Technology of the Star Fleet Universe
- Thread starter Nerroth
- Start date
It has been a while since I last posted here, yes...
I do intend to continue it, though I'm not sure what pace I'll be able to maintain for this thread in the near to mid future.
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This time around, I'm going to take a detour back to the Alpha Octant - albeit in a way that would still have implications for events over in Omega.
As noted earlier in the thread, there are alternate timelines to consider: to include the "dark future" encountered/created by the wayward USS Darwin, or the various "lost empire" timelines in which the Paravians and/or Carnivons continue to exist in the "modern" era of the Alpha Octant.
Perhaps the most dramatically divergent of these timelines is the "Reflection Universe", which is outlined as one of the alternate timelines published in SFB Module R4J: Shadow of the Eagle.
Note that the "Mirror" timeline seen in the on-screen Franchise is not part of the SFU. But in any case, the chief point of divergence in the Reflected timeline is not on Earth: rather, it is on ancient Vulcan.
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In the "standard" timeline, as well as in most "standard-adjacent" realities, the teachings of "Kya-yai", or "Logic", prevailed on Vulcan. This led the most committed cadre of those following the rival philosophy of "Kyai ri-ha-nai", or "Unifying Duty", to go on a decades-long Exodus to Romulus.
In the Reflected version of events, however, Surak died before he was able to gain a critical mass of followers. Instead, a "new normal" formed on Vulcan which retained a more militaristic outlook; even so, there were enough of Surak's followers to go into Exile.
While the "warlike Vulcans" were able to manipulate the pre-warp Terrans, Andorians, and other species in their immediate vicinity towards an outlook more in line with their expansionist aims, this did not lead to a Vulcan-dominated star empire. Instead, after (official) First Contact took place, the Earth humans invited the other worlds to form the Federal Imperium - through which each of the member planets would share in the spoils of galactic conquest. Still, Vulcan retains enough power and prestige within this realm to mostly satisfy its ambitions.
Meanwhile, the exiles made it to Romulus and founded a "Logic-Romulan" republic. Over time, these Romulans built up their population and industrial base, returned to the stars, made peaceful First Contact with the Gorns, and later found themselves at war with the Federal Imperium.
Other changes reverberated across the Alpha Octant - and beyond.
While the Paravians lost their home star system to the Sun Snake, enough of them survived to establish a series of exile colonies. Notably, since the Orions in this timeline joined the Federal Imperium as "normal" members, it was these exile Paravians who became the chief "pirate" faction instead.
While the "western" Alpha timeline played out more or less as normal, things changed during the General War - when the Federal Imperium took advantage of the Lyran and Klingon attacks on the Kzinti Hegemony to invade both the Klingons and the Kzintis! Over time, both the Logic-Romulans and the Gorns were drawn into this conflict; for their part, the ISC sat out the war, only to launch their own Pacification Campaign thereafter.
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As you can imagine, the technology of the Reflection Universe is quite different in some ways to that of the "standard" timeline.
The Federal Imperium maintains a vast and aggressive star fleet, which never developed the "Third Way" (of using F-111 fighters and SWAC shuttles) nor the use of phaser-Gs. Nor did they deploy plasma-armed combat variants, since they never aligned with the Gorns in this timeline. However, they deployed Interceptors and fast patrol ships as soon as these technologies became available.
The Logic-Romulans progressed through the various eras of tactical warp drive, as accounted for in Module R4J.
As for the Gorns: on the one hand, they deploy Romulan-type fighters and bombers - perhaps with "mercenary" Romulans and/or Gerlunians (a reptilian species distantly related to the Gorns who exist on a planet close to the Galactic Rim) flying them? On the other hand, since they are on good terms with these Romulans, these Gorns never developed the plasma carronade, at least not prior to the onset of first-generation X-technology.
In a case of form following function, the "pirate" Paravians use ships that are functionally equivalent to Orion Pirate designs. The main difference being that, regardless of operating area, these "pirates" retain access to phaser-1s and to quantum wave torpedoes as "home" technologies.
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Beyond this, there are a few details which are not formally spelled out in print as of yet, which might be of interest someday.
For one thing, how might the WYN Cluster develop when one accounts fo the "pirate" Paravians?
For another thing, it is noted that a sub-group of Paravian exiles fled to Omega, before the onset of the "pirate" ships in Alpha; perhaps this means the Omega-Paravians in this timeline still emerge more or less as normal in that Galactic octant.
And, indeed, is there a Reflected counterpart of Omega's Federal Republic of Aurora - and, if so, might they use "volatile warp" Interceptors and PFs, in keeping with their counterparts back in the Federal Imperium?
I do intend to continue it, though I'm not sure what pace I'll be able to maintain for this thread in the near to mid future.
-----
This time around, I'm going to take a detour back to the Alpha Octant - albeit in a way that would still have implications for events over in Omega.
As noted earlier in the thread, there are alternate timelines to consider: to include the "dark future" encountered/created by the wayward USS Darwin, or the various "lost empire" timelines in which the Paravians and/or Carnivons continue to exist in the "modern" era of the Alpha Octant.
Perhaps the most dramatically divergent of these timelines is the "Reflection Universe", which is outlined as one of the alternate timelines published in SFB Module R4J: Shadow of the Eagle.
