(6TSI.0) The Seltorian Infestation

This non-historical scenario is designed to be different than all other previous F&E scenarios. It is not a twist on the General War, it is an unapologetic deviation from it due to a force majeure affecting all empires in the Alpha quadrant. This scenario has the Seltorians, and possibly the 312th battle squadron, arrive much earlier to this galaxy during the General War than history records, irrevocably disrupting the General War. This scenario has empires changing sides to fight along side historical and very recent enemies. This scenario has a minor empire begin relatively weak, but with the ability to grow quickly and having the potential to challenge and possibly to overwhelm all of the on-board empires simultaneously. This scenario also makes it possible for most if not all of the ships in the Seltorian SIT to be built and used.

The background history is as follows:


After the Seltorian Revolt many of the remaining Tholians fled the M81 galaxy. Some groups did so with Dyson spheres, some with warships, and some with both. The Seltorians dispatched Seltorian Tribunal Ships to find and destroy them all.

The Tholians had one significant advantage in their flight from the Seltorians. All they needed to do was to go as far as they could as fast as they could until they found a suitable location either to hide while resupplying their ships or to reestablish their civilization. The Seltorians, on the other hand, had to had to be more systematic on their way out of their home galaxy.

As the distances from the Home galaxy grew, the Seltorians found it increasingly difficult both to find and to destroy the remaining Tholians. Finding them was increasingly difficult due to the sheer volume of space. Doubling the search radius from the home galaxy increased the total volume that had to be searched by a factor of eight. Each rogue star cluster, each rogue planet, and each piece of interstellar real estate had to be found, searched, cleared of Tholians, and have probes set to betray a Tholian arrival after the Seltorians departed.

Not too far from the home galaxy it was relatively easy to call in reinforcement fleet units to help take care of problems. Farther out it became easier and faster for the STSs to use local resources to build new units. Also, the STSs could travel in groups for mutual support. Farther out again, the STSs each were responsible for much more intergalactic volume and more frequently traveled as single STSs with their escorts. Some of the Tholians this far out had had time to develop strongholds and minor and medium shipyards making their destruction far from guaranteed, and some STSs were lost after encountering these strongholds. As a solution to this, new STSs from this time began carrying newly engineered Transportable Shipyards to augment their intrinsic construction capacities.

Even farther out again groups of Tholians had had time to construct major shipyards and defenses as well as exploit resources and sentient organics to aid them in their establishing dominance over the local territory. The STSs which discovered these Tholians found themselves again outclassed in the capacities of production and repair. Starting from scratch with just the production capacity of their STS, frequently there wasn't sufficient time needed to set up their TSY, construct medium and minor shipyards, construct defenses for the TSY and the shipyards while conducting combat operations against the Tholians which had had from years to decades to prepare and who frequently didn't wait for the Seltorians to begin offensive combat operations. Again the Seltorians were losing STSs.

The Seltorians knew they had effectively reached the limits of their current capabilities to search for Tholians. They, also, were certain there were Tholians beyond that reach. To find these Tholians they had had to come up with a means to extend their reach immeasurably further. They engineered prefabricated primary shipyards and bases integrated into the hulls of their Hive ships and Nest ships (HS+ and NS+, STS+ collectively). Using a design based on the principle of a Hoberman Sphere, and consuming the TSY in the process, these new designs would be able to transform themselves into a base/shipyard combination in a fraction of the time that setting up a TSY would take, and the final facility would be significantly more capable than the STS/TSY combination once the transformation was complete. These shipyards, in addition to constructing fleets of warships, would be able to construct more of these STS+s as well as other STSs and send them on to continue the chase for the Tholians. The only downsides were that the transformation was permanent, the base/shipyard was immobile, and it would only be efficient to undertake if there were sufficiently abundant resources nearby to be utilized, and that there would be no size class 1 hull available to convert into a BW or AW until another could be built.

