The AR is really a light cruiser hull; light cruisers are probably a better match for it than war destroyers in some cases.

30 point shields so its more like a CA.

The Orion DBR is the same BPV but 2 years later. I wonder who would ever choose this, unless you really, really, REALLY needed a Nimble ship...

By Dale McKee (Brigman) on Saturday, August 08, 2009 - 12:33 am: Edit

DBR is also size class 4, which, depending on your campaign situation, should be easier to come by.

AR is great until the BR is introduced, then becomes second-class.

By Jason Langdon (Jaspar) on Saturday, August 08, 2009 - 03:08 am: Edit

AR is great until the BR is introduced, then becomes second-class.

True, but that is like saying a CL isnt much once the CWs come out.

We arent doing a campaign. Its a competition where one player chooses a ship, then the other player finds a ship from an historical enemy of no greater BPV. If the challenger loses, he gets another 10 BPV and 5 more years.

If the challenger wins, the loser chooses a historical enemy and the same BPV, but not the same ship.

The guy who started chose Hydran KN and Y158. I went with F5 and lost. Then F5 with Leg WO and lost. Then won in a Lyran DW. The DW was then beaten by an AR (the other guy chose well... the KN is insanely powerful in Y158, then I wanted to try out the DW because its a great all-round ship, but was obliterated by the AR - which is another OP ship).

By Dale McKee (Brigman) on Saturday, August 08, 2009 - 01:39 pm: Edit

Well, in Y171, for 110 BPV, there's a few options... really depends on what kind of player you are, or what your favorite race is. Plenty of suggestions above will work, depending on your style.

By Bennett Eugene Snyder (Planner) on Saturday, May 28, 2011 - 08:32 pm: Edit

Been considering something since reading U-boat wolfpack tactics.
Only 10% of Orion ships are supposed to have a cloaking device. So far ships seen using one have been a CA during The Day Of The Eagle, Felna Greymane's CR from the first Juggernaut story and the Throne, which is in FRA space.
I think the type of ship that should really use the cloak are the LR type with 2 special sensors and a drone rack. They don't require as much power to use the cloak and can be used to locate convoys for a wolfpack while cloaked, "surfacing" when needed to send a contact signal to the rest of the wolfpack which are powered down to reduce emissions and making themselves visible to "force" the convoy on a new heading that would bring it closer to the raiders. The LR would also be checking the convoy for any surprises, like seeing if any freighters changed positions that might move a Q-ship into the outer positions of the convoy.
Surfacing could also have the LR decoy any possible reinforcements away from the convoy, delaying their intervention.

By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Sunday, October 19, 2014 - 02:30 pm: Edit

Now that Module C6 has been out for a while, have any Orion players here had a chance to try out some of the new options available to them in the alternate Paravian and Carnivon timelines?

According to the technology restriction portions of the new weapon rules, both quantum wave torpedoes and disruptor cannons are assumed to become available to the Orions (and the WYNs, in timelines where the WYN Cluster develops as it did historically). However, death bolts and heel nippers are treated as restricted Carnivon technologies, so would be off the table outside of the simulators.


For that matter, how would these two "lost empires" prove as potential opponents for Orion players seeking to operate in their respective territories?

According to C6, the Orion Omega Cartel would have treated any on-map Paravian empire as a "home territory" (with Gorn and ISC space as "operating zones"). While no cartel would treat Carnivon space as its "home territory", the Cluster Cartel - in timelines where it is permitted to form - would count it as an "operating area".

By Steve Petrick (Petrick) on Saturday, March 02, 2019 - 01:22 pm: Edit

In regards a comment elsewhere about the MR being one of someone's favorite ships in the game.

The MR has little chance against an enforcer CA, and given equal commanders will lose to a battleraider.

It is, however, also one of my most favorite Orion cruisers. The retention of the CR's nimble status helps it both get close to its prey, and disengage from pursuit, and the more powerful engines really do help make up for the CR's lack of power such that you do not need to double the engines in normal operations in circumstances where the CR must, which gives you more staying power.