Note that the "Mirror" timeline seen in the on-screen Franchise is not part of the SFU. But in any case, the chief point of divergence in the Reflected timeline is not on Earth: rather, it is on ancient Vulcan.
-----
In the "standard" timeline, as well as in most "standard-adjacent" realities, the teachings of "Kya-yai", or "Logic", prevailed on Vulcan. This led the most committed cadre of those following the rival philosophy of "Kyai ri-ha-nai", or "Unifying Duty", to go on a decades-long Exodus to Romulus.
In the Reflected version of events, however, Surak died before he was able to gain a critical mass of followers. Instead, a "new normal" formed on Vulcan which retained a more militaristic outlook; even so, there were enough of Surak's followers to go into Exile.
While the "warlike Vulcans" were able to manipulate the pre-warp Terrans, Andorians, and other species in their immediate vicinity towards an outlook more in line with their expansionist aims, this did not lead to a Vulcan-dominated star empire. Instead, after (official) First Contact took place, the Earth humans invited the other worlds to form the Federal Imperium - through which each of the member planets would share in the spoils of galactic conquest. Still, Vulcan retains enough power and prestige within this realm to mostly satisfy its ambitions.
Meanwhile, the exiles made it to Romulus and founded a "Logic-Romulan" republic. Over time, these Romulans built up their population and industrial base, returned to the stars, made peaceful First Contact with the Gorns, and later found themselves at war with the Federal Imperium.
Other changes reverberated across the Alpha Octant - and beyond.
While the Paravians lost their home star system to the Sun Snake, enough of them survived to establish a series of exile colonies. Notably, since the Orions in this timeline joined the Federal Imperium as "normal" members, it was these exile Paravians who became the chief "pirate" faction instead.
While the "western" Alpha timeline played out more or less as normal, things changed during the General War - when the Federal Imperium took advantage of the Lyran and Klingon attacks on the Kzinti Hegemony to invade both the Klingons and the Kzintis! Over time, both the Logic-Romulans and the Gorns were drawn into this conflict; for their part, the ISC sat out the war, only to launch their own Pacification Campaign thereafter.
-----
As you can imagine, the technology of the Reflection Universe is quite different in some ways to that of the "standard" timeline.
The Federal Imperium maintains a vast and aggressive star fleet, which never developed the "Third Way" (of using F-111 fighters and SWAC shuttles) nor the use of phaser-Gs. Nor did they deploy plasma-armed combat variants, since they never aligned with the Gorns in this timeline. However, they deployed Interceptors and fast patrol ships as soon as these technologies became available.
The Logic-Romulans progressed through the various eras of tactical warp drive, as accounted for in Module R4J.
As for the Gorns: on the one hand, they deploy Romulan-type fighters and bombers - perhaps with "mercenary" Romulans and/or Gerlunians (a reptilian species distantly related to the Gorns who exist on a planet close to the Galactic Rim) flying them? On the other hand, since they are on good terms with these Romulans, these Gorns never developed the plasma carronade, at least not prior to the onset of first-generation X-technology.
In a case of form following function, the "pirate" Paravians use ships that are functionally equivalent to Orion Pirate designs. The main difference being that, regardless of operating area, these "pirates" retain access to phaser-1s and to quantum wave torpedoes as "home" technologies.
-----
Beyond this, there are a few details which are not formally spelled out in print as of yet, which might be of interest someday.
For one thing, how might the WYN Cluster develop when one accounts fo the "pirate" Paravians?
For another thing, it is noted that a sub-group of Paravian exiles fled to Omega, before the onset of the "pirate" ships in Alpha; perhaps this means the Omega-Paravians in this timeline still emerge more or less as normal in that Galactic octant.
And, indeed, is there a Reflected counterpart of Omega's Federal Republic of Aurora - and, if so, might they use "volatile warp" Interceptors and PFs, in keeping with their counterparts back in the Federal Imperium?
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From a purely visual standpoint, SFB Orion minis make more sense as Paravians—FASA’s Orion Wanderer I might use as Feddie Fast Patrol Ship in the situation you describe.
The third way works best for the Wyn—here they have more bases, less ships.
Klingon patrol boats look too federationy—FASA’s dagger like gunboats a better fit.
The third way works best for the Wyn—here they have more bases, less ships.
Klingon patrol boats look too federationy—FASA’s dagger like gunboats a better fit.
The Y170s were a time of major changes for the Aurorans - not least of which being the adding of the word "Federal" to "Federal Republic of Aurora".
Part of this change was due to the Cosmic Nexus, as it activated on several occasions during this time period. While other changes stemmed from the Republic's increasing degree of integration with the Mæsron "New Alliance".
Yet perhaps the most dramatic of these changes took place in Y171, with the arrival of the Klingon colony system of Kraknora.
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The tale of tragedy and of renewal at Kraknora is told in greater detail in the FRA "update" file in Captain's Log #53. But to tell a long story short, Kraknora - which, prior to its transfer, was located close to the Klingon-Lyran border - was a reasonably successful colony world until events led to a major series of planet-wide disturbances. This outbreak was in the midst of being brutally suppressed at the time of transfer, when the arriving Auroran ships were surprised to detect five Klingon warships bombarding the surface of the world from orbit.
