Archive through August 02, 2003

Star Fleet Universe Discussion Board: Star Fleet Battles: SFB Proposals Board: The "X" Files: Integrated Proposals: Archive through August 02, 2003
By Mike Raper (Raperm) on Sunday, February 16, 2003 - 06:28 pm: Edit

This is the place for those working on the integrated racial proposals to put their work.

By Mike Raper (Raperm) on Sunday, February 16, 2003 - 06:51 pm: Edit

Collective Federation 2X proposal.
By Mike R.

Basis: The Feds are the most vanilla of the races, and consistently stick with their basic design philosophy and combat style. Most people seem to want to keep that trend up in the name of racial flavor. To that end, I’ve made it a core part of my proposal to keep the Feds very “Fedlike”, in that they still stick with those basics, but on an improved level. I also tried very hard to stay true to the results of Kenneth’s poll. To design the whole approach, I asked myself the question, “what makes a Fed a Fed?” I came up with this list of traits that, to me, define the quintessential Fed ship:



Now, looking at this list, I figured I’d need to keep these traits intact to have Fed flavored 2X Feds, something many people seem to really think is important. Given the results of Kenneths’s poll, and the discussions in the other topics, I came up with these ships:

Federation Y205 XCA
Federation Y215 XCC
Federation Y205 XDD
Federation Y205XFF

Note that the Y215 XCC is an upgraded XCA, an example of what might happen when the Xorks invade, included here as an example of what types of upgrades we might see and to illustrate what a true 2X warship would look like with my concept.

Let me explain the various systems seen on the SSD, some of which have been discussed and some of which have not.

1: The 2X Photon. It retains it’s most defining trait; enormous crunch ability. It avoids accuracy increases or range increases to focus on this, as combining them would be too much. From what I’ve read, this is the overwhelming wish of most players; that the Fed photon still be vulnerable to EW, and that it remain a 2 turn arming crunch weapon, with a fast load capability as well. The new photon is pretty much just like the 1X one was, but its arming cost and damage base are increased by 50%. This includes its overload limit of 24, and it’s fast-load limit of 16. The to-hit chart is the same as the 1X photon in every way.

2: Phasers. Going back to a more “pure” Fed design, these all mount almost exclusively one type of phaser; the P-V. Since it can be used in a rapid-pulse defensive mode as 2 P-VI shots, adding defensive phasers seems superfluous to the designs. The capacitors are triple caps. So, you get a Fed XDD with six phasers, and a Fed XFF with three. There is room to have this number increased when the Xorks show up, and that’s something again that we all seem to want; room for improvement from general ships to real warships. Again, I included one example of such a ship; the Fed XCC.

3: Shields. The poll showed a definite desire to modestly increase the ships shields over 1X, and add some way of dealing with damage besides that. These ships have slight increases to reflect that.

4: Batteries. The batteries are 3 pointers, but can store any energy type you want, including warp and impulse. I didn’t want massive amounts of reserve power, but I also don’t want ships running around with two or three batteries. I felt this was a good compromise.

5: Probes. Probes are just like always, but they have an eight track, instead of five.

6: Total warp: The poll showed a majority wanted an XCC with anywhere from 48 to 52 points of warp. I went with 48, two points of that being in the saucer. This allows quite a lot of excess warp power without being too much. The ships also all have some amount of AWR. I left this on as a “lesson learned” by the Feds. In later war years, darn near every Fed ship you can find has some reactor power. In ships with saucers that can separate and be on their own, reactor power is a good thing to have. Besides…I like it.

7: The SIF: Had a heck of a time with this one. In the end, I settled on Jeff Tonglet’s proposal that the SIF basically allows for protecting the ship for a given amount of damage per turn. Rather than tie this to the ships dam con rating, I tied it to size class. The reason for this is that dam con to me is more a measure of crew availability, parts, etc. The SIF doesn’t really have much to do with those, but it does have a lot to do with the size of the ship…a bigger ship has more to protect. So, larger ships can protect more than smaller ones. The SIF has two modes; normal, and reinforced. The normal mode costs 2 points to power, while the reinforced mode costs 4. It works very simply; when activated it will protect the ship against hull or cargo hits equal to the SIF rating per turn. Any damage beyond this affects the ship normally. It also reduces the ships breakdown rating by one when activated. It cannot be destroyed by a hit and run, but cannot be operated when the ship is uncontrolled. The following lists the SIF ratings per size class, as normal/reinforced:

Size class 4: 4/6
Size class 3: 6/8
Size class 2, BS and BATS: 8/10
Size class 1: 12/16

8: Labs. Not sure about the specifics yet because it’s never really come up, but I think 2X labs would have a better chance of identifying seeking weapons and collecting data points than normal labs would. So, some Fed ships would have somewhat less labs than their predecessors, because these labs are better. I’m leaning towards a simple die shift for 2X labs to make them seem better at their jobs, and to keep it simple.

9: NWO boxes. In keeping with the “well rounded” design of most Fed ships, I put a small, small amount of NWO on each basic ship. This can be used for a lot of purposes, and would enhance the flexibility already inherent in Fed design. I won’t list the possible uses, as you all know them anyway. I do like the concept as a very Fed thing to do.