If I had to leave the DSF and go "pirate," this is the ship I would hope to gain command of.

By Jeffrey George Anderson (Jeff) on Saturday, March 02, 2019 - 02:30 pm: Edit

I also like the MR. What would your preferred option mount outfit be for her, provided you were able to work for your favorite operating area cartel?

I like the idea of a pair of photon torpedoes in the nose and type B drone racks in the wings. Having a full, sixteen point overload held in one torpedo tube while the other is dialed in to drop the shield of a freighter, in my opinion, is as perfect of an option as I can think of to handle the occasional Q-ship, especially with a load-out of one type IV and four type I drones in each of the racks.

Another thing I love outfitting an MR with are casual gunboats (and, yes, I have preferred option mount load-outs for them as well).

By Steve Petrick (Petrick) on Saturday, March 02, 2019 - 03:14 pm: Edit

Jeffrey George Anderson:

Given my druthers, phaser-1s.

I am a pirate. I have no interest in "glory." I only want to knock over my victim and leave. Eight phaser-1s give me enough of a punch to brush aside a small escort, and I can remain in my franchise longer if I do not need to go for a drone (or plasma-D) restock.

Yes, it means I do not have access to a scatter-pack, but I do not intend to mess with ships near enough my equal that I have to resort to such.

Getting caught at low weapon status (i.e., with my capacitors not energized) is a problem, but that should not happen. There is no energy that needs to be diverted to "holding" weapons, and the rearming cycle is short.

Basically, if I see something in my "weight class," I am leaving, so I do not need heavier weapons (unless the Cartel Lord has made it a condition of the rent of my franchise that I have to do something I do not wish).

In short, I am mugger, not a knight.

By Jeffrey George Anderson (Jeff) on Saturday, March 02, 2019 - 05:35 pm: Edit

Fair enough. Even with as little skill as I have, it looks like a good load-out AND plan for 99% of situations. Still, I'd worry that the phasers, even as many as you have, won't do enough critical damage to a Q-ship to keep it from REALLY giving you a bad day.

I suspect it may be because of my own bad experiences with them.

Some time ago, I took a couple tries at flying a SLV with phaser-1s in her option mounts. Seems like EVERY freighter I tried jackking was a Q-ship, and the only time I managed to get away without being crippled was the time the Fed managed to miss with BOTH 16 point overloads.

Still, the phaser damage she did to my engines was almost enough to keep me from being able to disengage.

Since then, I've relegated THAT ship, whom I call "Blackjack's Bust," to fiction.

By Steve Petrick (Petrick) on Saturday, March 02, 2019 - 08:38 pm: Edit

Jeffrey George Anderson:

You need to study the Q-ships of the empire you are operating in, find their weaknesses and maneuver to minimize their strenghths.

That means you consider every freighter a Q-ship, and approach it to make ir difficult to bring any weapons to bear until you can make a good approach.

Federation freighters you try to keep out of theri FA arcs at close range.

Romulans, avoid the rear arcs and do not cross their tracks without due care because of their NSM racks, and so on.

By Andrew Harding (Warlock) on Saturday, March 02, 2019 - 10:00 pm: Edit

In the area and era permitting, I consider carronade capable plasma-F simply better than ph-1 for pirate use (where the limited range isn't a big issue). The initial load can be used as a seeking weapon, bolted or fired as carronade with bonus damage, then it becomes effectively a Ph-1 with a range cap. The PPT can also be useful.

By Jeffrey George Anderson (Jeff) on Sunday, March 03, 2019 - 01:01 pm: Edit

SPP:

Somehow or other, in the middle of the Federation, I manage to run into the only large Gorn Q-ship for several sectors, and in the middle of Gorn space, it's a Federation Q-ship. Don't ask me how my luck manages to be THAT bad, it just is...