Refusing to accept their sudden change in circumstances, the Klingon ships left the system, only to find out over the course of the next year that they were, indeed, far from home. After fighting a fierce battle with a group of Vulpa insurgents during which one of the Klingon frigates was lost, the surviving ships turned back towards the Aurorans - though they wisely avoided heading back to the now-free Kraknora system.
In their absence, the Aurorans had launched a major recovery effort at Kraknora, which they admitted into the Republic as a new member system. It was this admission which saw the formal re-brand to the Federal Republic of Aurora. When the Klingon ships returned, they were refitted with Auroran weapons, while their disruptors were removed and reverse-engineered. (Their drone racks had been emptied by this point, though the Aurorans weren't in a hurry to adopt drone technology in any case.) A group of Klingon malcontents would later hijack one of these ships and try to head back to the Alpha Octant with it; their fate has never been determined.
Other arrivals showed up later in the decade. In Y173, a Lyran light cruiser arrived via the Cosmic Nexus; their integration went much more smoothly, and later led to a limited production run of ESGs for use on FRA escort variants. While in Y178, the ISC colony system PX 123 emerged, adding five new species to the Federal Republic's populace.
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While all of this was happening, the Auroran Navy was tasked with sending ships into Mæsron space, as part of the treaty obligations signed between the two powers. The Aurorans soon found that their frigates were too small for this assignment, while their cruisers were too valuable.
Conveniently, their new-found access to Klingon disruptor technology, as well as the dismantling of a Klingon frigate leader, enabled the Auroran engineers to design a "hybrid" destroyer design. This ship is armed with five phaser-1s, two phaser-3s, a prow-mounted disruptor, two light photons, and a short-range cannon. It soon proved to be the ideal ship to send into Mæsron space, as well as to bolster the defences of the Republic itself.
Meanwhile, the Mæsrons provided technical improvements which enabled the Aurorans to exxpand their shipyard. This, for the first time, enabled them to build larger and more powerful warships than the armoured cruiser. Rather than resurrectiong the old heavy cruiser deisgn as seen in the Alpha Octant, however, the Aurorans instead created entirely new deisgns: the battlecruiser and dreadnought. Indeed, the DN is armed with two heavy photons and four standard photons, though its Turn Mode of E makes it more of a challenge to point all six of these heavy weapons in the same direction.
In Y177, the Orion raider cruiser Throne of Ozymondas provided samples of type-B tachyon missile technology, without disclosing where these samples had been sourced from. A few years later, a series of refits enabled some, but not all, Auroran ships to swap out their SRCs for TM-B racks, as well as for a limited number of missile fighters to be deployed.
One other major advancmeent of note was the joint FRA and Mæsron development of "speed-30" warp engines in Y173. Since the Aurorans already had frigates, destroyers, and light cruisers which could fight at Warp 3.14 (or SFB Speed 31), this was mainly a bonus for their larger cruisers - though the exact details of how this is accounted for in SSD terms has yet to be formally committed to print.
Part of this change was due to the Cosmic Nexus, as it activated on several occasions during this time period. While other changes stemmed from the Republic's increasing degree of integration with the Mæsron "New Alliance".
Yet perhaps the most dramatic of these changes took place in Y171, with the arrival of the Klingon colony system of Kraknora.
-----
The tale of tragedy and of renewal at Kraknora is told in greater detail in the FRA "update" file in Captain's Log #53. But to tell a long story short, Kraknora - which, prior to its transfer, was located close to the Klingon-Lyran border - was a reasonably successful colony world until events led to a major series of planet-wide disturbances. This outbreak was in the midst of being brutally suppressed at the time of transfer, when the arriving Auroran ships were surprised to detect five Klingon warships bombarding the surface of the world from orbit.
Refusing to accept their sudden change in circumstances, the Klingon ships left the system, only to find out over the course of the next year that they were, indeed, far from home. After fighting a fierce battle with a group of Vulpa insurgents during which one of the Klingon frigates was lost, the surviving ships turned back towards the Aurorans - though they wisely avoided heading back to the now-free Kraknora system.
In their absence, the Aurorans had launched a major recovery effort at Kraknora, which they admitted into the Republic as a new member system. It was this admission which saw the formal re-brand to the Federal Republic of Aurora. When the Klingon ships returned, they were refitted with Auroran weapons, while their disruptors were removed and reverse-engineered. (Their drone racks had been emptied by this point, though the Aurorans weren't in a hurry to adopt drone technology in any case.) A group of Klingon malcontents would later hijack one of these ships and try to head back to the Alpha Octant with it; their fate has never been determined.
Other arrivals showed up later in the decade. In Y173, a Lyran light cruiser arrived via the Cosmic Nexus; their integration went much more smoothly, and later led to a limited production run of ESGs for use on FRA escort variants. While in Y178, the ISC colony system PX 123 emerged, adding five new species to the Federal Republic's populace.
-----
While all of this was happening, the Auroran Navy was tasked with sending ships into Mæsron space, as part of the treaty obligations signed between the two powers. The Aurorans soon found that their frigates were too small for this assignment, while their cruisers were too valuable.
Conveniently, their new-found access to Klingon disruptor technology, as well as the dismantling of a Klingon frigate leader, enabled the Auroran engineers to design a "hybrid" destroyer design. This ship is armed with five phaser-1s, two phaser-3s, a prow-mounted disruptor, two light photons, and a short-range cannon. It soon proved to be the ideal ship to send into Mæsron space, as well as to bolster the defences of the Republic itself.