10: Shuttles. I don’t have J2, but I understand that the new advanced shuttles are like those shown on the SSD’s. They would be sturdier, and mount a P-VI instead of a P-3.

11: Dam Con. The dam con tracks for some of these ships are higher than the 1X counterparts. The reason is that the new 2X systems are bound to have a higher cost of repair than 1X systems do, and they’ll need those points just to be able to repair systems in a timely fashion. A 2X photon you can’t repair for three or four turns isn’t doing you much good when it gets damaged. However, the tracks don’t have as many “levels” as you’d expect, and this reflects the finicky and advanced nature of 2X technology. You can only efficiently repair it so many times, before it gets harder to do.

12: Shield shunting. The version of this I’d seen before came from my old group. Basically, you could transfer points from one shield to any adjacent shield, up to a maximum number determined by size class. A shield could therefore only receive points from two shields at a time, keeping a player from dumping a ton of points onto their number one and charging in, guns a’ blazing. Further, you could only transfer points from shields to damaged shields; you can’t reinforce over your normal shield maximum using this method…doing that still requires good old general and specific reinforcement. The number of points you could move from any one shield was this:

Size class 4: 5 points
Size class 3: 8 points
Size class 2, BS and BATSA: 10 points
Size class 1: 12 points

Using this formula, a Fed XFF could pump 10 points into a damaged shield by stripping five points from the two adjacent ones, but only if it had damaged 10 points of shielding previously. This system can be used in conjunction with general and specific reinforcement, but cannot be used in minimum shield mode. Certainly this system can be refined, but I have played with it, and it wasn’t a game breaker by any means. In fact, it can be downright dangerous to do if facing an EPT or hellbore armed ship. It’s an option and adds to the protective abilities of the 2X ship, but it isn’t foolproof by any means.

13: Limited special sensors. First proposed by Loren if I recall, these are limited versions of the special scout sensors GW ships have. They can lend 2 points of EW, and perform other functions as listed on the SSD such as drone ID, breaking lock-ons, and controlling drones. They are blinded just like normal special sensors, though you can fire a P-VI and not blind it. This is part of the 2X EW limit of 8+2.

14: Drones. I stole Tos’ idea about 2X drones having paired magazines for faster loading. I like it…it’s a good advance for the racks themselves. I haven’t addressed the actual drones. Though, long ago, many of us did agree to the 2X ADD table shown on these SSD’s.

So, there it is. My proposed Feds. They still look like Feds, act like Feds, and follow pretty much every “winning” vote on Kens poll. The CA is the backbone of the fleet, and the DDs and FFs are the work horses, along with a possible XCL (though frankly, the XCL would be so similar to the XDD that it might not be worth it). Not perfect, but definitely a more integrated start than we’ve had before. I know some people will be displeased with the appearance of the ships, that they still look like the 1X and earlier ones do. Well, that’s part of the package. The Fed ships haven’t changed much over the whole SFB history in terms of appearance, and due to the vanilla “feel” of the Feds, I’m sticking to that trend. Had I done the Klingons or another race, I might’ve changed the look some; but not with this proposal. I also know darn well not everyone will like these, and that there will be a plethora of suggested tweaks to “fix” these. I’m not likely to listen, and it’s because not everyone will be happy no matter what I or anyone else does. So, unless I just totally missed something or at least four or five people agree with the suggestion, I’m sticking with these as is. I’d suggest anyone else doing a race proposal like this take the same tack. Let’s get these out, and then start looking at them and mixing/matching what we see. I know Aaron is doing the Hydrans, John T is doing the ISC, and Jeff T. the Kzintis. Anyone doing another race? Klingons, Roms, Gorns? Anyone?

By Christopher E. Fant (Cfant) on Thursday, February 20, 2003 - 01:18 am: Edit

My little addition, just for the ship hull itself.


http://www.geocities.com/raperm2002/FedXCAcfant.GIF

By John Trauger (Vorlonagent) on Friday, February 21, 2003 - 04:46 am: Edit

Proposal for the ISC

ISC XCC: http://www.vorlonagent.com/sfb/ISC_XCC.gif

As noted in the SSD topic, I wish I habn't changed the FH and 360 P-5's to 3 each. Looking at the finished product, I think the boat is over-gunned, but it's too late to tackle the changes and phaser-renumbering tonight.

CANNISTER PLASMA
The ISC angled for things that would enhance their echelon formations. Building on Plasma-D technology, ISC researchers were able to add a system of storage cannisters to their plasma torpedoes. When used with larger kinds of plasma, each cannister holds a plasma at the end of its second turn of arming in stasis. The ISC could not make the system work for torpedoes larger than the S-torp. Testing also showed that a cannister could hold a completed F-torp but no larger torp, not even an L-torp.

Each launch tube has 2 cannisters associated with it. The launcher is still a fully-functioning plasma launcher. A ship can arm and hold a plasma in the launcher as well as have both cannisters loaded and ready.

At the end of a turn, each launcher can either send a held plasma to an empty cannister or load a plasma from a cannister into the launcher, but not both. If the plasma being moved to a cannister is a fully-armed torp larger than a F-torp, the third turn of arming is ejected and must be announced.

Regardless of cannister availability, a cannister plasma launcher may not launch more than one plasma per turn. A Cannister plasma launcher cannot launch plasma twice within 8 impulses of a previous launching.

