Federation Commander

Even considering futuristic warfare, I believe the larger, stronger, quicker, and durable your marine, the heavier equipment and weapons you can carry, perhaps some form of armor/personal shielding, etc that would be equally as large and durable. Again, I believe the Fed marine probably spends more time in economics and cultural developement classes than the average Klingong or Gorn does.

Until I read this series of thoughts, I had never thought about the 'real' marine tactics of each race. Now, I think the Hydrans are the weakest link. Just use tracers and they will go up like little balls of fire...methane burns!

And I think you are correct about the Seltorians, Wolverine...use DDT or something just as deadly.

And how much catnip can we transport on board a Kzinti or Lyran cruiser?

And how many tribbles can we transport onto a Klingon ship?

Alternate weapon systems, anyone?

mjwest wrote:It is all simultaneous. Also, it is subject to "me-too", so, after you declare you are performing H&R raids, your opponent can decide to join the fun, even though he might not have thought of it before you brought it up.

Yeah. That's what I find.... If you think your opponent may have forgotten H&R raids, and he has transporter/marine superiority, by all means consider not launching H&R raids so you don't remind him

Hod K'el wrote:Until I read this series of thoughts, I had never thought about the 'real' marine tactics of each race. Now, I think the Hydrans are the weakest link. Just use tracers and they will go up like little balls of fire...methane burns!

So does oxygen. One old science film that I saw in a junior high school class showed a cigarette spontaneously catching fire when placed into a container of liquid oxygen.

I would imagine that the atmosphere that most hydrans breathe is actually a mixture of gasses with methane being one of several all mixed in together. So while Klingons probably have happy day dreams about a tholian transporting aboard a hydran ship and accidentally setting the atmosphere on fire, a hydran ship's interior is probably just as non-flammable as the interior of any other starship.

Also keep in mind that hydran ships are very, very, very cold (which poses a very pronounced and entirely different set of problems).

Methane is only flammable when there's an oxidiser available - such as oxygen. Oxygen is such a reactive element that it is mopped up rapidly in environments that contain things it can burn - such as methane. So a methane atmosphere would contain no oxygen; it would have been 'burned' long ago.

Fortunately the oxygen in our atmosphere is continuously replenished by the plants, or we'd run out of it pretty darn quick.

This is one reason why the presence of oxygen in another planet's atmosphere would be seen as a marker for the probable presence of life on that planet.

To indulge the Klingon dream, then, you simply part-fill the Hydran ship with the correct proportion of oxygen to fire all the methane, and make sure you are at a safe distance before striking the match.....

Whether they'd sit still while you do that, of course, is another matter....

If the Hydrans didn't know about the Oxygen inserted, and it was someone's birthday, I think it could be pulled off

Oxygen does not burn, but it does support burning.

Well, I imagine the Hydrans probably have procedures in place understanding the volatility of their environment. I still believe they are the physically least imposing and likely the physically weakest of the major races.

If you can put a weapon in each of the 3 hands,
Physically imposing would not be a factor ---
IIRC Hydrans have a 360 degree viewing area the way their eyes are set --


Not someone/thing your going to sneak up on ---

They are also easier to hit (They are Short and Stubby)

The image of a Tholian beaming on board a Hydran ship and setting the place on fire makes me giddy.

(Currently playing the Tholians in a campaign and at war with the Hydrans!)

pinecone wrote:They are also easier to hit (They are Short and Stubby)

Er... the smaller race is easier to hit? How does that work, exactly? The easiest races to hit would be the Gorn and Kzinti, as they're by far the largest.

On a more serious note, I think it's pretty safe to assume that all starships have extensive fire-fighting equipment built into the design. A fire in a closed environment - like that on a starship - is one of the most dangerous things that can occur. As a result I would imagine that all starships come equipped with the futuristic equivalents of ceiling fire sprinklers and similar items.

Setting a starship on fire from the inside should be fairly difficult without the aid of quite a few incindiary devices.

Bolo_MK_XL wrote:If you can put a weapon in each of the 3 hands,
Physically imposing would not be a factor ---
IIRC Hydrans have a 360 degree viewing area the way their eyes are set --


Not someone/thing your going to sneak up on ---

Not only that, but remember the adage - Form Follows Function!

A Hydran ship is not going to have those nice, tall 8 foot ceilings in the corridors that most of us are used to...
A Slidarian combat specialist is going to be bent almost double in a Hydran boarding action...

the key word was "stubby"...

Scoutdad wrote:A Slidarian combat specialist is going to be bent almost double in a Hydran boarding action...

.....probably also in a specially-bent spacesuit, poor sod