Meanwhile, the Mæsrons provided technical improvements which enabled the Aurorans to exxpand their shipyard. This, for the first time, enabled them to build larger and more powerful warships than the armoured cruiser. Rather than resurrectiong the old heavy cruiser deisgn as seen in the Alpha Octant, however, the Aurorans instead created entirely new deisgns: the battlecruiser and dreadnought. Indeed, the DN is armed with two heavy photons and four standard photons, though its Turn Mode of E makes it more of a challenge to point all six of these heavy weapons in the same direction.
In Y177, the Orion raider cruiser Throne of Ozymondas provided samples of type-B tachyon missile technology, without disclosing where these samples had been sourced from. A few years later, a series of refits enabled some, but not all, Auroran ships to swap out their SRCs for TM-B racks, as well as for a limited number of missile fighters to be deployed.
One other major advancmeent of note was the joint FRA and Mæsron development of "speed-30" warp engines in Y173. Since the Aurorans already had frigates, destroyers, and light cruisers which could fight at Warp 3.14 (or SFB Speed 31), this was mainly a bonus for their larger cruisers - though the exact details of how this is accounted for in SSD terms has yet to be formally committed to print.
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At one point or another, most known Star Fleet Universe empires experimented with the concept of a "super-intelligent battle computer" - of the kind some of you might recall from a certain episode of the pre-1979 Franchise. For the most part, the results were the same: such systems were simply too dangerous to adopt, especially when the computer goes into "berserk" mode.
However, there was one empire in the Omega Octant which was able to bring a more streamlined form of supercomputer technology into being: namely, the Drex Unity.
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The robotic Drex were created by a walrus-like species called the Drexari - who, upon creating the Drex, promptly gave up running their own civilization and retreated into a life of endless luxury. For their part, the Drex remain singularly loyal to their creators, while taking on the challenge of operating as a fully-fledged star-faring civilization.
Data on the internal structure of the Unity is scarce for outsiders. But it appears that the Drexari colonies are kept close to the core area of the realm, with an exclusion zone occupied and patrolled by Drex armed forces surrounding it. As and when more Drexari colonies are founded, the more the Drex see the need to expand their frontiers in order to keep outsiders at a safe distance. However, this means that the Drex avoid entangling alliances, as well as maintaining a mostly defensive posture.
Not that the other Omega empires have been eager to leave the Drex alone, of course. The Unity has fought border conflicts with the Mæsrons, Vari, Hivers, and Worb, while keeping all manner of other unwelcome arrivals, such as the Zosman Marauders and the Paravians of Omega, at bay.
To date, only two empires have posed a more direct threat to the Drexari colony worlds themselves.
The first was the Ymatrians, a species of savage bone-armoured bears who launched a full-scale invasion of Drex space from across the Wasteland. Whlle this war ended in a decisive Drex victory, it would have a reverberating impact across a broad swath of the Omega Octant, not least in how Ymatrian antiproton technology would later be salvaged by the Worb, Zosmans, and Omega-Paravians.
The second was the Andromedans: after a brief attempt to upload a computer virus into the Drex computer systems fell short, the invaders settled upon a more "traditional" plan of conquest. Thus, in the midst of the Sixth Cycle, they launched a full-scale campaign that reached even farther into Drex core territory than even the Ymatrians had managed.
Despite these major incidents, the Unity remains unbowed through the end of the Seventh Cycle in Y221. Time will tell what the as-yet-unpublished Eighth Cycle has in store for them, however...
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Technology-wise, the key reason why the Drex are able to make supercomputer technology work is because the robotic "crew" of a Drex warship can interface directly with it. That said, even this system has its limits.
Drex SSDs tend not to have separate bridge, auxiliary control, or emergency bridge boxes. Instead, they have a row of CPU boxes: these represent the supercomputer aboard the ship in question. (Only "full-sized" Drex warships have CPUs; Drex fighters and gunboats are too small, and thus have "standard" robotic pilots and crews respectively.)
Some of the advantages of CPU technology are considerable: for example, in SFB terms, Drex warships with active supercomputers have a "natural" ECCM bonus, which (if the ship's total ECCM exceeds the target ship's ECM) improves the accuracy of Drex direct-fire weapons. Indeed, Drex supercomputers never go "berserk".
And speaking of weapons: the Drex use a mix of wide-angle phasers and particle phasers - but the real threat is from their hypercannons. These direct-fire heavy weapons are available in light and heavy variants, each of which taking two turns to arm. Light hypercannons have 60-degree firing arcs (except on gunboats, where they have more restricted "mauler" firing arcs), while heavy hypercannons have fixed-line arcs. In terms of ammunition, there are three varieties available: explosive (the "standard" type, which on most ships does not need to be kept track of), implosive (which must be tracked; this munition does double its listed damage when scored as internals), and enveloping (which also must be tracked; it scored its listed damage against all six shield facings at once).
It should be noted that these specialist rounds are of particular use against the Andromedans. When fired at Andro warships with only two power-absorber panels, enveloper rounds score three times the listed damage against each panel. Plus, once the facing panel is full, implosion munitions increase the odds of hitting something that might trigger an ill-timed cascade effect...
Note that hypercannons are unique Drex technology; even the Zosman Marauders were unable to successfully reverse-engineer this weapon system.