In all seriousness, I've had the fortune (and I'll let you choose whether it's good or ill fortune) to have always played against players of superior skill. While the SLV is a beautiful, graceful ship (in my opinion, whomever designed the 2200 series miniature REALLY did great work), the fact remains that it has a turn mode of D; a fact which, when combined with having its option mounts limited to the 120 degree FA, makes it a ship that is quick to punish low skill players, such as me.

With regard to the plasma-F torpedoes, Andrew, I couldn't agree more. Carronade, Sabot, available to fire even at WS-0 (even if that isn't something Orions often have to worry about), PPT, and ECP, all make for one heck of a potent weapon.

If anything, it might be a little TOO good...

By Steve Petrick (Petrick) on Monday, March 04, 2019 - 03:30 pm: Edit

Carronades. Hmm. Honestly, I am too old and separated from direct combat. Carronades appeared with Module R10, and I have not been able to actively play since before Module R10 was published. So I just do not go to the Carronade as an immediate weapon pick. I am literally just not familiar with it, and in the old days (even before the MR appeared) I tended towards either phasers or, truth be told, disruptors (depending on the ship, I like disruptors over photons and hellbores and etc. because they are ready to fire, power permitting, no matter what the weapon status is.

By Jeffrey George Anderson (Jeff) on Tuesday, March 05, 2019 - 12:00 pm: Edit

SPP, I don't mean to sound like a jerk, but the Carronade is an optional firing mode for Plasma-F torpedoes in Gorn service. To the best of my knowledge, they've not yet been presented as a discrete (Carronade mode only) weapon type.

(Although IMO, it'd be cool!)

On the other hand, as I thought about it last night, the ISC had a number of different plasma based heavy weapons in module Y2, including one that's a single turn arming weapon with a RoE damage chart loosely comparable with a phaser one or two. While obsolete and out-of-service LONG before the Alpha Sector got wrapped up in the General War, I think it might be... Different... for pirates to have to rely on such obsolete weapons.

By Steve Petrick (Petrick) on Tuesday, March 05, 2019 - 01:28 pm: Edit

Jeffrey George Anderson:

Ahem. I am aware of Carronades as a development of the Gorns as an alternative use of plasma-F torpedoes, and provided to the Federation and stolen by the Orions, and eventually incorporated into plasma-L torpedoes of all empires that have that technology.

I only commented that it appeared in Module R10, and that Module R10 appeared long after my "active service" period as a steady player of board games. So I do not have a "trained background" where I automatically think of it while considering weapon options for an Orion ship.

By Jeffrey George Anderson (Jeff) on Tuesday, March 05, 2019 - 06:24 pm: Edit

(eep)

My apologies, SPP.

The only excuse I can offer is that I misread your post; it appeared to me that you were referring to the Carronade as a separate weapon system. My father, who in his day was a GREAT engineer, has always impressed on me that a good engineer, if he or she has a question about how something looks or reads, will err on the side of caution. Even though I personally couldn't believe you made an error in this regard, based on how I (mis)read your post, I had to accept that it was still a (remote) possibility.

Again, my apologies. The error was mine.

By Steve Petrick (Petrick) on Tuesday, March 05, 2019 - 08:14 pm: Edit

Jeffrey George Anderson:

Nothing to apologize for, I simply felt a need to clarify my own prior post.

The fact that you are being dragged to the agonizer booth has nothing to do with it (GRIN).

By Jeffrey George Anderson (Jeff) on Wednesday, March 06, 2019 - 11:16 am: Edit

Ahh... My old booth!

(Sings) "Be it ever so painful, there's no place like home..."

Aww, you even left my favorite demotivational poster up! You know, the one that says, "Here's your ship after three Stinger IIs at point blank range." How sweet! Thank you!!



(... And, of course, it's postings like THIS that show why I need it...)

On a different note, there's a hypothetical question I have regarding option mounts. Orions can put transporters in their option mounts, something I think might have a special use for gunboats. Here's what I'm thinking...

