With talk of a new Romulan module elsewhere on the BBS, I was thinking about what (to me, at least) would be interesting to see for that empire in print someday.

But, since the thing I'd most want to see for them would likely have to wait for its own dedicated project - were it to ever be formally considered at all, that is - I thought instead of something from a different discussion thread: a would-be Eagle Series battleship design.

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By way of comparison, the YR-secton data for the Klingon B4 notes this as being but one of a series of battleship designs the Klingons had drawn up over time, before they finally got around to building the (in)famous B10s. It would seem logical that other Alpha Octant empires went through similar developments, at least on the drawing boards.

In the case of the Romulans, perhaps there was a similarly iterative process for a would-be Eagle series battleship: to include "historical" pre-Smarba designs, whose power was simple impulse; "Shadow of the Eagle" versions, intended to match the "early warp" Romulan ships of Module R4J; a post-Smarba "War' variant; and even a "King" edition, aimed at bringing this hull type alongside the King Eagle and King Vulture into the General War.

In terms of heavy plasma firepower: since the Vulture dreadnought packs two type-R plasma torpedoes, one might wonder if a third plasma-R might be a bit too much to ask for here...

I don't necessarily consider "Albatross" to be a "final" designation for this proposed hull type - though actually building them would likely have placed a metaphorical albatross around the collective necks of the Empire's shipwrights and logisticians.

But even so, I thought it might be interesting to consider what might make such a hull stand out from other Alpha Octant battleship designs, in each technology era one might see such a ship enter service.

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So, any thoughts on what might make a viable, and interesting, design progression for such a hull?

Or, indeed, on what other name might be an option for such a design?

By Gregory S Flusche (Vandar) on Tuesday, August 19, 2025 - 05:48 pm: Edit

Yikes my mouth is watering

By Alex Chobot (Alendrel) on Tuesday, August 19, 2025 - 07:39 pm: Edit

Three R-torps and nothing else. Consorts will have the smaller plasma covered.

By Gregory S Flusche (Vandar) on Tuesday, August 19, 2025 - 09:14 pm: Edit

2 plasma R 2 plasma S two plasma F and a few phasers

By Alex Chobot (Alendrel) on Tuesday, August 19, 2025 - 11:40 pm: Edit

That’s the plasma spread on the King Condor and K10 (not counting rear firing weapons). I think the Albatross would be more interesting with a different spread.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Wednesday, August 20, 2025 - 02:13 am: Edit

Mike West: Throw some red meat to the lions for me, okay?

By Jessica Orsini (Jessica_Orsini) on Wednesday, August 20, 2025 - 08:59 am: Edit

I'm going to regret this.....

An ambitious engineering student from House Orsini put forward the idea of a "war battleship" in Y174 to give the Star Empire a unique advantage. The "plan" (putting it kindly) was to split a King Vulture-class dreadnought down the middle, building a new section roughly 40 meters wide between the two halves. This section would include: a third type-R plasma torpedo launcher; a bank of four type-I phasers in a ventral turret (previously unseen in any Old Series design); split the shuttlecraft between two bays of four shuttles each, with ready racks for six fighters; and - most controversially - put a King Eagle warp nacelle (complete with a third type-F torpedo launcher) in a dorsal mounting between split fins, akin to the twin fins on the Falcon-class mauler. The current impulse deck would be split into two four-box impulse decks in the two halves, with a third four-box deck mounted in the next section. Command-and-control facilities would be expanded to a third bridge box, two flag bridge boxes, and the addition of an auxiliary bridge.

Through judicious application of the correct quantity and quality of bribes, the design eventually reached the office of the House Patriarch...who, after taking a look at it, quietly buried it and silenced the engineering student, lest this somehow be seen by the Senate (or worse, the Praetor) and House Orsini be laughed off the roll of Great Houses for proposing something so preposterous.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Wednesday, August 20, 2025 - 10:29 am: Edit

Pregnant Turkey?

By Jessica Orsini (Jessica_Orsini) on Wednesday, August 20, 2025 - 11:18 am: Edit

"Pregnant Turkey" sums it up nicely, yes.

By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Wednesday, August 20, 2025 - 11:48 am: Edit

On a purely personal note, I would rather the proposed Albatross hull being requested in this thread to be a purpose-(un)built battleship design, with just the two warp engines (and, eventually, just the two nacalle-mounted plasma-F torpedoes for the "king" iteration).