As noted, Drex fighters and gunboats do not have CPUs. But, they benefit from the Unity's organizational efficiencies in other ways: Drex fighter squadrons are comprised of 16 size-1 fighters, while Drex fast patrol ship flotillas are comprised of eight "volatile warp" PFs. That said, while Drex size-1 fighters are quite dangerous for their type, Drex PFs are relatively small when compared to certain other Omega empires' gunboats.
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A good example of Drex starship technology is with their battlecruiser - which, in keeping with the Drex wish to keep their Drexari masters happy, is designed to have a sleek and elegant look, rather than a more utilitarian design one might expect from a robotic species.
The Drex BC is equipped with six light and four heavy hypercannons, four wide-angle phaser-1s, two particle phaser-1s, and four wide-angle phaser-3s. On the one hand, the ship has a Turn Mode of B, providing it with a high degree of agility - even before the effect of the supercomputer is factored in. On the other hand, most of the hypercannon firing arcs are broadly dispersed across different firing arcs, obliging the ship to lean heavily into this agility in order to bring its weapons to bear in the course of a single turn.
In open space, even one of these ships is a dangerous duelist. Just imagine how bad it can get when confronted with an entire fleet of them...
However, there was one empire in the Omega Octant which was able to bring a more streamlined form of supercomputer technology into being: namely, the Drex Unity.
-----
The robotic Drex were created by a walrus-like species called the Drexari - who, upon creating the Drex, promptly gave up running their own civilization and retreated into a life of endless luxury. For their part, the Drex remain singularly loyal to their creators, while taking on the challenge of operating as a fully-fledged star-faring civilization.
Data on the internal structure of the Unity is scarce for outsiders. But it appears that the Drexari colonies are kept close to the core area of the realm, with an exclusion zone occupied and patrolled by Drex armed forces surrounding it. As and when more Drexari colonies are founded, the more the Drex see the need to expand their frontiers in order to keep outsiders at a safe distance. However, this means that the Drex avoid entangling alliances, as well as maintaining a mostly defensive posture.
Not that the other Omega empires have been eager to leave the Drex alone, of course. The Unity has fought border conflicts with the Mæsrons, Vari, Hivers, and Worb, while keeping all manner of other unwelcome arrivals, such as the Zosman Marauders and the Paravians of Omega, at bay.
To date, only two empires have posed a more direct threat to the Drexari colony worlds themselves.
The first was the Ymatrians, a species of savage bone-armoured bears who launched a full-scale invasion of Drex space from across the Wasteland. Whlle this war ended in a decisive Drex victory, it would have a reverberating impact across a broad swath of the Omega Octant, not least in how Ymatrian antiproton technology would later be salvaged by the Worb, Zosmans, and Omega-Paravians.
The second was the Andromedans: after a brief attempt to upload a computer virus into the Drex computer systems fell short, the invaders settled upon a more "traditional" plan of conquest. Thus, in the midst of the Sixth Cycle, they launched a full-scale campaign that reached even farther into Drex core territory than even the Ymatrians had managed.
Despite these major incidents, the Unity remains unbowed through the end of the Seventh Cycle in Y221. Time will tell what the as-yet-unpublished Eighth Cycle has in store for them, however...
-----
Technology-wise, the key reason why the Drex are able to make supercomputer technology work is because the robotic "crew" of a Drex warship can interface directly with it. That said, even this system has its limits.
Drex SSDs tend not to have separate bridge, auxiliary control, or emergency bridge boxes. Instead, they have a row of CPU boxes: these represent the supercomputer aboard the ship in question. (Only "full-sized" Drex warships have CPUs; Drex fighters and gunboats are too small, and thus have "standard" robotic pilots and crews respectively.)
Some of the advantages of CPU technology are considerable: for example, in SFB terms, Drex warships with active supercomputers have a "natural" ECCM bonus, which (if the ship's total ECCM exceeds the target ship's ECM) improves the accuracy of Drex direct-fire weapons. Indeed, Drex supercomputers never go "berserk".
And speaking of weapons: the Drex use a mix of wide-angle phasers and particle phasers - but the real threat is from their hypercannons. These direct-fire heavy weapons are available in light and heavy variants, each of which taking two turns to arm. Light hypercannons have 60-degree firing arcs (except on gunboats, where they have more restricted "mauler" firing arcs), while heavy hypercannons have fixed-line arcs. In terms of ammunition, there are three varieties available: explosive (the "standard" type, which on most ships does not need to be kept track of), implosive (which must be tracked; this munition does double its listed damage when scored as internals), and enveloping (which also must be tracked; it scored its listed damage against all six shield facings at once).
It should be noted that these specialist rounds are of particular use against the Andromedans. When fired at Andro warships with only two power-absorber panels, enveloper rounds score three times the listed damage against each panel. Plus, once the facing panel is full, implosion munitions increase the odds of hitting something that might trigger an ill-timed cascade effect...
Note that hypercannons are unique Drex technology; even the Zosman Marauders were unable to successfully reverse-engineer this weapon system.
As noted, Drex fighters and gunboats do not have CPUs. But, they benefit from the Unity's organizational efficiencies in other ways: Drex fighter squadrons are comprised of 16 size-1 fighters, while Drex fast patrol ship flotillas are comprised of eight "volatile warp" PFs. That said, while Drex size-1 fighters are quite dangerous for their type, Drex PFs are relatively small when compared to certain other Omega empires' gunboats.