One of these HS+s found a group of Tholians in a small intergalactic star cluster somewhere between the M81 galaxy and the Milky Way galaxy. Resources were available but sparse. These Tholians, lacking a sphere, had thought themselves safe enough that they utilized their resources building environmental containments and were trying to increase their population to preserve their race and genetic diversity before moving on to more plentiful territory. The MB they had brought was set up but had not been upgraded to a larger base when they were discovered. The Seltorians destroyed their base, destroyed their containments, and many of the ships the Tholians had. The rest of the Tholian fleet fled in the direction of the Milky Way galaxy. The Seltorians gave chase.

During the flight toward the Milky Way galaxy, the Tholians in the fleeing fleet did everything they could to evade the Seltorians and continue moving. They gathered resources wherever they found them, set booby traps to delay the Seltorian chase, and fought when they had to. They cannibalized their least efficient ships of parts, consumables, and personnel to allow the more efficient ships to continue. Sometimes they allowed these sacrificed ships to die with glory by giving them just enough fuel and a minimal crew of usually disabled volunteer crew members to act as decoys and eventually fight a delaying action. They sacrificed less vital ship components in order to keep more vital systems running with their motto, “Whatever it takes to keep moving.” Before long their remaining ships were no longer in fighting shape.

Near the end of their trip, when it looked like the Tholians would succeed in entering the Milky Way galaxy and finding a hiding place, the Tholian admiral received news that gave him mixed emotions. Their sensors, still very far out from the galaxy, detected a web signature. Some Tholians had already made it out this far to this galaxy, and he had inadvertently led Seltorians to them. For a web signature to be detectable this far out meant that there was at least one Dyson Sphere, and possibly more, in this galaxy before them.

Closer to the galaxy, yet still some distance away, the Tholian admiral received reports of multiple web signatures. He also randomly received reports of the energy signatures of uncontrolled matter-antimatter annihilations both near to and far from the web signatures. There was a war in progress, maybe more than one. The Tholian admiral ordered his remaining ships to head toward the largest of the web signatures at their best pace.

When the Seltorians entered the Milky Way galaxy they met the Klingons first. The Klingons were only too happy to point the way toward the Tholian Holdfast and provide a planet for the Seltorians to use as a base of operations. Shortly thereafter, the Seltorians were found to have a Starbase and a functioning major shipyard inside Klingon space at the site of the planet in their use. Their Hive ship was gone.

When challenged by outraged Klingon diplomats, the Seltorian diplomats showed where in their treaty with the Klingons that their actions were justified and allowed. In fact the clauses sited were vague enough to be interpreted two ways. The Seltorian diplomats, as an obvious measure of appeasement, agreed to provide to the Klingon empire rare materials which were in excess of the needs of the Seltorians and extremely useful in starship construction and propulsion. The Klingon diplomats, having powers plenipotentiary (and being personally enriched by a side deal to this arrangement), working with the Seltorian diplomats, drafted a much more defined treaty for subsequent Seltorian operations and departure.

This new treaty allowed for more Seltorian preferred planets to be located and leased from the Klingons, which would aid the Klingon war effort economically (and further enrich the Klingon diplomats), but with restrictions to keep some of the more xenophobic bureaucrats from complaining too loudly. It allowed the Seltorians to create colonies as necessary to provide for supply paths for the materials mined from the leased planets' systems. It allowed for the construction of another HS+ for the Seltorians to use for their departure from Klingon territory after the Tholians were eradicated. The treaty allowed for the Seltorians to defend each planet they developed with planet-bound defenses and a squadron of ships against pirates and any enemies of the Klingons which approached too closely. It forbade the Seltorians from creating any more stationary space-bound fortifications; planet-bound colonial bases were permitted.

Additionally, the treaty provided that upon defeat of the Tholians, a goal upon which the Klingons demanded significant progress, the Seltorians were to be allowed one year to perform certain functions in preparation for their departure from Klingon territory. First, they were allowed to repair any damaged ships they had, and to scrap any they didn't choose to repair or take with them in crippled condition. Second, they were allowed to convert ships into tug variants to carry more supplies, but were to stop all warship construction efforts. Third, they were to transfer all units, facilities, fortifications, and planets they were leaving behind to the Klingons for conversion to Klingon technology and for Klingon utilization and/or colonization.

