Oversight BCH: Intelligence failure?
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R09: HYDRAN PROPOSALS:
Oversight BCH: Intelligence failure?
Traditionally, Hydrans have built two parallel command ships; one favoring Fusion/Fighter with a smaller number of Hellbores and one favoring Hellbores with a smaller number of Fusion Beams and a smaller fighter contingent.
There are counter-examples, of course; the Paladin, Baron, and Warrior come to mind, but please remember that even the Warrior had the Count and Earl proposals as well.
That brings me to an assymmetry; the Overlord. It can be argued that, with it having four Hellbores but only three Fusion Beams that, technically, it's a "Primarily Hellbore Command Ship."
Maybe it's just me being a screwball, but it posed the question, "What would a "Primarily Fusion/Fighter Command Ship" equivalent be?
Conversion of the Overlord SSD is simple enough; make heavy weapons A through D Fusion Beams on FA tracking, make heavy weapons E, F, and G Hellbore Cannons on FA tracking, reduce the APR near the ADMIN shuttle by three boxes, enlarge the bay next to it by three boxes, outfit the three new shuttle boxes with reload/ready racks for superiority fighters, and add three fighters to the standard load out; two ST-2 and one ST-E.
A thought for the "History" of this ship is that, during the Andromedan War, someone in StarFleet Intelligence noted the "Assymmetry" I blathered about (above) and made a report. By this time, Overlords had seen good service (as had their BCV and BCS variants) and the analysts superiors noted that this "Missing Ship" had been "An Oversight."
Intel being who they are, and the way the name seemed fairly close to the naming convention, they let it stick.
In the reality of the SFU, this ship never existed (?), but it probably made an appearance (or three) in simulators.
Does any of this seem not unreasonable?
Not a very large change. Maybe change all the hellbores to fusions and 6 APR to fighters. That makes it NEARLY the same firepower and fighters as the Templar.
I hadn't thought in those terms, Richard, but my gut reaction is, while it'd make for some great games, I don't think it fits with what Hydrans would do.
IIRC, the Templar was an Early Dreadnought, much like the Lord Commander was an Early Command Cruiser. Both of them were replaced when Hellbores were developed and, while a couple may have remained in service in their original configuration (i.e.: weren't refitted with Hellbores), no further units of either type were built that way.
That is, IF I remember correctly... 
Anyhootch, also IIRC, the Lord Commander was followed in service/role by the Lord Marshall and Lord Bishop, who were in turn followed by the Lord Admiral and Lord Cardinal respectively, the latter of which had no "All-Fusion" corrolarly.
Maybe it's just me, but that does seem to suggest that, once Hellbores were developed, the Hydrans refused to build a command ship that didn't have both Fusion Beams and Hellbores*.
(*Exception: the Royal Flagship Pegasus)
As far as it being "Not a very large change," given how close to "50/50" the Overlord is, it seemed appropriate to try to present something "49/51" as a counterpoint to the existant "51/49."
For the record, Jeff has it correct. An all fusion BCH would very much be a major anachronism.
And, for the record, Jeff's conversion is perfectly acceptable. It swaps the fusion/hellbore relationship and upgrades the fighter group to match that of the Ranger (with nine fighters). Done with a deft touch, even. Very well done.