I've been musing a little on what directions the TST system (Log 28) might have grown into had it proved completely practical, mostly for use in non-historical campaigns without a Klingon/Lyran alliance. Log 28 showcases it solely as a replacement for drones on Lyran fighters, a role in which it is somewhat superior to drones at the cost of needing power from the carrier after heavy use. (If permitting in a campaign, I suggest increasing the safety cost to 1 point per type B/C rail and 0.5 per type A, so that fighters with them cost the same BPV as equivalent drone fighters; also do not allow swapping out Disr charges for type-C's, which are vastly superior.)

First is some way of launching them from ships. The easiest method would be allow a refit of the ESG to let it generate and launch them; perhaps double the power requirement to reflect the inefficiency of not using a dedicated system, with power drawn from the capacitor at time of launch. The TST would actually be created just outside the ship by the ESG system so that there is never a held TST on board that could explode. Launch of a TST would count against the ESG cycle, naturally. As an ESG can release 5 power, type D (4 power for 16/16) and E (5 power for 20/20) might also be permitted, but those are probably overkill.

Second is to create a dedicated launcher that can launch TST directly from ships, but not put up a full ESG field. Again this would use a capacitor system so as to never have an unstable TST on board. This would be a two turn weapon like the ESG, with a three or four point capacitor taking one space. This would mostly be used on PF's, probably a new trimaran design based on the Lynx (2 P2, 2 P3, 1 Disr, 2 TST, 3 2-box engines, following the Pol-MP trimaran pattern which adds 2 ESG and no Disr).

By michael john campbell (Michaelcampbell) on Sunday, August 29, 2004 - 09:46 pm: Edit

A.H.:


Did you catch my bad typing disease???
I can't understand a thing you've written ( note I don't have CL28 ).

By Andrew Harding (Warlock) on Sunday, August 29, 2004 - 10:20 pm: Edit

CL28/Stellar shadows quick summary: The TST is a system developed by the Lyrans to replace drones on their fighters, but which never entered general service because they never managed to make them safe to operate.
The standard type-B fits on a Type-I drone rail and is a little better than a type-I drone, but doesn't have the warhead options and reloads each need one power from the carrier instead of ammunition. They can pass safely through friendly ESGs and have a few other differences (including some undefined interactions, which I'll post about once I have a chance to look up the relevant rule numbers).

As I've played the Lyrans a few times in free campaigns, the TST is a great idea - it allows droneless Lyrans (even if it's a lot like a drone there are significant tactical differences). I'm speculating on other uses and possible Lyran further developments of the system.

By John Trauger (Vorlonagent) on Monday, August 29, 2005 - 12:40 pm: Edit

...but then you'd need ECM TSTs...