Development notes: I am not sure whether storing or reloading plasma to/from a cannister should require power. I'm inclined not to charge for storing in a cannister but could see a cost for bringing a torp out of storage. That's something for play-balance. I suspect the ISC will find this a power-hungry system to use, especially when combined with the Advanced PPD, so there's probably no need.

PLASMA CASTER
Seeking to improve the effectiveness of its lateral plasma torpedoes, The ISC developed the ability to shoot a cannister up to 5 hexes away before it disintegrated, releasing its plasma. S and G launchers were not fitted with the caster on the theory that they would usually be arming larger torpedoes. The ISC did refit the lateral torps on its larger ships as well as the F-torps on its gunline ships with casters.

To arm the caster portion of a plasma torp, the caster must be given 2 points of warp power, either at EA or from reserve power. The caster fires during DF weapons and may place a F-torp in any hex that the launcher could hit with a plasma bolt, up to 5 hexes away. The plasma will move as if just launched. The caster can only launch a plasma in a cannister. It cannot launch a plasma it is simply holdin in the launcher. A cannister may not be launched from a tube that is holding a plasma in the launcher. Firing a cannister always destroys the cannister. An ISC ship usually carries 6 spare cannisters (triple reloads) for its F-torps. To reload a cannister, the entire launcher must be taken ot of service for a turn, not unlike reloading a drone rack.

Design notes: I'm considering making a separate "plasma caster" box on the SSD, one per side for lateral plasmas maybe one per launcher for non-lateral plasma. Hit on drone hits? It would cover for the PPD, but it's not like an ISC player would be overjoyed to lose a caster instead.

I'm also considering allowing a F-torp to load a cannister into the launcher and arm a torp inside it, giving the F-torp the ability to chuck three cannisters. The ISC may not need it, though. Wouldn't be needed if we went for a separate caster, also.

ADVANCED PPD
Rather than get a PPD that fires over more impulses, the ISC built a reinforced launcher that shot the same number of more powerful pulses. The APPD follows all the GW/X1 rules for a PPD with one exception. Power costs are multiplied by 1.5. Each pulse costs 6 points to arm instead of 4. 5-pulse overloads for +6, 6-pulse for +12. It may be armed as a standard X1 PPD, but the decision to arm must be made on the first turn of arming. The decision cannot be changed later, but the energy can be ejected and rearmed in the other mode.

ASIF
This was actually the first Advanced Structural Integrity Field. This ASIF was designed to be a literal "7th shield", providing a small amount of protection against penetrating damage. Damage cannot be applied to a column of the DAC until all the boxes in the corresponding column on the ASIF are destroyed.

This ASIF can be reinforced, but all reinforcement is cut in half compared to what it wuld be aplied to any of the 6 norml shields, round down. 10 points of specific reinforcement to the ASIF would turn into 5 points of actual reinforcement. If the ASIF has taken damage, reinforcement fills in destroyed ASIF boxes from the deepest column outward. Any extra reinforcement is added to the "A" column of the ASIF.

The ASIF is activated independently from minimum or full shields and may be activated wihtout minimum or full shields being active. The ASIF cost for SC 4 is 1/2, SC 3 is 1, SC 2 is 2. The ASIF cost is listed third for each ship, giving a M + F + A for minimum shields + Full shields + ASIF energy costs. My ISC XCC shows a shield cost of 1+1+1. A DN or BB would show a shield cost of 1+3+2.

By John Trauger (Vorlonagent) on Friday, February 21, 2003 - 02:31 pm: Edit

ISC Errata

Kinda posted a little late last night.

ISC CCX
Official phaser setup is 8xP-5, 6xP-6. The SSD will be updated.


CANNISTER PLASMA
Clarification: When a heavy torp (anything larger than a F) is pulled from a cannister into the launcher, at the following turn's EA the launcher is for all purposes holding a plasma ready for its third turn of arming. The plasma can be enveloped, shotgunned or just armed.

Cannisters can only hold a plasma created in the launcher that the cannisters are associated with. They cannot arm a plasma torp independently of the launcher. Armed cannisters cannot be moved around the ship from launcher to launcher.

When a plasma is sent to a cannister and ejects its third turn of arming, the amount of energy put into that third turn is announced. An enveloping S would report 8 points of energy ejected, as would a shotgun. A standard-load S would report 4. A S-torp armed as a G would report 3 and so on.

Design note: I am considering allow a ship to ransfer a first-turn plasma to a cannister but I fear the paperwork is more than the limited utility the option would give.


ADVANCED PPD
Cost per pulse is 3/pulse not 6 because the GW/X1 PPD is 2/pulse. Normal arming for an APPD would be 6+6 (+3 or +6 to OL), with the ability to fastload a standard for 12. Hold cost is also increased from 2 to 3.


ASIF
For purposes of repair, the ASIF is treated as another shield in all ways. Repairs work like reinforcement. The deepest boxes are reapired first, moving out toward the A row.

Design note: I'm considering making each ASIF box cost twice as much to repair as compared to a normal shield box. One more thing for play-balance.

I'm also considering allowing a boxes in a higher ASIF column be repaired as long as there is one box in a lower column.