-----
A good example of Drex starship technology is with their battlecruiser - which, in keeping with the Drex wish to keep their Drexari masters happy, is designed to have a sleek and elegant look, rather than a more utilitarian design one might expect from a robotic species.
The Drex BC is equipped with six light and four heavy hypercannons, four wide-angle phaser-1s, two particle phaser-1s, and four wide-angle phaser-3s. On the one hand, the ship has a Turn Mode of B, providing it with a high degree of agility - even before the effect of the supercomputer is factored in. On the other hand, most of the hypercannon firing arcs are broadly dispersed across different firing arcs, obliging the ship to lean heavily into this agility in order to bring its weapons to bear in the course of a single turn.
In open space, even one of these ships is a dangerous duelist. Just imagine how bad it can get when confronted with an entire fleet of them...
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The "Vegan Tyranny" was supposedly long gone by the time of Star Trek....
i doubt it, as IIRC that is something introduced in a novel that wasn't part of ADB's allowed sources.
edit: (the novelization of "Tomorrow is Yesterday", written by james Blish. who imported his Vegan Tyranny from his "cities in flight" series of non-star trek novels. as it was, the Vegans in Beta canon trek were extinct [or at least, their tyranny completely broken) by the time of TOS, as they only got mentioned in passing as a reason why the Enterprise shouldn't leave the vicinity of earth after the Enterprise got thrown back to the 1960's by the black star. in the prime universe, ENT basically retconned them away. and even if they'd existed in ADB's star fleet battles universe, they wouldn't be worth more than a historical note or two in the fluff.)
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So far as I'm aware, there is/was no such entity in the SFU.
In this universe, Vega IX is one of the oldest colony planets to have been settled by humans from Earth. It's noted that, when the Andromedans began attacking the Federation in earnest in Y192, this was the closest world to the Federation capital that was raided by the invaders in that year. There is a Prime Directive planetary survey for Vega IX in Captain"s Log #54 - which, alas, does not specify how many of its residents follow an exclusively plant-based diet...
Meanwhile, on the far side of the Milky Way, six Galactic sectors (from Kappa through to Omicron) are under the control of the Xorkaelian Tyranny. Not much is known about them so far, but they are set to be the next "big bad" for the Alpha Octant empires: they are reportedly due to arrive in force in Y210.
In this universe, Vega IX is one of the oldest colony planets to have been settled by humans from Earth. It's noted that, when the Andromedans began attacking the Federation in earnest in Y192, this was the closest world to the Federation capital that was raided by the invaders in that year. There is a Prime Directive planetary survey for Vega IX in Captain"s Log #54 - which, alas, does not specify how many of its residents follow an exclusively plant-based diet...
Meanwhile, on the far side of the Milky Way, six Galactic sectors (from Kappa through to Omicron) are under the control of the Xorkaelian Tyranny. Not much is known about them so far, but they are set to be the next "big bad" for the Alpha Octant empires: they are reportedly due to arrive in force in Y210.
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Regardless of where in the Star Fleet Universe one might go, or when in the timeline one might look, one constant is that a given empire's shipwrights and engineers are confronted with certain limits, in terms of what a safely functioning starship looks like - and what happens when those limits are cast aside.
Even for ships with more "balanced" engineering work put into them, there is such a thing (in Star Fleet Battles, at least) as a "breakdown rating". Certain ships, such as the Romulan SkyHawk destroyer, have high breakdown ratings; others, like the Federation Saladin-class destroyer, have much lower ratings.
For such ships, the most common instance in which a breakdown is a serious risk is when attempting a High Energy Turn: a sudden shift in facing beyond those permitted by a ship's Turn Mode. Most ships get a die-roll bonus for their first HET; "nimble" ships, such as the Federation police cutter, get a bonus for their first and second HETs.
Nonetheless, should this die roll be failed, the ship suffers an immediate breakdown - at which point, the ship is brought to a sudden stop; a third of its crew is killed, and damage is scored both to its warp engines and as internal damage (which might impact the warp engines also). And beyond this, the ship's breakdown rating is reduced, making it that more likely to suffer a second (or third or fourth) breakdown later on.
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Beyond this, there are ships which are, for one reason or another, built with more weapons than is stable to operate - or which, by their very design as weapons, are unstable to use.
On the one hand, this covers such ships as the Federation New Jersey-class battlecruiser, which has six photon torpedo tubes installed, despite not being able to fire more than for of them in a single turn safely.
On the other hand, there are weapons which are inherently unstable, such as the mauler cannon. First developed in the Alpha Octant by the Romulans, maulers are later deployed by the Klingons, Lyrans, and WYNs; the Andromedans deploy a mauler-equivalent weapon of their own, though it's not clear if they acquired the technology from someone else or developed it by themselves.
Ships so equipped have what SFB refers to as a "shock rating". Each firing of a weapon subject to shock effects generates "shock effect points"; once these SEPs exceed the ship's shock rating, there is a risk of the ship sifering a shock breakdown - which, in game terms, is akin to a breakdown from an HET.
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Speaking of maulers: these are direct-fire weapons which either require the ship to be built around it, or to be extensively re-worked in order to incorporate it. This also includes installing large battery banks into the ship in order to arm and fire the mauler; a given SSD marks clearly which batteries (and warp engines) are tied into the mauler cannon and which are not.
