Subtopic	Posts		Updated
	Archive through June 02, 2022	25		09/03 06:41pm

What about heavier National Guard Tanks and Vehicles?

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Friday, June 03, 2022 - 12:44 pm: Edit

I am not sure heavier tanks would be practical. They could only be moved as very heavy freight, would be limited production and much more expensive, and would require a whole new combat table. Still, an idea we could use if we ever ran out of ideas.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Monday, April 27, 2026 - 01:22 pm: Edit

Map showing an island.

Fixed/towed artillery.

Tube artillery, rocket artillery, anti-aircraft artillery.

Ships, not starships, ocean ships.

By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Thursday, September 03, 2026 - 01:32 pm: Edit

In terms of unorthodox ship interactions:

-----

I was wondering if there might be grounds for future rules covering the use of tug pods.

While most Alpha empires use dedicated fleet transports (such as tugs or LTTs) to deploy such units, the Klingons (and, by extension, their Vudar subjects) designed a number of their commando ships to double as transport units, so that they could add the Marines from such pods to those embarked on the ship itself.

Some of these tug pods have their own Impulse engines, such as the aforementioned Klingon troop pods.

Others, like the "lost empire" Paravian barracks pod in Module C6, have no engines of their own - and, thus, have to be raised or lowered from a planetary surface via tractor beam.

In either case, the pod once landed might be considered as more of a de facto "base" than a "ship" - particularly for those pods with no engines of their own - which might make for an interesting dynamic in game terms.

-----

Also, as noted in a different thread:

There might be scope to expand upon the unique rules needed to handle Andromedan ground operations.

-----

On the one hand, given how weak Andro Mobile Weapons Platforms (and their respective cargo and commando variant types) are relative to Alpha Octant PFs, one might account for this by adjusting (L7.15e) to say that "standard" MWPs have two weapons (instead of four), and that MGPs and MCPs have zero weapons (instead of two).

On the other hand, if a given scenario has a Mothership with a hangar bay in orbit, one could use the ship's transporters to beam such units - or, indeed, any satellite ships aboard - directly to, or from, a planetary surface!

Technically, the same could be so for satellite bases, or for inactive base components. Why this would be done is another matter, however.

Of course, if the "native" Alpha empires were permitted to raise a tug pod into orbit via tractor beam here, the same would be true for any SatShips or mobile [of whatever function] platforms on the surface also, in case the Mothership cannot use its transporters for this task.

Although, if an Andro SatShip, mobile platform, or ground base is destroyed while on the surface, does it "explode" the way their ships would in open space?

-----

Also, it might be worth clarifying which hostile environments Andromedan robot "Marines" can function in "normally", and which ones would still count as hazardous (or, at least, difficult) for them.

For example: over in SFB, they are as penalized in microgravity boarding actions (such as aboard Jindarian or Uthiki ships) as humans or Klingons would be.

So, if any rules were to be added for, say, combat on the surface of an asteroid or dwarf planet, they'd be impacted there also.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Thursday, September 03, 2026 - 06:41 pm: Edit

Down here, Simon.

By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Wednesday, September 09, 2026 - 10:28 pm: Edit

This might, or might not, have been talked about in the past, so apologies if so:

-----

In the Early Years modules over in SFB, there are a number of "Module M" entries listed for various Marine battalion types unique to this era: to include several "planetary" forces in Federation and ISC space, and the "constabulary" forces embarked by the Y-era ISC Navy and Police.

Curiously, there are as yet no details for Terran National Guard battalions - unless they could simply be said to default to the "standard" Star Fleet Marine organization, which I admit to not being entirely keen on as a concept.

-----

Also, while Early Years Paravian and Carnivon Marines are accounted for in the above modules, Module C6 outlines "modern" battalion compositions for both species.

One might compare the "pseudo-pirate" focus of Early Years Paravian ground combat to the more "generalized" forces shown for them in C6.

Plus, there are playtest Peladine and Borak Marine battalions outlined in Module E4 and Module E3 respectively.

-----

Further, there would be certain aspects of Early Years ground combat that would vary from "modern" Marine actions.

A good example of this is with the Early Years Romulans: who lacked transporters (and, thus, could not make use of transporter artillery), as well as hover-equipped vehicles, prior to the Treaty of Smarba.

-----

Might some, or all, of these era-specific (and/or empire-specific) details be worth considering for a future Star Fleet Marines rulebook?