By Alex Chobot (Alendrel) on Friday, February 21, 2003 - 02:36 pm: Edit

John, just wanted to double-check that you are aware that X1 ships now repair shields at 1 point of energy per shield box, rather than 2. Is this being assumed true for X2 as well?

By John Trauger (Vorlonagent) on Friday, February 21, 2003 - 02:46 pm: Edit

Alex,

Yes. I'm aware. I don't expect shield repair to get easier, but it isn't going to be harder.

It's the primary reason for wanting to double the repair cost for the ASIF. I don't want it regenerating too easily. Then again, 6/turn max might not constitute "too easily." But it might.

By Aaron Gimblet (Marcus) on Tuesday, March 11, 2003 - 05:59 am: Edit

The following is a preliminary overview. Once I can contact someone with the webspace, ill have the SSDs hosted for perusal.

Basic Concept/Fleet Evolution-
The Road to Recovery was a long and painful one for the Hydran Kingdom. Driven out of their own home territory once again in the General War, they were forced into a role of near non-participation during the conflicts with the ISC, and later in Operation Unity. The constraints of rebuilding a shattered Star Kingdom having long absorbed the vast majority of their best enginners and technicians, they were more limited than most races in their deployment of new, radically advanced X2 technologies (explaining the evolutionary, rather than revolutionary, nature of the X2 tech choices made herin). Despite that fact, or perhaps because of it, the Hydrans fleet docorine and evolution was based on what, to the Hydran Navy, was the 'glory days' of the Kingdoms naval power... the Four Powers War. Following the doctorine of the Four Powers War, the Kingdom decided to focus their efforts on producing warships that were individually superior to those of their adjacent enemies, in an attempt to offset the unavoidable numeric disparity that they would face in any future conflict with those same enemies. At the same time, groundwork was laid for a potentially rapid expansion in the Kingdoms Naval Strength, inasumch as their Frigate and Light Cruiser Hulls were designed with the expansion into one-step-larger war classes already inherit. Whilst originally produced in more-limited numbers, the Year 205 DD and CA would be mass produced during the events of the Xork invasion, removing the FF and CL from production entirely, barring a few slipways still producing variants.


Technologies-

Designers Notes-
A casual perusal of these will make it clear that I am more of a borrower than a creator. Time has proven that my own ideas tend to be just a wee bit over the top, all things considered, and the following ideas of others have struck me as interesting, flavourful, and appropriate. For all playtest purposes, assume that Sensor and EW behaviour observes whatever standard (6EW, 8EW, Spec Sensors) that tester is using. If the tester is not using the proposed ASIF system, then simply provide the playtest Hydran vessel with whatever equivalent system the tester would prefer to see in-place.


Gatling Fusion (Loren Knight)

An evolution of the Hydran proprensity for 'Gatling' Concepts, and based heavily on existing technologies, the Gatling Fusion Beam provided the logical 'next step' for the evolution of the Hydran Close Range Deterrence System. Consisting of a rotating drum mounting four fusion canisters similar to those found on Stinger fighters for decades, it provides the close-range firepower of the Fusion Beam without requiring a constant power draw for a weapon that rarely sees an ideal firing solution.

System: The Gatling Fusion 'shows' a pair of canisters at any given point in time, with the other two sitting inside the vessel, ready to be charged for the standard 2 points of power. The Drum may rotate during EA, to expose charged canisters and ready empty ones for charging. Note that only two canisters may fire during a given turn, and only two may recieve power during EA. As each canister cools independently, there is no impulse delay between firings (allowing for potentially lethal hack and slash style operations)

Leading Burst Hellbore Cannon (John Trauger)

Main hellbore damage is unchanged, but the hellbore gains an optional "Leading Burst" mode of fire. If the hellbore is armed for 4+4 instead of 3+3, The hellbore gains small amount of added DF damage that always impacts a ship's facing shield during the first hellbore step. The damage is equal to roughly 1/5 of the enveloping helbore damage.

A hellbore armed in leading Burst mode must be held using 4-point rolling delay. The hellbore will accept a 3-point rolling delay but loses the Leading Burst component and becomes a normal Hellbore. Leading Burst mode requires a second turn of arming to use. It may not be used with one-turn fast-loads. A standard hellbore may be convered to Leading Burst Mode any two cosecutive turns it is held using 4-point Rolling delay.

Overloading a Hellbore armed in Leading Burst mode costs an additional +4. +3 may not be paid.

Revised hellbore Chart:

Range 0-1 2 3-4 5-8 9-15 16-22 23-40
Base Burst 4 3 3 3 2 2 1
OL Burst 6 5 4 4 0 0 0
Base Damage 20 17 15 13 10 8 4
OL Damage 30 25 22 19 0 0 0



If a Leading Burst hellbore is fired as a direct-fire hellbore, the burst damage is added but it is not halved. The full burst damage is added to the DF damage.