While they have significant range and firing arc limitations, they are very effective at scoring large amounts of damage, particularly for ships (such as Andromedans and first-generation X-ships) that have advanced batteries. Although, in SFB terms, there is nothing to stop this battery power to be used for non-mauler purposes, making maulers quite dangerous in a tractor auction.
One of the most dangerous maulers in the Alpha Octant is the Romulan FlameHawk-X, a mission variant of the FireHawk-X advanced heavy cruiser. Beyond the direct-fire striking power provided by the X-warp engines and X-batteries tied into the ship's paired mauler cannons, the FHX retains the phaser-1Xs and pair of type-M plasma torpedoes of the base hull.
The Andromedan use of maulers is a special case, as they are able to draw power directly from their PA panels, as well as from their batteries and warp engines! Fortunately, the Andros historically "only" deployed mauler satellite ships, though this did not stop the simulators from being haunted by would-be Mothership maulers, that were theorized as having the capacity to destroy entire planets...
Even for ships with more "balanced" engineering work put into them, there is such a thing (in Star Fleet Battles, at least) as a "breakdown rating". Certain ships, such as the Romulan SkyHawk destroyer, have high breakdown ratings; others, like the Federation Saladin-class destroyer, have much lower ratings.
For such ships, the most common instance in which a breakdown is a serious risk is when attempting a High Energy Turn: a sudden shift in facing beyond those permitted by a ship's Turn Mode. Most ships get a die-roll bonus for their first HET; "nimble" ships, such as the Federation police cutter, get a bonus for their first and second HETs.
Nonetheless, should this die roll be failed, the ship suffers an immediate breakdown - at which point, the ship is brought to a sudden stop; a third of its crew is killed, and damage is scored both to its warp engines and as internal damage (which might impact the warp engines also). And beyond this, the ship's breakdown rating is reduced, making it that more likely to suffer a second (or third or fourth) breakdown later on.
-----
Beyond this, there are ships which are, for one reason or another, built with more weapons than is stable to operate - or which, by their very design as weapons, are unstable to use.
On the one hand, this covers such ships as the Federation New Jersey-class battlecruiser, which has six photon torpedo tubes installed, despite not being able to fire more than for of them in a single turn safely.
On the other hand, there are weapons which are inherently unstable, such as the mauler cannon. First developed in the Alpha Octant by the Romulans, maulers are later deployed by the Klingons, Lyrans, and WYNs; the Andromedans deploy a mauler-equivalent weapon of their own, though it's not clear if they acquired the technology from someone else or developed it by themselves.
Ships so equipped have what SFB refers to as a "shock rating". Each firing of a weapon subject to shock effects generates "shock effect points"; once these SEPs exceed the ship's shock rating, there is a risk of the ship sifering a shock breakdown - which, in game terms, is akin to a breakdown from an HET.
-----
Speaking of maulers: these are direct-fire weapons which either require the ship to be built around it, or to be extensively re-worked in order to incorporate it. This also includes installing large battery banks into the ship in order to arm and fire the mauler; a given SSD marks clearly which batteries (and warp engines) are tied into the mauler cannon and which are not.
While they have significant range and firing arc limitations, they are very effective at scoring large amounts of damage, particularly for ships (such as Andromedans and first-generation X-ships) that have advanced batteries. Although, in SFB terms, there is nothing to stop this battery power to be used for non-mauler purposes, making maulers quite dangerous in a tractor auction.
One of the most dangerous maulers in the Alpha Octant is the Romulan FlameHawk-X, a mission variant of the FireHawk-X advanced heavy cruiser. Beyond the direct-fire striking power provided by the X-warp engines and X-batteries tied into the ship's paired mauler cannons, the FHX retains the phaser-1Xs and pair of type-M plasma torpedoes of the base hull.
The Andromedan use of maulers is a special case, as they are able to draw power directly from their PA panels, as well as from their batteries and warp engines! Fortunately, the Andros historically "only" deployed mauler satellite ships, though this did not stop the simulators from being haunted by would-be Mothership maulers, that were theorized as having the capacity to destroy entire planets...
One might wonder why I took a moment to go over things like breakdown ratings and shock effect points at this particular point, just after discussing the robotic Drex Unity.
Things might clear up once I discuss the first faction to seriously threaten the Drexari colonies to be found at the heart of Drex space: the Ymatrian Horde.
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The Ymatrians are native to a planet close to the "north-west" corner of the Wasteland, as shown on the coreward edge of the Omega hex map. As a species, they resemble large, hairless bears, with armour-like bones on their heads and torsos. For most of their known history, they have been known as savage, warlike, yet deeply superstitious beings, both on their home world and (eventually) beyond it.
In a prime case study of why the Vulcans argue in favour of upholding the Prime Directive, the pre-warp Ymatrians were contacted by the Kyrihn, a peaceful species which took it upon themselves to try and "save" a world which, due to the unrestrained use of weapons of mass destruction by its locals, had been rendered partially uninhabitable. While the Ymatrians treated the Kyrihn as sky-gods at first, this did not stop them from reverse-engineering the advanced technology provided by the Kyrihn in order to forge new weapons of war; the result was a xenocidal conquest of the Kyrihn themselves.