There's a freighter I wish to capture. With a carefully calibrated shot, I've dropped a shield, but I'm still concerned it MIGHT be a Q-ship. To protect my permanent assets (namely my rusty but trusty MR), I've bought an old gunboat and outfitted it with transporters in two of its option mounts. My plan with it is to have IT drop its facing shield to beam over a takeover party, rather than have Tee-Rusty (as I call my MR) drop a shield facing the potential Q.

The question I have is, in order to facilitate the gunboat being able to carry the boarding team, do I need to have the third option mount set up as barracks?

While I understand the value in having the ten boarding parties instead of just the two, Tee-Rusty only has the two tractor beams and, as such, can only operate two casual gunboats. She ain't gonna be doing the "Imperial Fleet Thing" and invading planets.

Instead, I'd prefer to have a Phaser 1 in that third option mount. Yes, I know Peashooter (uhh, that's the name I've tentatively given the gunboat) already has the 360 Phaser 1 amidships, but I personally (whether right or wrong) think the second Phaser 1 will roughly double the utility capabilities of the gunboat.

Anyway, my question is, if I have transporters in two optional weapon mounts on a gunboat, do I need to have barracks in order to have two boarding parties for offensive use?

By Steve Petrick (Petrick) on Wednesday, March 06, 2019 - 11:27 am: Edit

Jeffrey George Anderson:

Most fast patrol ships have only one boarding party that is governed by (K1.35), i.e., the defensive boarding party cannot leave the ship unless the whole crew does. So even if you put transporters in the option mounts (but see below) of an Orion Buccaneer (or Brigand) the one boarding party the boat has cannot leave it.

As to putting barracks in the option mounts, and adding up to 10 boarding parties, this is allowed under (R8.PF1A). See "Non-Weapons" and the listings under "Allowed."

However, your entire plan breaks down, and you will have to discuss the embezzling of funds with your engineering department, because under (R8.PF1A) in "Non Weapons" the listing for "Prohibited" includes "transporters" as things you cannot put in Buccaneer's (or Brigand's) option mounts.

By Jeffrey George Anderson (Jeff) on Wednesday, March 06, 2019 - 04:40 pm: Edit

Oy! That's the LAST time I take suggestions from the family shipwrights of Dewey, Cheatham, and Howe!

(Thank you, SJG, for that one.)

Knee-jerk reactions would be to "Acquire" a skiff of some sort...

I know, I'll have that First Mate of mine, "Patch" Karjek, "Take Command" of it; he's the one who's been asking too much recently about my breath-holding exercises.

(I've TOLD him I haven't done any free-diving in years!!)


Okay, okay, jokes aside, a Security Skiff with a couple extra boardng parties (from Tee-Rusty*) instead of the Buccaneer (Peashooter). This negates any need for Mech-links, but do the skiffs have the strategic speed and range to operate as this kind of sidekick? My intuition says no, but IMO, it's still worth asking.

(* TBH: I don't know if it's a good name, but it is a fun one. I'm sure NOT going to call my ship "Queen Anne's Revenge;" Edward Teach would kill me for it...)

By Alan Trevor (Thyrm) on Wednesday, March 06, 2019 - 04:57 pm: Edit

I'm still waiting for a scenario or fiction story to feature an Orion ship with an elderly crew, called the Crimson Permanent Assurance.

By Jeffrey George Anderson (Jeff) on Wednesday, March 06, 2019 - 08:17 pm: Edit

Will they be followed by a Python seeking The Meaning of Life?

By Richard B. Eitzen (Rbeitzen) on Wednesday, March 06, 2019 - 08:27 pm: Edit

42.

By Michael Grafton (Mike_Grafton) on Thursday, March 07, 2019 - 03:37 am: Edit

Instead of messing around with a PF transporter, just send over a darn shuttlecraft with a BP aboard.