Advanced Structural Integrity Field (reprinted from John Trauger)

Concept: All starships use structural integrity fields to hold the ships together during warp travel and against the intense energies thrown at a ship in combat. This is done transparently in previous grades of technology, more or less enabling the ship to take damage according to the DAC. The ASIF takes this to a new level by actually giving an amount of defense against damage.
Cost: The ASIF costs the same as the cost of going from minimum shields to full shields. For SC4 units, the cost is 1/2, SC3 is 1, SC2 is 3. The power may come from any source. The power may come from reserve power.
Operation: The ASIF is raised or lowered at the same time and same manner as standard shields are raised and lowered. The ASIF may be raised and lowered independently from any other shield. It may not be raised in response to combat damage. The ASIF may be raised and lowered under the same rules as normal shields. The ASIF is independent form other shields on the ship. It may be raised regardless of whether the ship is using full, minimum or no shields.
Procedure: The ASIF is a single 360-degree shield that blunts penetrating damage by shielding some or all of the columns of the DAC. The ASIF display on the ship's SSD shows the shield boxes designated for the DAC columns it defends. When a point of damage would normally be done to a column protected by an undestroyed ASIF box, a box on the corresponding column of the ASIF display is marked off instead. When all boxes for the column are marked as destroyed, damage is allocated normally using established DAC procedures. The player must record damage to the ASIF before recording any damage to the corresponding column of the DAC (or deeper columns). He may not choose to let some damage through.
Reinforcement: The ASIF may be reinforced by either general or specific reinforcement. It may be reinforced in response to combat damage. All reinforcement is cut in half, round fractions down. Reinforcement fills in the ASIF starting from the deepest columns working out toward the "A" column. Each column must be filled in before reinforcement can fill in the next column. If the "A" column is entirely filled, the reinforcement adds onto the "A" column.
EXAMPLE: An ASIF with all its "A": column boxes destroyed and 4 of 6 boxes of its B column, is reinforced with 6 points of specific reinforcement. All 4 points of "B" column damage would have to be filled in before any reinforcement would defend the "A" column.
Repair: Damage Control may be allocated to repair ASIF shield boxes. The cost is twice that of regular shield boxes. By the X1 rules, 1 point of power allocated to Damage control will repair 1 shield box. Under these circumstances, 2 points of Damcon energy will repair 1 ASIF box. The ASIF box repairs similarly to reinforcement. All deeper ASIF columns must be repaired before a shallower one may be repaired.


Notes on Individual Hulls-

FF-Troublesome to design. Large amounts of remaining room in the hull prompted me to the 'DD based off FF hull' idea. Intended as a generic, multirole Frigate, to be produced as cheaply as possible. Several concerns were sacrificed in the name of cost, including Aux control and ASIF strength. A 2 Hellbore, pure-fleet-support version was designed, but never saw serious production.

DD-The 'War' FF design, boasting increases in every category. Still, its heritage as a mass-produced minimum-cost class shows, especially in its low-strength SIF. A 3 Hellbore variant that sacrificed the Fusions for additional fleet support firepower was designed, but only saw production in limited numbers.

CL-Backbone of the navy, as of 205. Capable of 'leading' FF or DD squadrons, but really intended to serve as the main battle line under control of a CA. Overbuilt, somewhat capacious vessel (due to the intended CA-CC-BC upgrade path) and an overall effective class. Note that this was the first-laid-down class, and thus its unified armament (either Fusion or Hellbore) represents the last gasp of the old 'Ranger or Dragoon' BuShips.

CA-Replacing the CL in the role of 'Main-Line' warship by 215, the CA was originally planned and intended to be a step on the refit path of the CL hull. Inital production was fairly light, with the CAs being used only in the command role prior to the advent of the Xork invasion. Unlike the CL, both CA designs are 'Command Cruiser' style multirole vessels, though like the older Command Cruisers, they show a distinct leaning towards either Fusion/Fighter or Hellbore primacy.

CC-Delayed in introduction. Problems integrating the desired increases in shield generation, ASIF field strength, and overall firepower in the original CL-CA series hull forced a delay and near-total redesign of the hull, for use in the CC. As a result, these vessels which best epitomized the jejune ecole 'Best Cruisers In Space' design philosophy were almost too late to be the best, and too few to have a major impact on the war.

CCV-Taking advantage of the roomy hulls (originally intended for the CC-BC converstion), it was found far simpler, cheaper, and more combat-effective to simply expand the fighter bays of the CC, rather than to use that volume for the additional armaments and power of the BC.

BC-Built in the same thought-process as the classic BCH, the BC was intended to fill the Dreadnought command slot in the 2X Hydran Navy. Issues of cost and time constraints delayed the introduction of the class, and it is likely that only a handful were completed. One interesting note is the complete absence of Fusion armament... as the 'command slot' for a fleet, the BC was expected to maintain some distance from the enemy, providing firepower support and command and control functions. (The truth of the matter is that the Buship enginners initally proposed a six Hellbore, four Fusion version, but found that the hull was incapable of handling the heavy weapons load. They hurridly removed the four Gatling Fusions in the name of hull reinforcement and strenthening, and explained the decision to high command as an effort to 'remove unnecessary and unused capacity in the interest of faster and more economical construction.' History does not record if the excuse was bought.

By Mike Raper (Raperm) on Tuesday, March 11, 2003 - 08:16 am: Edit

Aaron,

I'll post the SSD's you sent me tonight.

By Jeff Tonglet (Blackbeard) on Tuesday, March 11, 2003 - 09:23 pm: Edit

X2 Kzinti Proposal

The Kzintis, along with most of the other races, came out victorious against the Andromedans, but they were exhausted.

