Of the three "Paravian timelines" presented in Star Fleet Battles Module C6, two of them show the Paravians establishing a true colonial empire (as shown on Mapsheet P), which makes contact with the Inter-Stellar Concordium in Y110. In both cases, First Contact goes badly, once the Paravians register the presence of the reptilian Pronhoulites aboard the ISC vessel; the resulting war drags the Concordium out of its "warp-equals-peace" mindset and instead leads to them aligning with the Gorns against both the Paravians and the Romulans.

While there are notes in Module Y2 which allow for players to account for "early contact" scenarios involving the ISC, I was wondering if a more thorough "update file" could focus more specifically on the very different course taken by the Concordium in these "Mapsheet P" timelines - both in terms of what changes would be made in SFB, but also in how this might affect them in Federation and Empire terms.

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In Y110, both the ISC and Paravians would have been at the "Y-era" (GURPS Prime Directive Tech Level 11) stage of development. As in, the ISC would be using the "two-prong" hulls provided in Module Y2 and Module Y3.

This would trigger the onset of the "modern" (or "three-prong") hulls much sooner than they appeared historically. It would also give them a proper "Middle Years" period of use.

For example, the 2016 update to Module C2 provides a "CA-" variant of the Star Cruiser, which has plasma-G launchers in the outer prongs and no heavy weapon on the centre prong. This would be a closer match to the unrefitted Gorn and Paravian heavy cruisers, and possibly to any "Shadow of the Eagle" Romulan hulls which might exist in such a timeline.

One key technology issue might be with the plasmatic pulsar device. The relevant note in Module Y2 states that it takes ten years for the ISC to deploy the PPD after making First Contact with another star-faring empire. With the first encounter taking place in Y110, that could in principle allow the ISC to deploy the PPD by the Y120s. But in practice, I might wonder if this weapon is simply too powerful for them to use during the Middle Years, and ought to be pushed back in terms of its formal introduction date.

Which, in that case, might require a "CC-", with no heavy weapons on its centre prong, to be deployed as a contemporary to the CA- and the DNE.

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Another issue would be the deployment of "wartime production" units, such as the CW and DW in Module R9, and the HCW in Module R12.

In the "Mapsheet P" timelines, it would seem reasonable for the YIS dates of these "war" hulls to be moved forward, to match their equivalents in the Romulan, Gorn, and Paravian war fleets.

However, the "system" hulls which historically appeared at the semi-isolated cantonments during the Andromedan War (such as the NCA, DD, and NFF) would not exist in this instance, as the unique circumstances surrounding their historical appearance would not be a factor here.

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In F&E terms, there are certain rules in ISC War which reflect the unique buildup the Concordium was historically able to undertake in the run-up to the Pacification. Some of those would not be an option for a "Mapsheet P" ISC obliged to fight in the General War.

I'd argue that the rapid base system (544.0) would not exist in this timeline, as the concept of deploying long-range bases beyond their home territory would not be a factor for the "Mapsheet P" ISC prior to Operation Unity.

Also, while the ISC was historically able to develop the tactical reserve force (543.0) system as early as Y182, I'd argue that this might be pushed back to Y189 (to match the historical Gorn development of the TRF system) - making it an Andromedan War-era innovation.

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Overall, the "Mapsheet P" ISC would be very different in its evolution when compared to its historical counterpart. Perhaps this might help further interest in Module C6 (or even in the pending Module R4J, as one of C6's "Paravian timelines" has the Romulans develop early tactical warp independently), in terms of providing ISC players with the material required to account for this divergent path.

Does anyone here think this idea is worth pursuing - and, if so, how best could it be accounted for?

By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Friday, March 12, 2021 - 09:56 pm: Edit

One other note which might be of relevance from a Prime Directive viewpoint:

The home world of the Gerlunians, a reptilian species distantly related to the Gorns and Paravians, is in F&E hex 5418.

In the "standard" timeline, this makes them one of the three "suppressed species" profiled in Prime Directive Romulans. For their part, the Romulans have held back from formally introducing themselves to the Gerlunians, if only due to a lack of consensus as to how best to incorporate them into the Empire.

