There are two kinds of smuggling.

1. They don't even know your ship was there. (Orion LR)

2. They know your ship was there but not that it had something on board that it should not have had.

By Nick Samaras (Koogie) on Tuesday, July 16, 2019 - 02:30 pm: Edit

Are the Nicozians officially part of the universe or is their inclusion still undecided? Can they be referred to in fiction?

By Jeffrey George Anderson (Jeff) on Tuesday, July 16, 2019 - 03:44 pm: Edit

IIRC, there's a Jindarian vs. Nicozian scenario in CL #49, so my guess is yes.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, July 16, 2019 - 04:22 pm: Edit

I would say yes.

By David Johnson (Djj) on Wednesday, April 02, 2003 - 08:16 pm: Edit

SVC:

Would DNLs be typically commanded by Commodores (O-7s) especially those used on raid missions?

Thanks,
DJ

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Thursday, April 03, 2003 - 10:24 am: Edit

David: No. Ships are commanded by captains or commanders. Commodores and admirals command groups of ships. Raids are single-ship things, so captains, not commodores.

By Will McCammon (Djdood) on Friday, July 08, 2005 - 05:06 pm: Edit

It always seemed like the ranks of Fleet Captain and Commodore were filling the same role in the Fed structure. I don't have my references available (at work).

I'm assuming Fleet Captain is a temporary "field" rank to differentiate the senior captain from his peers, while Commodore is permanent.

SVC: uh, no.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Saturday, July 09, 2005 - 10:15 am: Edit

Ok, here is the official "how it works in SFU".

Ships have a commanding officer, which is a Captain O6 for heavy cruisers and DNs, a commander O5 for light cruisers and destroyers, and often an O4 or junior O5 for frigates.

Commodore in the current US Navy is a job (senior captain in a group) not a rank. US Navy has rear admiral lower half (one star) and rear admiral upper half (two star). It used to be that O7 (one star) admirals (lower half) wore two stars, which had pissed off the Army since WWII. Reagan "fixed" that by calling O7s Commodores, but the Navy complained that while an Army O7 brigadier was a "brigadier GENERAL" the Navy O7 commodore was not an ADMIRAL and this simply would not do. So they "fixed" it again, and the "lower half" wears one star now but is a rear admiral. Anyway, back to SFB....

Commodore is a formal rank, an O7 flag officer. Federation command cruisers have an O7 Commodore on board (e.g., Kosnett) and command squadrons. There may or may not be a captain of the same ship (usually not but sometimes) and the commodore may or may not "fly and fight the ship" in battle or just run the squadron. For most CCs, the "flag bridge" represents expanded communication facilities. [The Klingons do the same thing here but assign an O6 "deputy captain" who handles the job of being captain of the ship except that the commodore flys and fights the flagship in combat.]

Admirals of two, three, four, and five star ranks command various higher formations, although some admirals are not ship/fleet commanders but staff officers (head of star fleet academy).

Fleet Captain is the honorary rank for the most senior captain in a numbered fleet. He serves in this post at the pleasure of the fleet admiral. He might command a squadron (replacing a commodore) or serve on the admiral's staff.

By Paul Cordeiro (Ogoptimus) on Sunday, December 02, 2007 - 03:08 am: Edit

For those interested, Admiral Marcus Roscoe took command of the 6th Fleet sometime after Admiral Matthews was relieved. I got this from the back of the Federation Commander Booster #10 jacket.

By Garth L. Getgen (Sgt_G) on Sunday, August 04, 2019 - 04:40 pm: Edit

For lack of a better place to ask ....

Is there any published clip-art of the MRS Multi-Role Shuttle and/or GAS Ground Attack Shuttle?? If so, where might I find them? Thanks!!


Garth L. Getgen

By Jeffrey George Anderson (Jeff) on Sunday, August 04, 2019 - 07:09 pm: Edit

I don't think I've ever seen any art depicting an MRS, but my copy of Module M has depictions of the GAS, GBS, and HAS on page 15

By Mike Bennett (Mike) on Sunday, August 04, 2019 - 09:39 pm: Edit

Did the artwork on the cover of CL#53 inspire you to ask?

