A bit of an obvious variant, but it fills a niche...

Proposal: All Y-era factions published in Y1, Y2, and Y3 have a cruiser in the BPV range 72-82, and therefore suitable for a (non-historical) "Early Captain's Game" except for the Gorns (the Romulans lack one in Y1-Y3 but get two in R4J). This gap should be filled with a conjectural unit.

The YCA would start with the YCL and add a second bubble as per the Middle Years CA. Probably:
- The engines would upgrade to the 12-box YCA standard.
- The shields would improve to a 24-box #1 and 18-box elsewhere.
- With the "rear bridge" likely becoming AUX the AUXs become APRs. AUX becoming Hull would also make sense, but eyeballing it she needs the power to be competitive with other YCAs in the bolt-only era & Gorns use APRs on contemporary ships.
- 6x Ph-2 is pretty standard for a YCA while 8x would be best in class by some distance, so likely would not have the CA's double wing phasers.
- BPV 72 or so without the "+" refit of the YCL and roughly 82 with it. The refitted ship would be a very good match for ISC YCA from Y2.
- "YIS" after YCL but before YDN. Y95?

Possible background: Conjectural. This design was considered shortly after the YCL, YDD, and YFF began production but not selected due to expense. Possibly the Gorns would have built this unit had their situation been more dangerous (e.g. C6 or R4J realities), but historically this design was just a footnote in Middle Years CA development history.

By Jeff Anderson (Jga) on Saturday, August 16, 2025 - 09:05 pm: Edit

Well thought out.