Of course, even if that was to be the case here, someone could yet decide to split the "war battleship" concept off to a separate thread, should they so wish...

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As for the base hull here, I would go with three type-R plasma torpedoes facing forward, but not give this hull any aft-mounted plasma launchers. Not a common feature for Alpha Octant battleships, but one which should be part of the trade-off of trying to draw up an Eagle Series battleship design.

Given the size constraints involved, I would suggest there not be any fighters on the "line" iteration of this hull. It might be somewhat difficult to consider a carrier or SDS iteration as a result - but, again, this would, in my view, be in keeping with the trade-offs inherent in such a design.

Also: since even the King Vulture cannot reach Speed 31, might one presume that a would-be "king" Albatross would itself be no faster than the KVL in tactical terms?

By Jessica Orsini (Jessica_Orsini) on Wednesday, August 20, 2025 - 02:39 pm: Edit

For what it's worth, Gary, it's difficult to imagine the Romulans coming up with a draft for a purpose-built Old Series battleship, simply because their wars were fought almost entirely against the Gorn after the sublight-era First Federation/Romulan War... and the Gorn fielded nothing larger than a cruiser until the introduction of their first dreadnought in Y98. In their pre-TacWarp environment, their Vultures effectively were battleships by default. Courtesy of the post-Romulan War treaty, they wouldn't have even seen a Federation dreadnought until much later, as the 6th Fleet was something of a backwater and as patrols along the Neutral Zone weren't something that Star Fleet's handful of dreadnoughts were doing.

"What if" is fun, but the "what if" should be something that makes sense.

By Ted Fay (Catwhoeatsphoto) on Wednesday, August 20, 2025 - 03:09 pm: Edit

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Quote:

Pregnant Turkey?

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By Alex Chobot (Alendrel) on Wednesday, August 20, 2025 - 03:21 pm: Edit

Shame Turkey Vulture has already been used!

By Jeff Anderson (Jga) on Thursday, August 21, 2025 - 01:19 am: Edit

WHAT IF Conjectural Ships were given names of extinct species? Phorrusrachid (I probably butchered the spelling, but it was a ten foot tall super carnivore from the beginning of the Eocene, if memory serves)

By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Thursday, August 21, 2025 - 11:59 am: Edit

I should note that there is an Early Years Gorn design - a "true" one, with a Move Cost of 2 - in Module Y3. Although the R-section data makes it unclear as to whether this was a blueprint dating from that time period, or was itself a case of looking "back" from a later time period at what might have been possible using Y-ea technology.

Beyond this, it is fair to say that most of the conjectural Y-era battleships currently in print through to Module Y3 are for "western" Alpha Octant empires, such as the Klingons and Lyrans. But there's always hope for a future Module Y4 - for which it's already been suggested that other "missing" YBBs - such as for the ISC and Hydrans - might appear therein.

That said, the above refers to matters in the "standard" timeline. In at least two (relatively) recent modules, however, there are plenty of SSDs for ships which only exist in the Alpha Octant in alternate timelines: the "Shadow of the Eagle" material in Module R4J, plus the "lost empire" Paravians and Carnivons of Module C6.

Indeed, there is at least one alternate timeline in which these R4J and C6 units exist together, courtesy of "Mapsheet P".

Personally, I hope for more such timelines to be brought into being in a would-be "Module C6R" - or, perhaps, even a would-be "Module R4P".

In those timelines, things for the Romulans are much more active much earlier, with new sources of foreign intelligence - even for conjectural units, such as battleships - to process.

Hence why, as part of this proposal, I would suggest there be "early warp" W- and Y-era iterations of the Albatross, to match the equivalent Vultures included as part of R4J, to present in parallel to any "sublight" W- and Y-Albatross hulls that might have existed on the drawing boards of the pre-Smarba Romulans, historically-speaking.

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But, while that is part of my reasoning - such as it is - for the two-engine Albatross concept, this could still leave room conceptually-speaking for a separate, three-engine "war battleship" concept to be considered separately - just as the DemonHawk and MegaHawk each took the idea of a modular Hawk Series dreadnought in a different design direction..

One thing the Romulans have in abundance is room for newer and more elaborate heavy ship designs, after all!