However, on Mapsheet P, Gerlunia lies (just) within ISC territory - there is even a border BATS in the same hex.

While the Concordium does not have an equivalent to the Prime Directive, that might not necessarily mean they'd be in a hurry to make First Contact either. Even so, I think it would be interesting to explore the potential of the Gerlunians becoming the sixth ISC species in the "Mapsheet P" timelines.

Or, perhaps, of them establishing a friendly independent status with the Concordium instead; akin to the relationship between the felinoid Bis'en (in F&E hex 2806) and the United Federation of Planets (as noted in Prime Directive Federation, Captain's Log #45, and Away Team Log).

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So far as the other two "suppressed species" would be affected by Mapsheet P, the radiation-dependent humanoid Satha'hi (in F&E hex 5219) would be stuck (just) on the Romulan side of the border. Coincidentally, there is a border BATS in that hex also. Although it's likely not within the vicinity of Satha itself, as the Romulans are confronted with similar difficulties there as the Klingons have to deal with on the Vudar home world.

However, the plant-like Dionaeans (in F&E hex 5718) would lie firmly within ISC space. However, the Concordium might decide to give that fanatically anti-humanoid (and humanoid-eating) species a wide berth.

On a side note, I wonder if the Chlorophons would be able to communicate with the Dionaeans...

By Charles Gray (Cgray45) on Monday, March 15, 2021 - 07:56 pm: Edit

One thing early contact might do is see some of the weapons that were, in the original timeline, dropped in favor of the PPD, given some more development, possibly being fielded as "modern" systems.

By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Tuesday, March 16, 2021 - 10:06 pm: Edit

I could certainly see an alternate timeline in which the "unified" ISC hulls never existed, where the five planets continued to develop along separate design paths - not least in terms of further refining their disparate weapon systems.

However, by the time First Contact takes place with the "Mapsheet P" Paravians in Y110, the Concordium would have already been committed to the use of plasma-F and plasma-G torpedoes over the past three decades or so; it would take a lot for a research team looking to resurrect an old weapon design to convince the admirals to adopt it (and for the politicians to pay for it).

That said, if the likes of the plasma-vortex launcher and the plasma drone were a tough sell for the ISC navy and police, perhaps they might end up in the hands of the local pirates?

By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Thursday, October 26, 2023 - 04:18 pm: Edit

To follow up from a point in a separate thread:

At this time of typing, we know what the "wartime construction" war destroyer, war cruiser, and heavy war cruiser look like in SSD form. Indeed, thanks to Steve Zamboni, we also know what they look like over on the Shapeways storefront.

Beyond this, there is the scope for various "mission variants" - scout, commando, carrier, etc. - of these hulls. Historically-speaking, these would need to be built during the Andromedan War, to replace variant hulls lost in the first years of the invasion.

Of course, the place to publish such variants is in a future SFB R-module - or, perhaps, in a would-be "Module R4I", if there are enough of them to print all at once.

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But once they are made to exist, the issue for the "Mapsheet P" ISC is when they would be built - and perhaps which variants would be given priority over others.

For example: historically, by the time the war cruiser and heavy war cruiser enter service, the Concordium would have learned to de-emphasize the use of plasmatic pulsar devices against the invaders - unless they are over in Federation Commander, where the PPD is a very useful weapon against the Andros...

In any case, while it would be possible to draw up "strike" variants of the CW and HCW SSDs, they might not be seen in combat all that much in the historical timeline.

However, in the "Mapsheet P" timelines, such variants would be built as soon as the ISC can field them. Further, since the PPD is an effective weapon against Romulan and Paravian (and Orion) opposition, the "Mapsheet P" ISC would likely field a higher proprtion of "strike" variants - though they might still de-emphasize this weapon during the Andromedan War, as waged in that alternate timeline.

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In short, the "Mapsheet P" ISC would likely have few to no "bespoke" SSDs, n the sense of building ships that do not exist historically.

However, they would have very pressing reasons to prioritize certain hull types over others - and to do this at different points in time.