The hull sizes are not expanded over X0.
If part of a CM's upgrade included a size increase, it would be an XCA.

Engine mounts
The Kzintis saw what the Klingons did with engine mounted disruptors, and tried to improve their firepower by adding weapons without giving up space in the main hull.

While unable to add a pair of disruptors, the Kzintis were able to add an FA ph-5/sensor on the CC and CM, and a ph-6 on the DD.

Phasers (by Loren Knight)
The standard ph-5.
Replaces the ph-1 on a 1 for 1 basis.
Arming cost 1 1/2. Can be fired as 2 ph-6 or 3 ph-3.

The standard ph-6.
Replaces the ph-3.
Arming cost 3/4.
Will not blind special sensors.

Disruptor cannon
The Kzintis, looking for extra punch and not concerned with finesse, looked back to the Carnivorons' disruptor cannon. In X2, they finally got the OL feature to work.

Two turn arming cycle.
Arming cost 2+2.
OL arming cost 4+4.
Cannot be held, but rolling delay is available.
If armed for 4+2 or 2+4, the weapon is limited to range 8 but is treated in all other respects as a standard load.
If armed for 4+2, but not fired, and 2 power is applied on the third turn, the weapon is a standard 2+2 shot.

Drones
Against ADD-based defenses, bigger drones are a waste, while more drones meant more firepower.

CXX rack - Able to hold 6 X1 drones, and fire 2 a turn, just as a normal C rack.

Kzinti Scatter Pack - While the MRS shuttle was never able to be mass produced, the Kzintis were able to build a shuttle that could hold 8 drone spaces.

Hull - instead of a structrual integrity field, I decided to use doubled up hull boxes.

Batteries - I went with the standard X1 3 power per box.

EW - X1 allowed 8 EW. I'm using 8 + scout.
One of the lessons learned from the Andromedan War was that heavy combat ships needed a special sensor as standard equipment. There's no guarantee that the Descecrator's destruction meant the end of the Andromedans, so one scout sensor was kept on X2 command ships.

If using the special bridge option, replace the engine mounted sensor with a ph-5.

CA:
The fleet command ship.
Produced in limited numbers in The Trade Wars period.

CM:
Used as a command ship when a CA is not available.
A very capable warship.

DD:
The workhorse of the fleet.
Most of the varients were built from this class.

FF:
In the General War, and even more in the Andromedan War, frigates proved to be death traps.
The police forces, however, were more than willing to accept new XFFs to replace their X0 POL ships.
The ship has a sensor channel to detect (and avoid) Pirate ambushes.

PFG:
Police flagship.
While designed for a logistical support mission, the ship has enough drones to launch a wave, then warp out while the opponent is tied up defending against the drones.

I'll send the SSDs later tonight or tomorrow.

By Aaron Gimblet (Marcus) on Tuesday, March 11, 2003 - 09:50 pm: Edit

SSDs for above

http://www.geocities.com/raperm2002/H-XBC.GIF
http://www.geocities.com/raperm2002/H-XCA.GIF
http://www.geocities.com/raperm2002/H-XCA2.GIF
http://www.geocities.com/raperm2002/H-XCC.GIF
http://www.geocities.com/raperm2002/H-XCCV.GIF
http://www.geocities.com/raperm2002/H-XCL.GIF
http://www.geocities.com/raperm2002/H-XCL2.GIF
http://www.geocities.com/raperm2002/H-XDD.GIF
http://www.geocities.com/raperm2002/H-XDD2.GIF
http://www.geocities.com/raperm2002/H-XFF.GIF
http://www.geocities.com/raperm2002/H-XFF2.GIF

By Jeff Tonglet (Blackbeard) on Wednesday, March 12, 2003 - 12:41 am: Edit

Mike Raper,
I just emailed you two messages containing my 5 Kzinti ships.

Let me know if both come through.
Thanks.

By Mike Raper (Raperm) on Wednesday, March 12, 2003 - 06:48 am: Edit

Yes, I got them. I also got Kenneth's 2X Roms...I'll get them both up tonight.

By Roger Dupuy (Rogerdupuy) on Monday, April 14, 2003 - 02:16 pm: Edit

I don't know if it's the right place to put this but here goes...


Plasma Stasis Cannon

History and Description:
Romulan admirals and military analysts took a hard look at:

1) the disappointing results of the end of the General War,

2) the limited effectiveness of the current plasma torpedo during the Andromedan Invasion and

3) the anticipation of the next generation (X2)ships operating at higher speeds with increased phaser firepower.

Instead of looking for ways to improve the plasma torpedo, Romulan engineers sought to develop a direct fire weapon that would compliment their plasma torpedos.

In the years that followed Romulan military engineers developed an advanced cannon that fired a cluster of volatile plasma projectiles held in stasis. When this cluster hit a target, the impact released and detonated the plasma. Although it could be fired every turn, it took a large amount of energy to fire and was somewhat inaccurate. The inaccuracy was compensated if additional turns were spent tracking the target. One (1) point of energy is used the first turn to track the target and then six (6) points are used to fire the weapon on the second turn. Accuracy can be further improved if two (2) turns are used for tracking and then six (6) points are used to fire the weapon.

