This is a idea which spun off from a topic posted elsewhere; rather than risk (further) derailing things over there, I thought of starting a dedicated thread for it over here.

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The purpose of this thread is as follows: to consider which (if any) of the various Alpha Octant simulator empires as published in Star Fleet Battles Module C4 would be used in the Omega Octant; if so, when (and how and by whom) this would happen; and further, what (if any) kind of adjustments, adaptations, or parallel developments would take place there.

To clarify, this thread is not intended to consider any "home-grown" simulator empires which might have been worked up in Omega itself. Not least since there are still plenty of "real" Omega empires which need to have additional SSDs added to, or in some cases which still need to be introduced outright.

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My assumption would be that the primary means by which the data files on these simulator empires would be introduced to Omega is via the Federal Republic of Aurora.

Be it the simulator files in Star Fleet hands as of Y130; whatever data the Orion ship Throne of Ozymondas had to contribute; the various Klingon, Lyran, and ISC arrivals in the Y170s; plus the updated material handed over by the GSX Sakharov in the Y210s.

But then, depending on what kind of captured data the Early Years Paravians had "acquired" from old Gorn sources back in the Alpha Octant, it is possible that the Omega-Paravians had some of the Early Years Triaxian data previewed in Captain's Log #42 to use in their academy simulators.

In either case, a combination of information exchange with other empires (such as between the FRA and the Mæsron Alliance), captured data by opposing ships (from the Trobrin Empire, the Zosman Marauders, etc), plus any further distributions of these files (by the likes of the Bolosco or Iridani, perhaps) could well see a large number of Omega empires gain access to info on these simulator empires.

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For example: one could postulate that the ISC colony system of PX 123 had the most recent Barbarian simulator SSDs on file at the time of their transfer to FRA space in Y178.

Given the high degree of adaptability inherent in Barbarian ship designs, it would be relatively straightforward to enable them to swap out their Alpha Octant phasers with one or more equivalent Omega Octant phaser types, and/or to install the various Omega heavy weapons and support systems which the Aurorans had working knowledge of.

So, a Barbarian force intended to mimic the Mæsrons or Vulpa could have wide-angle phasers, tachyon guns, tachyon missile racks, and auxiliary power reactors. Whereas a Barbarian mimicry of the Koligahr would have microphasers, animatter cannons, antimatter cloud generators, and auxiliary warp reactors.

Going forward, however, any "new" Omega-Barbarian unit types - such as "volatile warp" gunboats as seen in Module Omega #5, or Mæsron-type first-generation X-ships - would have to be developed independently from any Barbarian PFs or X1-ships worked up by the ISC back in the Alpha Octant.

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Actually, one thought I had was for the Frax subs to be adjusted so that, rather than using cloaking devices (which are exceedingly rare in the Omega Octant), they used Zosman stealth fields, as previewed in Captain's Log #50 and the CL50 Supplemental File.

In which case, perhaps the axion torpedoes would be adjusted so as to fire as if they are under active fire control, even while the Stealth field is operating. But while a Zosman ship with its Stealth field up can fire its weapons as if it were under passive fire control, perhaps the modified Frax subs would be more restricted than this, so as to maintain the "wet-navy" element of the simulation.

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So, are there any thoughts or comments as to how - or even if - one ought to bring some or all of the Module C4 empires to the battle simulators of the Omega Octant?

By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Wednesday, May 04, 2022 - 06:35 pm: Edit

It's worth noting that, over in Federation Commander, Frax technologies are more streamlined compared to those in Star Fleet Battles: Frax Ship Cards have "standard" (type-A) drone racks, while axion torpedoes and drone launches by subs under cloak have simplified rules relative to how these weapons function in SFB.

So I suppose that would make it easier to add the Frax to the FC Omega project, depending on what (if anything) SFB Omega might have to say on the matter.

But at the same time, I'm mindful of the efforts which Bruce Graw made to keep the Omega setting as "drone-free" as possible. I'm not entirely convinced that using the Frax "as-is" would serve that end - though I suppose from an in-universe perspective, there isn't much to stop an academy instructor from using them in a simulator exercise as an example of what to Omega would be "foreign" technology.

On the other hand, going as far as to give the Omega-Frax the full "Omega-Barbarian" treatment might perhaps drive things too far in the other direction - but, again, it's well within the purview of an academy instructor to prepare an unexpected opponent for their command candidates to square up against.

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So, if the Omega-Frax were to be any different than their Alpha Octant counterparts, I'd start with a single specific "suite" of weapon and system changes, based on the technologies available to the Mæsron Alliance.

This suite would install wide-angle phasers, tachyon guns, and type-A tachyon missile racks for the Alpha Octant phasers, disruptors, and drone racks respectively. I'd replace an AFD with a single type-A rack or a single phaser-W1. Bombardment variants would get type-B missile racks instead of type-As. A "Vulpa variant" might, or might not, allow for a type-D rack refit at some point during the Second Great War.

I would still allow their subs (and torpedo variant "surface" ships) to deploy axion torpedoes, rather than trying to invent some other direct-fire weapon the subs can use while "submerged". Well, with the adjustment for Stealth field use suggested in my previous post.

Also, since tachyon missiles already have the equivalents of ATG and type-III guidance options under (OFD1.2721) and (OFD1.2722) respectively, I'd simply say that the TM racks on subs have the equivalent "submerged" launch capabilities as seen for Alpha Octant Frax subs - launch rate and "myopic zone" limitations notwithstanding.

If that could be made to work, perhaps one could consider what another empire's "suite" of weapons would look like. But, if that was too much of a hassle, sticking with a "default" Omega-Frax suite based on Mæsron weapon options should work well enough.

By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Friday, May 13, 2022 - 10:58 pm: Edit

In light of the recently-posted Prax preview posted here, it shouldn't be too difficult to envision "Omega-Prax" variants of this simulator empire.

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Perhaps the easiest option - short of using the Prax "as-is" - might be to go with a Trobrin weapons suite. As in: replace the plasma-S, -F, and -D mounts with implosion torpedo-H, -M, and -L mounts respectively; and swap out the phaser-1s and phaser-3s for radiation phaser-1s and -3s respectively.

(The Trobrin themselves rarely install light implosion torpedoes on larger ships, but that need not necessarily be a deal-breaker here.)

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Alternatively, one could replace the plasma-S and -F mounts with HEATs; the plasma-Ds with TAs; and the phaser-1s and -3s with quantum phaser-1s and -3s respectively.

But then, if one swaps out a plasma-S for a pair of HEATs, that might be too heavy a HEAT weapon load, compared to what the Probr use themselves. So perhaps the plasma-Fs could be replaced with quantum phaser-2s instead? Or maybe "down-grade" each plasma-S mount to a single HEAT mount instead of two?

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As is the case for the "direct-fire" Frax, I don't necessarily think one needs go too crazy in terms of creating any more than a single "Omega-Prax" weapon suite to work with.

But, if it turned out that someone decided to program a Frax variant armed with quantum wave torpedoes, and if it turned out that the Omega-Paravians do indeed use the same QWTs (with the same weapon rules) as outlined in SFB Module C6, one could quite easily add such a variant to the Omega simulators as-is...