p
Norman Dizon:
Besides, the obvious answer is just to develop some friends in Europe and have them acquire the correct chocolate. (Nestle's is a Swiss company, but has recently sold its chocolate business to Ferro an Italian chocolate company.) Beware, however, that the new company may have changed the formula, so there is a risk involved in your attempt at a bribe.
No Need to Bribe at all...
Energy Mantlet - Reduces damage by a percentage based on the energy allocated. Very high energy requirement to power.
Chomak Pulsars - Like Phasers except it has a Boson Drill effect, hitting both Outer and Inner Shields.
Fuser Torpedoes - A Seeking Weapon that is augmented by a Direct-Fire application. If and when the Seeking Torp hits the target, the launching ship fires a supplementary Direct-Fire weapon which automatically hits, scoring even more damage.
Warp Lock Torpedoes - These Direct-Fire Weapons are more accurate based on how much Warp the target is using. Speed Zero causes the Warp Lock Torpedoes to always miss while Speed 31 makes the Warp Lock Torpedoes always hit. In-between Warp is scaled by a chart.
As for the Background Issues regarding the Andromedans and the Chomak. That is easily resolved. Here is an excerpt from a Hidden Recording Device in a dimly lit Chomak Lounge Area:
"Well? Whatd'ya Got?" the Robot said with a huge cigar sticking out of his mouth. He blew a puff of smoke out of his transistors.
"Uh...well, ah...alright! Here it is!" the Chomak responded, his whiskers glowing pink from anxiety.
Both the Robot and the Chomak stared at the cards.
The Robot revealed that he had a Royal Flush.
The Chomak only had a Straight Flush.
The Chomak frowned as his whiskers drooped.
The Robot smiled while multiple lights whirled around his head.
"So you agree then? Our arrangement was that if I beat you, you must comply with our demands," the Robot stated, chomping on his cigar.
"Yes...yes," the Chomak said reluctantly. He pushed all of his money on the table over to the Robot.
"We promise NOT to interfere while you Kick Butt on the Alpha Sector..."
In the fun size variety pack (100 pieces) there is regular nestle chocolate bars. (check Amazon)
The ones that Norman listed sound pretty good--perhaps a start. What I think should be remembered is that the Chomak are an ancient race, and thus may have technology superior to everyone else's--even the Andros. Maybe a Chomak DD is the equivalent to the CA of other races, or something like that. But they don't have vast numbers.
With out the some one to be a threat war tech does not advance very far. They may be advanced but not with say ships weapons... no reason to.
I was just kidding with the Chomak technology I described. I just made all that up real quick off the top of my head. Those technologies have no regard for Tactics. I would never use those ideas for the Real Chomak.
But, if the Powers That Be wanted me to REALLY design the Chomak, I easily could. And I could make them fit the Background, as required. Plus I could get them thoroughly Playtested.
The Requirements for the Chomak have already been clearly laid out in this Thread's Discussion. We know what is needed in terms of the Andros, the other LMC empires, and the existing Chomak Background. What remains to be done is to properly Fill in the Gaps.
Whatever is created must be Playable on the Tabletop, first against the existing LMC empires, second against the Andros, and third against the Alpha Sector empires. Ken's original tech ideas may help in this regard, or they may not. It doesn't matter. Tech can be made up and defined as needed to reach your Design Goals.
To me, it is Critical that the Chomak generate Unique Tactics when played. That should be the Primary Goal, above all other Goals, in my humble opinion.
SPP: A DeLorean does actually have a trunk. It's under the front hood and is not much larger than briefcase. A tiny little emergency spare tire was under the carpet flap. There was also a "secret compartment" behind the driver's seat under a carpet flap where you could put something small. My father had one back when they were new. In fact, we had one of only 6 DeLoreans ever made that was actually kind of fast. A special twin-turbo version that had a completely different engine than all of the other DeLoreans.
I've always regretted that my father never let me drive it before he wound up selling it.
Personally, I like leaving the Chomak as a "Mysterious Empire." They are like some kind of strange contradiction, where the Background contradicts what should be on the SSD. The Chomak are a Conundrum with no solution.
I think it is best to leave them that way, rather than defining every last detail about them.
Okay, does anyone mind if I put in a dumb idea?
