Web Caster Patrol Corvette
Star Fleet Universe Discussion Board: Star Fleet Battles: SFB Proposals Board:
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R07: THOLIAN PROPOSALS:
Web Caster Patrol Corvette
Tholians have their Disruptor armed PCs and Photon Torpedo armed PCs. What about a PC variant that replaces two of the Phaser-1s with a single Web Caster?
IIRC, There is a CC variant with a single webcaster along its centerline and a predecessor to her with a Disruptor in its place, so there is a fig leaf for such a design.
Biggest problem with it, as I see things, is the limit to the number of Web Casters the Tholians have, and the potential risk for it to be lost, placing it on such a small, fragile (especially for its time frame) hull.
Still, the Early Years featured the Tholians who survived coming into the Milky Way as having a single NDD, which is itself armed with a Web Caster.
As a way of balancing a campaign that might potentially make use of larger numbers of such a powerful weapon, I can imagine one where the Tholians don't use "Foreign Made Weapons" (i.e.: Disruptors and Photon Torpedoes). Such a player campaign could, in theory, have a limited production run of ships like this, and it comes at the cost of having any Disruptors (or Photon Torpedo) armed ships.
I mean, there IS a CA variant with the Disruptors replaced with Phaser-1s. Couldn't that also be done with D and DD class ships?
Anyway, what do you all think of this?
Neo Tholian Command module has a WC. can operate independently. It could go on a PC. The bigger question is why? Power consumption, loss on such a small hull or just not enough to do it.
With the exception of the aforementioned NDD (and IIRC, an NFF) the original Tholians arriving to the Alpha Octant had only civilian ships.
I do recall the PC is one of said civilian ships. If their civilian ships could mount Web-Casters I'm sure they'd have done so long before they arrived in the Milky Way.
Then there's the whole power issue that Vandar brought up. To me, this sounds like an answer to a problem that doesn't exist.
I'm against the idea of a web caster-armed PC, except maybe in the Tholian home galaxy*. As Jeff mentioned in the original proposal, in the Milky Way the Tholians can produce and maintain only a very limited number of casters. They don't have enough even for all their major warships. Why would they ever waste such a limited resource on such a small, underpowered, and vulnerable hull?
*The example of the Command Module suggests it may be possible. But just because you can do something doesn't mean you should do it. But... possibly... they deployed a few in their home galaxy, where they could produce web casters in quantity. But even that may be stretching it.
Interesting:
JGA has managed to find a way to “tech slosh” General War Tholians with Tholian Home Galaxy using Web Caster technology… by eliminating the existing limits on web caster production.
Play testing could determine if the proposal is unbalancing, but in the absence of such data, my initial reaction is doubtful.
Clearly, the steves could have elected to have no production limits on web casters, and decided against unlimited production.
Perhaps it may be best to respect SVC’s decision by making no change to web caster production.
I agree with the general tone of comments so far. Each PC that received a WC would mean another, more capable ship would not receive one. Also, as the WC interacts with established webs, and the PC is more suited for web defense, this would literally reduce the PC's available firepower. I believe that the PC can likely mount a WC, but it wouldn't be a wise placement of one in this galaxy.
Alan, nice seeing a post from you. Our other conversations went cold, and I was beginning to worry about your health.
I don't think this is is something the Tholians would do. They could, but they would not. WCs are rare and better put on bigger ships.
Good points, everyone!
Some (alleged) thoughts...
(uh-oh!
)
When I first had the idea run through my (alleged) mind, it was basically loosening up the limits on Web Caster availability A LITTLE BIT and, possibly as a balance, to maybe do so at the cost of NO Disruptors or Photon Torpedoes available to the Tholians.
Much as I may like Tholians, I, too, would NOT want for them to have TOO many Web Casters, but what if, instead of four or, at most five in a major fleet, they were to have perhaps six? MAYbe, if it's a twelve hundred point, ten ship fleet, they might have seven.
OR maybe it was something the Klingons "Expected," and came up with the ship for their simulators; an Intelligence failure...
(After all, I can't be the only one whose intelligence fails them...)
John Christiansen;
I have indeed had some health issues (neck surgery about a month ago, for thyroid cancer I've had since 2014). But mostly I was... waiting for you to post something and wondering whether you had exited the discussion for some reason...
Since that's not what happened, I will try to post something in Tholian Tactics either this evening or tomorrow.