The discussion was brought up on another thread about the various police organizations in the SFU having X-ships. I thought I'd put forth a formal heading for that discussion.

The first question is one that's been asked; "Do the various police organizations NEED X-ships?" While I've never been a fan of X-ships, I do think there is a need for them.

In one of the Y modules, a reference is made (I don't have the books in front of me, but IIRC, it was in the Federation/Terran Frigate) to an early years ship having been repurposed to the police, but was found to be wholly inadequate for the role once the pirates upgraded to standard tech.

For this reason, I do think that, once the pirates start using their own X-ships, that the various national police organizations will need their own X-ships to counter them.

What form will they take? That's one for tossing around some cold ones. I do have a thought (or an "Almost Thought" ) about a couple, but they're sloppy. Still, as a starting point...

FEDERATION

The Federation Police Cutter is, in my opinion, one of the sweetest ships in the game. Cute and nimble, but fragile. Given how many first generation X-ships were based on pre-war types, methinks it's an okay starting point.

What to do with it...

Well, for starters, perhaps enlarge its engines by 20%. May not take it to FX grade, but it's something. This is purely to have additional power; turn mode and nimble status remain as with a non-X POL.

As far as its firepower goes, the refitted POL, as I remember it (again, I don't have my books in front of me) has a 360 Ph-1, two 360 Ph-3, and a Drone-G in the aft hull. Normal X conversion would improve the phasers to Ph-1 status, but part of me is thinking that if the ship ends up with TWO 360 Ph-1 and two Drone-GX racks, that'll be enough of an increase in firepower to make the ship good.

Maybe.

Shields would also have to be upgraded. Maybe we can come to a decision as to how many over some Cold Ones.

KLINGONS

Nice as the G2 is, my (alleged) mind has taken both the Klingons and the Lyrans to use their heavy police cutters and upgrading them to X-tech. For the Klingons, the G-6 with engines upgraded to six boxes each, all Ph-2 upgraded to Ph-1, and all drone/ADD upgraded to Drone-GX has a "Feel Good" sense for me.

As with the Feds, again, shields are something we can toss back some Cold Ones over.

ROMULANS

(Uhh, IIRC, there's already a Seahawk X in one of the X modules. Wouldn't one of those, without the Cloaking Device, seem perfect? IDK...)

KZINTI

IIRC, the Kzinti have a Police ship based on their FF (as well as a slightly smaller one in a Captain's Log). Same sort of upgrades to the FF based one as were done to the FF to make the FX?

GORN

Aside from upgrading the Plasma-F to a Plasma-L, I'm at a loss.


Anyhootch, my imagination is starting to run a little dry with these thought. Anyone else have any thoughts on this? Love to hear `em!

By Stewart Frazier (Frazikar3) on Wednesday, September 04, 2024 - 06:55 pm: Edit

The Lyrans are simple, start with the MP (or the LDR MPX) and use the LDR FP for the flagship … done

By Jeff Wile (Jswile) on Wednesday, September 04, 2024 - 11:58 pm: Edit

Well, just a follow up suggestion:

The FFG, (Federation frigate with the plus refit included) has been suggested as a viable modern replacement of the venerable POL (Police Cutter).

The biggest draw back to the FFG has traditionally been that it is a “tight” SSD. There being relatively small amount of what Steve Petrick referred to as “whiteitis” (areas of blank space inside the hull outline that many players propose changes to a published Ship SSD form to fill the white unused area.)

There have been different proposals over the years, some variants published, but no “designated successor” police ship design for the post General War years.

The FFG is a logical choice, but there are a couple of modifications that seem necessary:

First is provision for cargo boxes. Traditionally, such an addition has been rejected as an invite for player proposals to take advantage of the “useless” cargo boxes.

Never mind that it is a core requirement of a Federation Police ship.

Another issue is a large contingent of boarding parties for various security tasks a police ship needs for completing various security missions.

The X-ship issue is really a separate subject for several reasons.

Both the expense of updating the technology, as well as the increased capacity for the ship to complete even more difficult missions.

So there is a lot that needs to be discussed.

By Jeff Anderson (Jga) on Thursday, September 05, 2024 - 04:06 pm: Edit

Would you believe, Frazikar, that the MPX totally slipped my (alleged) mind?

Seems almost TOO perfect. IIRC, the LDR MPX retains the LS/RS Ph-G of the non-X MP, and I would WAG that the Lyran MPX would have Ph-1s instead of the Ph-Gs, but otherwise it's already in The Game?

JSW, I agree wholeheartedly with the Federation FFG looking like a good replacement for the POL, but even that ship will be found to be wanting if it has to face an Orion LRX, so that's why I offered the idea of a Federation POLX.

As far as your assessments that the ship will need to have cargo boxes and a large boarding party contingent, methinks you're moving towards the area of a Police Flagship (like Module R6). Between us, the idea of an X-tech Police Flagship has quite the appeal for me, but maybe it's just me.