What if the scumba... excuse me, Andromedans didn't defeat the Chomak TECHNOLOGY, they found something to attack Chomak BIOLOGY.
In raiding the deserted remains of what was once Chomak space, they raped the worlds, ignoring the great art and literature of the once-mighty people in a quest for raw resources.
This screwball idea MIGHT lead to a Galactic Conquest campaign where the Magellanic survivors start on a quest to see if there is any leftover technology from the Chomak that the Andromedans ignored. Meanwhile, there would always be some of the Andromedan stragglers AND there's always the POSSIBILITY that tiny, isolated pockets of Chomak might still exist; too frightened to come out, but too small to remain viable for more than a few generations.
Another very cool idea, Jeff.
Norman: Three of your proposals really don't sound that bad. The Energy Mantlet that reduces hits; the Pulsar which acts as a powerful phaser, and even the Fuser Torpedo which if it hits, "paints" the target so as to make it easier to hit with direct fire weapons sound like something we might expect from a very advanced race. Admittedly, they would all need a lot of playtesting, and might not work in reality. And I also admit the fourth weapon, the Warp Lock Torpedoes are pretty weird and shouldn't be used. But I would leave it to you to actually invent the Chomak technology, if the powers that be asked you to.
Jeffrey: I don't think a biological approach would work. First, there is no record of the Andromedans using it on anyone else. Second, if most of the Chomak die from disease, this would mean that there wouldn't be many, if any battles. In a normal scenario of Andromedan conquest,there would be many battles as the Chomak fleet desperately tried to defend its home worlds and population from the invading Andromedan hordes. Space battles are what the game is about.
The Chomak are an ancient and highly advanced race. Much of what they do and have would be somewhat mysterious to outsiders. I don't think that the idea of actual contradictions would work.
The REAL Power for the Chomak lay in the Versatility of their Name:
STARBUCKS: "I would like to order a Mocha-Chomakio-Latte with sprinkles on top."
PALEONTOLOGY: "OH MY GOD! WE'VE UNEARTHED AN ANCIENT CHOMAKASAURUS!!"
BATTLE CRY: As the Army charged, they yelled "CHOMAKKKKKK!!!!"
NINJITSU: The Assassin held a Sai in one hand and a nine-pointed Chomak in the other.
INSULT: "Watch where you're going, you Chomak!!"
COMPLIMENT: "What a Great Job you've done, you must be a Chomak!"
FOOD: The Cooking Channel aired the recipe for a Chomak a la Mode with Strawberries.
TOOL: A Chomak Wrench would make your life so much easier when fixing your car.
ACTION STAR: "This is Chuck Chomak's 10th Action Movie! I can't wait to see it!!"
CAR: Tomalibu introduced their latest car, the Chomakaretti 1000!
BEDTIME LULLABY: "Sleep, little Chomak..Dream, Dream, Dream, my little Chomak..."
Marc Michalik:
I never said DeLoreans had no trunk space.
I said "Doc's" DeLorean's trunk space and rear seating were used up for the time machine and its energy source (nuclear and necessary shielding from the radiation). Obviously the future DeLorean had a more efficient energy source, but the rear seating was still taken up by the machinery necessitating the girl having to ride to the future in Marty's lap.
As to extant Chomak rules.
As noted, Ken provided rules for three of the four Chomak systems/weapons. I have no doubt he considered them complete as he insisted everything had been run by playtesters. For example, the Warp-Lock Torpedo, if it hit an Andromedan ship, would keep that Andromedan ship from self-displacing for a quarter turn. If two torpedoes hit the ship, it could not self-displace for half a turn. If three hit it, three quarters of a turn, and so on. There was no defined upper limit, indicating an assumption that the total number of warp lock torpedo launchers on the map would define that upper limit. Since the Andromedans were limited to two motherships, and frequently would only have one, you can see that this might be of concern to the Andromedans. (NOTE: Warp Lock Torpedoes were defined as having other effects beyond blocking an Andromedan from self-displacing). On a quick read through of the rule, I had a lot of questions about what seemed to me to be important, but completely undefined issues, and this has only gotten worse as the game continued to evolve and expand; See Soudra Dimensional Phase Devices and interaction with Warp-Lock Torpedo, i.e., needs to be defined, see Warp-Lock torpedo impacting a target in the Qixavalor Cloud and spark damage, etc..