Arming(any source)
1 turn: 5 points
2 turns: 1+6
3 turns: 1+1+6

No holding

To Hit (2d6)

turn0-23-56-910-1415-26
1 7 6 5 4 3
2 9 8 7 6 4
3 11 10 9 8 6



Damage
22 points regardless of range.

Defensive Fire Option
Any phaser in arc can fire at a range of zero at the plasma erupting from stasis on(and only on) the impulse the warhead successfully hit. The damage ratio is 3:1 (phaser damage to warhead reduction) instead of the normal 2:1 because the plasma is still emerging from stasis thus the stasis part of the warhead cannot be affected.

notes
I just wanted to propose a Direct fire weapon that did not resemple a PPD or Photon but filled a much needed gap in the Romluan arsenal. I think a DF weapon is easier to balance against GW era ships AND X2 ships. Upgrading plasma torps with the speed increases being proposed -albeit cool- can really blow away GW Era ships. At the same time if there is just a slight increase then they don't balance with other X2 ships. I like the flexibility of it being able to fire every turn (with the accuracy limitations) and having the accuracy increase for every turn the weapon 'puts a bead on' the target. Of course, all the numbers and values can be tweaked in playtest. The 'defensive fire' option is just that: an option. If this option makes the weapon too weak then the total damage should be increased. This is not a seeking plasma replacement.

Ok.

By Kenneth Jones (Kludge) on Tuesday, April 15, 2003 - 05:20 pm: Edit

Roger you need to post this in the 2X Plasma thread. This one is for (Completed) Race Proposals.

By John Trauger (Vorlonagent) on Tuesday, April 15, 2003 - 07:29 pm: Edit

He actually posted this on another thread abotu 10 days back.

By Roger Dupuy (Rogerdupuy) on Tuesday, April 15, 2003 - 07:35 pm: Edit

Kenneth, Sorry.

By Kenneth Jones (Kludge) on Wednesday, May 14, 2003 - 10:04 am: Edit

Romulan 2X Integrated Proposal

The Romulans are set slightly low on the gee whiz tech scale.

D: Combat

Shields

SCDT (Size Class Damage Transfer)
Making the maximum damage transfer to adjacent shields equal to the ships size class. IE: a SC3 Cruiser can transfer 3 pts each to the adjacent shields. While a SC4 DD can transfer 4pts. Only half the total damage can be transferred. So for the CA to transfer 6 total points to the two other shields it will have to have received a minimum of 12 pts. Maximum of 1 use per turn. Declared during the reinforcement step of Direct Fire.

SIF (Advanced Structural Integrity Field)
Used

I have serious reservations about using this. Not from game balance. But the fact it comes to close to Franchise material. SVC may shoot it down just for that. But until then...:)

E: Phaser V’s

The Romulans started of with no Ph-V’s and started refitting their ships after it was demonstrated as practical. First testing occurred on a XFF. Then was incorporated into the XCC during construction.

FP: Plasma Upgrades

My Intention with Plasma Upgrades was to give the 2X ship more versatility without giving the GW ship something it has never faced before. There have been many interesting comments but nothing really useful without a LOT of balancing problems IMO.

So I settled for a broad range of modest upgrades. It doesn’t make a big difference to a GW ship if it has an EPT armed during EA or during the turn with reserve power.

Arming

Plasma Torpedoes can be Enveloped/Shot gunned with Reserve (or battery) Power. Instead of having to be allocated. Even Held torpedoes can be turned into EPT/SG/LRB.

Movement

Using Carl Magnuss Carlsons suggestion to SVC. Rom 2X Plasma Torpedoes can HET and move. Instead of merely Hetting in place.

I stayed with using 32/40 for Plasma Speeds. R10 will be out soon. None of us have much experience flying against Sabot Torps. So lets not write them off with the Super Sabot just yet.

DF Plasma

There are two possibilities.
1. Mike Rapers Plasma Cannon
The Tables are on the SSD’s for consideration.
2. Using the Long Range Bolt rule from SSJ1.
Basically any Bolt at a True Range of 11 or more will do Damage as if the Bolted Torpedo had hit after moving the same distance. (IE. It is not halved for Bolt Damage.) It costs as much to use a LRB as it does to Envelope the same Torpedo. Note: You can’t EPT and LRB to gain a type of Overload. It’s one or the other. See JFP2.0 in SSJ1 for more Details.

1. The problem with the Plasma Cannon is that it does not address the Plasma users weakness vs. DF in fleet engagements at Middle to Long Range.

2. The main objection I have to the LRB is that it IS a SSJ rule. But maybe 2X tech was able to make it work.


Pseudo Torpedoes

A minor improvement for Pseudo Torpedoes is the ability to simulate an EPT. Cost to boost the Pseudo Torpedo depends on the size of the launcher.
G 1
S 2
M 3
R 4

Pseudo Torpedoes can be reloaded in a scenario. It takes 1 pt of power for 4 Turns with a fifth turn costing the same as the final turn of arming of the torpedo being simulated.

G

Advanced Bridge

I went with Lorens proposal on using Advanced Bridge. But limited it to Detection type abilities mostly. As shown on the Romulan SSD’s.(With normal rules for being blinded.) Instead of Lorens more capable method. Because we need to leave a role for the true Scout in the Xork era.