Initially some Klingon admirals were against the idea of an outside race having bases and construction facilities inside Klingon territory, but these were shushed when the first lease payments received from the Seltorians were more than enough to buy two new war cruisers, and the Seltorians destroyed their first Tholian base. These admirals never stopped grumbling their concerns, but the increasing lease payments received and the military successes of the Seltorians against the Tholian invaders made it harder for them to be heard.

The Seltorians were perfect neighbors faithfully paying the Klingons for the planets they were using and viciously attacking the Tholian invaders. They had victory after victory against the Tholians. The casualties they had were offset by their construction capacity. The Klingons even provided technical assistance to the Seltorians allowing them to improve the quality of their ships. The Seltorians also chased away Orion pirates who ventured too near their leased planets, which also benefited the Klingons.

Before long the Tholians, being economically and productively outmatched and having lost the advantages of their web devises, were defeated when their bases and Dyson sphere were destroyed and all their remaining ships were eliminated. The Klingons anticipating receiving a starbase, a major shipyard and other minor shipyards, as well as several fertile planets with their garrison facilities congratulated the Seltorians on their impressive and honorable victory. Siting their treaty with the Seltorians which required them to vacate Klingon territory after exterminating the Tholians in this galaxy, the Klingons asked the Seltorians kindly to depart. The Seltorians, knowing that at least some Tholians had made it this far and seeing abundant resources with which to continue their tribunal efforts in earnest from this galaxy, declined the Klingon invitation.

War followed.


No effort has been made to write any canon details for the Star Fleet Universe, however, every effort has been made for the new units and rules to dovetail into the F&E rules framework as seamlessly and be as plausible as possible. For example, the HS which historically arrived could have been a HS+, and the Seltorians could have asked the still more powerful Klingons for permission to transform it into a SB/PSY, but the Klingons, being fatigued of war and in a state of economic exhaustion, refused to grant the permission. The historical HS could have been a HS+, but we never knew about it's special ability. Also, the base from the transformation of a NS+ is a STB and not a SB. This is to save space and cost of the NS+. Although a STB cannot support the construction of a PSY, it isn't doing so in this case. The NS+ is built by a PSY fully capable of doing the job.

To be clear, in this scenario the Seltorians will be able to have, and afford, multiple major shipyards. They will be able to find and develop more planets to their use, but these planets will be vulnerable to attack like colonies are. All of the Alpha quadrant empires, and the Andros, will be against the Seltorians. The ISC and Andros will likely need their own players should a game go that long.

In addition to a large game, there will be smaller scenarios only including the Tholians and Seltorians. The General War will still be fought, but won't be played. The smaller scenarios will be Cold Front-esque judging victory by how fast can the Tholians be eliminated.

I'm posting this to see if there's any interest in the idea. If there's not, I won't waste my time finalizing the rules.

I'm open to questions and comments.


My apologies in advance at any uncontrolled nervous twitching caused by this idea. I thought it was worth seeing if there were interest before writing rules and submitting them.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Thursday, March 04, 2021 - 08:28 am: Edit

This would be a great scenario to do sometime but not before Civil Wars and Tactical Operations are completely finished and shipped to customers. Until then, the staff needs to be gazelle intense and laser focused on getting the scenarios for CW and TO and nothing else.

By John Christiansen (Roscoehatfield) on Thursday, March 04, 2021 - 06:52 pm: Edit

I fully agree, which is part of the reason I haven't rushed it to conclusion. There are a lot of assumptions I've made which need to be proven correct or corrected. Some answers will be in CW, and some maybe in Andro War. I'm not familiar with what's expected to be in TO to know if it's relevant.

Many questions I've asked in various threads were in support of this scenario. I'll ask them again when the answers become more urgent. One might promote a rule change.