The Energy Mantlet at this remove raises issues of its own. It is a "D" (Combat) rule, not an "E" direct fire, or "F" seeking weapon, or "G" ship systems rule. At a guess (at this remove) it was intended to be either the actual "shield" system used by the Chomak, or it was something that backed up/supported the shield, or it might have been some sort of enhanced ECM device. Given that Ken did not leave any rules for it, it is even possible he found his original idea unworkable and intended to drop it. (My dim memory of the one SSD he presented said it had normal shields, but I do not remember for certain or if there was any reference to an "energy mantlet" on it.)
As to extant Chomak rules.
As noted, Ken provided rules for three of the four Chomak systems/weapons. I have no doubt he considered them complete as he insisted everything had been run by playtesters. For example, the Warp-Lock Torpedo, if it hit an Andromedan ship, would keep that Andromedan ship from self-displacing for a quarter turn. If two torpedoes hit the ship, it could not self-displace for half a turn. If three hit it, three quarters of a turn, and so on. There was no defined upper limit, indicating an assumption that the total number of warp lock torpedo launchers on the map would define that upper limit. Since the Andromedans were limited to two motherships, and frequently would only have one, you can see that this might be of concern to the Andromedans. (NOTE: Warp Lock Torpedoes were defined as having other effects beyond blocking an Andromedan from self-displacing). On a quick read through of the rule, I had a lot of questions about what seemed to me to be important, but completely undefined issues, and this has only gotten worse as the game continued to evolve and expand; See Soudra Dimensional Phase Devices and interaction with Warp-Lock Torpedo, i.e., needs to be defined, see Warp-Lock torpedo impacting a target in the Qixavalor Cloud and spark damage, etc..
The Energy Mantlet at this remove raises issues of its own. It is a "D" (Combat) rule, not an "E" direct fire, or "F" seeking weapon, or "G" ship systems rule. At a guess (at this remove) it was intended to be either the actual "shield" system used by the Chomak, or it was something that backed up/supported the shield, or it might have been some sort of enhanced ECM device. Given that Ken did not leave any rules for it, it is even possible he found his original idea unworkable and intended to drop it. (My dim memory of the one SSD he presented said it had normal shields, but I do not remember for certain or if there was any reference to an "energy mantlet" on it.)
If Burnside does not have the rules anymore, perhaps Norman could develop and test some based on the notes. Subject to ABD's approval of course, and with input from the rest of us.
If my Master Commands it, then I must Obey. But be Wary. I sense a Disturbance in the Warp Field.
Ken was once an ADB Jedi Knight. We may well open his ancient Chomak Notes, only to find ourselves surrounded by an Army of Clone Troopers.
Then I would have to take off my Black Hood and ignite my Red Double-Bladed Lightsaber...
I'm inclined to think it's a good idea, Stephen Parrish. I wouldn't expect, Norman, for the Clone Troopers to show up, but hey, Sith happens...
(I shouldn't have tried to FORCE that one...)
*Sigh*... I'm spending so much time in the Agonizer Booth that I might have to start paying rent...
Start?
(ouch)
Maybe THIS brain drizzle (the lightest form of a brainstorm) will help me get outta there...
Imagine a new type of armor that serves in a limited capacity as a type of ablative PA. Each armor "Point" is able to absorb (number out of air) five points of incoming damage before shredding. While finite (and hard to either reinforce or self-repair), the initial quantity on a ship is high enough that it can be expected to block three times the "Shock" damage as can be expected from other defense systems (conventional shields, Magellanic shields, PA panels, QC armor, etcetera).
HOWEVER, it has one CRITICAL weakness; if/when hit by tractor based weapons, plates can get pulled off without being shredded, so the overall defensive ability of these ablative armor plates against tractor type weapons is far less than what other defense systems can protect against.
This would put them at a disadvantage against the Bolosco, but if they also have a pretty hefty ability with tractor beams themselves, they can supplement their armor with that.
On the other hand, Andromedan T/R beams will go through this stuff like my mother-in-law goes through Little Debby snack cakes.
"I don't think so, Tim."
Rent? I thought you took out a mortgage on the place.
Garth L. Getgen