By Garth L. Getgen (Sgt_G) on Sunday, August 04, 2019 - 10:07 pm: Edit

No, Mike, that wasn't it. The discussion about the police cutter deck plans wandered into the subject of the MRS. That made me realize that I should make CAD icons for the specialized shuttles. I already have the Admin shuttle (two sizes), the HTS, and the E-2 & E-3 SWAC. I also have icons for the F-8, F-20, and F-8 fighters. But I haven't made any for the MRS or scatter-pack, yet.


Garth L. Getgen

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Sunday, August 04, 2019 - 11:59 pm: Edit

I have them. Email me.

By Garth L. Getgen (Sgt_G) on Friday, August 09, 2019 - 06:05 pm: Edit

SPP/SVC: Maybe this should go in the Advice To Authors topic....

How exactly do you force a boarding action via shuttle craft? Do they force their way into the shuttle bay, and/or do they force a docking to an airlock (if so, does the shuttle need a docking collar), or can them attach to the hull and cut/blow a hole thru the hull plates??


Garth L. Getgen

By Steve Petrick (Petrick) on Friday, August 09, 2019 - 06:24 pm: Edit

Garth L. Getgen:

See (J1.63) through (J1.66), (J1.63) covers specifically landing aboard an enemy ship to deliver troops, the rest cover other aspects [e.g., (J1.66) covers landing aboard into an otherwise 'destroyed' shuttle box]. Note that the requirements of (J1.61) still apply to such landings, that is a shuttle cannot land on a ship moving faster than it is.

See (D7.63) for aspects of combat in the shuttle bay in such cases.

See (C13.98) for docking a shuttle externally. While not explicitly stated in the rule, if your shuttle of troops can make such a docking to an enemy ship, I would say that any combat would be treated under (C13.96) to fight your way onto the enemy ship, which means a shuttle might not have enough manpower to do the job, but it also depends on how much resistance is available inside the ship.

By Russ Simkins (Madcowak) on Saturday, August 10, 2019 - 11:23 pm: Edit

What do the Hydran Fusion Beam and Hellbore energy weapons look like when fired? Searching covers I've found just about every other major Alpha weapon but thus far haven't found any images for the Hydran weapons.

By Mark Steven Hoyle (Markshoyle) on Sunday, August 11, 2019 - 08:40 am: Edit

Here's a couple pics in the Expansion sets.....

FC:Hydran Attack

Distant Kingdoms

By Russ Simkins (Madcowak) on Sunday, August 11, 2019 - 02:28 pm: Edit

Ah, not being a FC player I hadn't thought to look at there. Good call.

I am thinking those pics are showing the front phaser 2's of the Ranger/Dragoon rather than either fusion or hellbore's since they look just like all the other race's phaser pics but maybe with a different color. Where they emanate from, you could argue either way. Noticed from all the pics that phasers seem to be like light sabers in that you can choose whatever color suits your fancy.

My question would seem somewhat trivial except I'm trying to generate images so I thought it important to remain at least approximate with any prior works.

I did find a rough description of hellbores in CL4's fiction

---

Quote:

Kallon saw four shafts of fire burst from the bow of the Hydran vessel and expand toward Fury. The glow of the weapons struck and enveloped the frigate. For a split second she seemed to pause, stagger in flight, totally enveloped in an orb of pale green fire, then with a flash, Fury blew apart.

---

By Norman Dizon (Normandizon) on Sunday, August 11, 2019 - 02:55 pm: Edit

You might want to check out how they are shown in Star Fleet Command. Hellbores have the coolest looking effect in the whole game.

By Jamey Johnston (Totino) on Wednesday, August 14, 2019 - 12:05 am: Edit

What is the Gorn fleet collectively called? Orion? Also is there a generally accepted initialism for each (listed the ones I know and guesses for the others)

(UFP) United Federation of Planets: Star Fleet
(KE) Klingon Empire: Deep Space Fleet
(RSE) Romulan Star Empire: Imperial Fleet
(KH) Kzinti Hegemony: Fleet
(CG) Confederation of the Gorn: ???
(TH) Tholian Holdfast: Defense Forces
(MO) Mutual of Orion Cargo Insurance Corporation: ???
(HK) Hydran Kingdom: Royal Navy
(LSE) Lyran Star Empire: Fleet
(WSC) Wyn Star Cluster: Self-Defense Forces
(ISC) Inter-Stellar Concordium: Peacekeeping Forces
(LDR) Lyran Democratic Republic: Self-Defense Force
(ST) Seltorian Tribunal: Prosecution Forces