Advanced Bridge
24 Controlling SW
25 Identify SW
26 Detecting Mines
27 Gather Information
29 Tactical Intelligence

Cloak

I’m going to violate the Patrick Duffy rule and use the Commanders X2, Cloak rule reasoning. Because most of the proposals are potentially too unbalancing. Or they fail the KISS test.

That with the improvements in sensing technology the Romulans found the Cloak becoming less and less useful. But kept it out of a sense of tradition. (Plus the fact that it was still useful on the strategic scale.)

R4.XXX

Phaser-V Y211
The Phaser V Refit was applied only to a handful of ships before the Xork Invasion. But it was rapidly spread among the remaining ships as fast as practical once the invasion began. Before the invasion only a third of CA’s had received the refit. And other classes had gotten even fewer. The only ship with P-V universally deployed before the invasion was the XCC.

Warp Refit Y209
Was originally tested on a XCL to help boost it’s performance. After some major shakedown testing it was determined that the warp field would be stable enough to place on a XCA hull. (The original cloak wouldn’t even have to be modified since it was overly powered anyway.) Only a handful of XCL’s had been built without it. And they had all been refitted before the Xork Invasion.

XCA/XFF Limited Modules
The XCA module’s could hold just about anything that wasn’t power or a weapon.
IE: No Battery APR AWR Phaser etc. *Note Mine Racks were never allowed to be installed on a XCA. Use the Orion Option mount cost for changes in ship BPV.

Partial List:
Cargo
Flag Bridge
Hull (Forward or Rear Depending on position.)
Lab
Special Sensors
Tractor
Transporter

The XFF Has a couple of minor changes to the XCA’s available systems.

Mine racks can be installed.
Phaser 1’s can be installed (360 degree arc of fire.)

Romulan 2X Ships

XCCv3
The XCC was designed to replace the inadequate XCA Command Version. Which suffered a lack of power and living accommodations for the expanded crew over the std XCA. Weapon and engine design improvements were made in the basic structure of the ship itself. Resulting in the Ph-V and Warp engine Refit for the XCA and XCL.
Y213 BPV420, FE CR10.

By Kenneth Jones (Kludge) on Wednesday, May 14, 2003 - 10:07 am: Edit

Wouldn't let me post the whole thing maybe it was to long. But here is the rest of the ships.

RomXCAv3
The XCA was almost the very first of the Second X generation technology placed in commission. But unavoidable delays in production made it one of the last XCA’s placed into active service. Originally the Romulans tried giving it the same modularity of the XCL/XDD. But had to settle for the system listed below.

The XCA was an adequate at it’s roll. But when in the Command configuration it simply was not provided with facilities equal to the job it was being tasked for.
Y206 BPV375 FE CR9 (CR10 with Command module.)

RomXCLv3
The XCL was something of an after thought to the Romulan government. Originally the XCA and XDD were intended to fill all the nessecary roles. Since a XCL would cost almost as much as a full sized XCA. But the Admiralty finally convinced the Government that there was a vital role for an XCL. Meeting the mission requirements that would be a waste of a XCA’s potential. But remaining beyond the ability of the XDD. Especially after perfecting X2 Modules for a SC3 ship.Y208 BPV 310, F&E CR8 *Note Fully Modular

RomXDDv3
The real workhorse of the Romulan fleet deployed into almost every role imaginable. With it’s inherent modularity giving it the ability to be modified easily into whatever mission role was needed.
The biggest chance from the original Skyhawk was that some of the modularity was sacrificed to enable the ship to have at least a minimal capability to use Tractors Shuttles etc. Something that the original had to sacrifice regularly to fit the next mission module onboard. Y205 BPV 210 F&E CR 6

RomXFFv3
As far as the Admiralty was concerned the XFF was a necessary evil. Because the XDD was to expensive to produce in the numbers needed to deal with all the little problems that any ship could handle. But which were simply to common and wide spread to be cost effective for a XDD to respond to. Resulting in the XFF.

To small to be made fully modular the Romulan navy used the same limited module capacity of the XCA to enable the XFF to barely fulfill the mission requirements at the lowest cost to the government. Y207 BPV 155 F&E CR 5

By Kenneth Jones (Kludge) on Monday, July 21, 2003 - 11:01 am: Edit

Mike Could you email me copies of my Romualn ships. I had to reformat my HD and lost them. And I don't have any printed copies left.

Everytime I click on the link for one it seems to be down.

By Mike Raper (Raperm) on Monday, July 21, 2003 - 03:58 pm: Edit

No problem. I'll send 'em to you.

By Jeff Tonglet (Blackbeard) on Saturday, August 02, 2003 - 01:57 pm: Edit

Does anyone have a web page that they can post everyone's submissions on? Not everyone in this discussion has one.

I (along with just about everyone else in this discussion) have a SSD for a Fed XCA, and would like to get it posted somewhere.

By John Trauger (Vorlonagent) on Saturday, August 02, 2003 - 03:35 pm: Edit

If Mike can't I can. I have oodles of free space

By Mike Raper (Raperm) on Saturday, August 02, 2003 - 03:37 pm: Edit

I can, if you like. Just send it along, with any text you want with it.

By Jeff Tonglet (Blackbeard) on Saturday, August 02, 2003 - 03:47 pm: Edit

Thanks for the offer.

I just emailed a copy to both of you.

Let me know if you get it.

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