By Steve Petrick (Petrick) on Wednesday, August 14, 2019 - 01:19 pm: Edit

Federation: UFPS (United Federation of Planets Ship)

Klingon: IKV (Imperial Klingon Vessel)

Romulan: RIS (Romulan Imperial Ship)

Kzinti; KHS (Kzinti Hegemony Ship)

Gorn; GCS (Gorn Confederation Ship)

Tholian: TDFS (Tholian Defense Forces Ship)

Orion: OPC (Orion Pirate Cruiser)/OPR (Orion Pirate Raider)

Hydran: HMS (Hydran Majesty's Ship)

Andromedan (No one has gotten an answer, at least no one has gotten an answer and lived to tell it)

Lyran: Varies. RCDS (Red Claw Duchy Ship), SSCS (Silver Streak County Ship), etc. Basically there is not really any one Lyran Imperial Fleet, although the Emperor has some ships loyal only to him (the Marshals in their battlecruisers), and the ships of the Homeworld County, but in truth the Lyran Empire has 21 different navies each with its own ships (which is why there are so many civil wars).

WYN: WCDFS (WYN Cluster Defense Force Ship)

Inter-Stellar Concordium: ISCS (Inter-Stellar Concordium Ship)

Lyran Democratic Republic: LDRS (Lyran Democratic Republic Ship)

Seltorian: I honestly do not know.

Jindarian: I honestly do not know, but as there is no one central government and the governments of each Caravan vary across the political spectrum anything possible is possible.

Vudar: I honestly do not know.

Paravians: I honestly do not know.

Carnivons: I honestly do not know, but again they seemed to lack a central government so there may have been different designations from horde to horde.

Peladine: PRS (Peladine Republic Ship)

Borak Star League: I honestly do not know.

By Will McCammon (Djdood) on Wednesday, August 14, 2019 - 02:12 pm: Edit

I always thought Federation ships were USS (United Star Ship). It's painted on the hulls.

However, I believe Jamey was asking what the various empires' *fleets* are called, not individual ships.

By Jamey Johnston (Totino) on Wednesday, August 14, 2019 - 02:49 pm: Edit

Actually, that was going to be a separate question, so it's great information!

Thank you Steve!

USS *might* be the Viacom license designation vs. UFPS in the Star Fleet Universe? Guessing there.

And yes, Will you have the right notion of what I was asking:
If the whole of the UFP navy is collectively referred to as the "United Federation of Planets Star Fleet" I was curious if the Gorn and/or Orion have something similar.

Most are covered in G3, where the header for each fleet section provides my answer. But the master ship chart header for Gorn is simply "Confederation of the Gorn" and for Orion it's "Mutual of Orion Cargo Insurance Corporation" which are just the national names, whereas the others append "Fleet" or "Defense Forces" or similar after the nation name.

The initialism question was also just a question about is there an "official" 2-3 letter initialism for each nation i.e. UFP.

By Steve Petrick (Petrick) on Wednesday, August 14, 2019 - 03:37 pm: Edit

The "Mutual of Orion" thing is one of several titles we have used as a "running gag." For example, they are also the "Orion Merchants Association" in other places, and I think there are two or three other designations. Generally you have the issue that some Orion ships are "Cartel Owned" and technically they would be "Pharoah Cartel ship" or "Daven Cartel Ship," but a majority (mostly the smaller ones) are privately owned "individual franchise holders," and simply have a name and "affiliation" designation.

The Klingon "Navy" is the "Deep Space Fleet (DSF)," and their Coast Guard/Police Forces are the "Internal Security Force (ISF)."

We keep dancing around with the Gorns, calling them at various times "The Gorn Confederation" and at other times "The Confederation of the Gorn."

I do not know that we have ever settled on three letter designations for most of the empires. They Hydran Star Kingdom is often just "The Hydrans" rather than the HSK, for example.