As they expanded into space, they conquered a number of pre-warp civilizations that were unfortunate enough to lie in their path. And yet, the Ymatrians hungered for a greater challenge. This they found in the form of the Drex, who they first encountered on the rimward side of the Wasteland; the Horde rushed to build a series of waystations across this zone of dead space, so as to support a full-scale invasion. Critically, the Drex failed to learn about this until the war was already underway; the Ymatrians made it all the way to the outer edge of the nearest Drexari colony system before the Unity was finally able to stem the tide.
Fortunately for the Drex, the Ymatrians had almost completely over-extended themselves; once the Drex mustered a counter-invasion force and crossed the Wasteland in the opposite direction, there was almost nothing to stop them reaching Ymatrian home space. Not wishing to occupy a territory so far from home, yet uninterested in giving the Ymatrians any chance to launch a second invasion, the Drex decided to bombard the Ymatrian-occupied planets until no structure was left standing. Once done, they made a final sweep of the Wasteland to clear up any Ymatrian stragglers (making First Contact with another Wasteland-adjacent realm, the Worb Technocracy, in the process), before returning to the Unity proper.
This was not quite the end of the story, however. Over time, the Worb would launch expeditions into and across the Wasteland, seeking to salvage Ymatrian technology for their own use; as would one or more Zosman Marauder cells later found to operate in the region.
As for the Ymatrians themselves, those which survived the Drex bombardment abandoned the warlike ways of their ancestors, choosing to live amidst the ruins of their worlds as nomadic wanderers... that is, until their home world was discovered by the Paravians of Omega in the Seventh Cycle.
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Ymatrian ships were built for one thing: to wage war. While slightly slower than their counterparts in other "Middle Years" Omega fleets in some cases, they are relatively agile; their War Axe heavy cruiser had a Turn Mode of B. Their "line" ships had no laboratory boxes, and (with few exceptions) had no probe launchers either.
What they did have was a range of antiproton weapons: antiproton phasers, antiproton beams, and the antiproton lance. Which, despite the names used, do not require warp power to arm.
Antiproton phaser-1s and -3s are much shorter-ranged than most other phaser-1 and -3 types respectively. However, at close range, they are quite vicious; even though they tend to have fewer phaser mounts that most Omega empires' ships, letting a Ymatrian vessel get close enough to leverage these weapons is the opposite of a good idea.
Antiproton beams are two-turn arming direct-fire heavy weapons; each requires a single heavy weapon mount to install, and can be installed on any size of warship (or fighter or PF). These are not overly remarkable in terms of damage output, in and of themselves at least.
However, the antiproton lance - which requires two centerline adjacent option mounts, and can only be safely installed on a ship of Size Class 3 or larger - changes this significantly. If used as a lance, each of these "weapons" allows as many as three antiproton beams on the same ship to double their damage output on the target unit. However, while APBs tend to have 120-degree firing arcs, the LNC (when used as a lance) must target a ship in the hex row immediately before the arc the weapon is set in. Although, it is also possible to arm the LNC as an antiproton beam, which has the same 120-degree arc as "standard" APBs.
In terms of arming costs, it's worth noting that depending on how many heavy weapon mount slots a given ship has, it makes more or less sense to use some of that space up to install a spinal lance. By and large, the optimal APB-to-LNC ratio is 3 to 1; a ratio of 2 to 1 is acceptable; but a ratio of 1 to 1 is less useful than taking three APBs in that same mount space. And of course, this ratio is itself highly contingent of being able to line up the enemy ship along the LNC's "hex row of death" or not.
Most empires which make use of this technology abide by the engineering restrictions as outlined above. Not so for the Ymatrians, however; the "command/leader" variants of their heavy cruiser, destroyer, and frigate overloaded their frames in order to install more LNCs, causing them to generate shock effect points if - or rather, when - they tried firing all of their heavy weapons at once!
As if that wasn't enough, the Ymatrians massively overgunned their size-1 Dirk fighters; they too generated SEPs if/when firing all of their weapons at once, to the point of tearing themselves apart once they broke down. Perhaps fortunately for their enemies, the Ymatrians were no longer a power in the Omega Octant by the time heavy fighters or "volatile warp" gunboats entered service.
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A classic example of Ymatrian starship design was the aforementioned War Axe heavy cruiser.
This ship was relatively small for a CA, with not a lot of "padding" (in terms of hull boxes or what have you). Indeed, it "only" had five antiproton phaser-1s - though keep in mind that their main historical opponent, the Drex, had no seeking weapons (other than suicide shuttles) to deploy against them.
On the other hand, the War Axe had the optimal ratio of three antiproton beams and a single antiproton lance; the LNC's "hex row of death" ran directly to the front of the ship. Which made getting to close range in order to deliver a ferocious volley of fire - and preserving the front shield facing as much as possible on the approach - essential for the Ymatrian captain... and made keeping out of its front hex row equally important for the Drex ship opposing it.
The Double Axe command cruiser added a flag bridge, a sixth AP-1, and a second LNC. Although this 3-to-2 APB-to-LNC ratio was highly impractical, this didn't stop overly aggressive Ymatrian squadron commodores from rashly racking up SEPs on their ships regardless.
Things might clear up once I discuss the first faction to seriously threaten the Drexari colonies to be found at the heart of Drex space: the Ymatrian Horde.
-----
The Ymatrians are native to a planet close to the "north-west" corner of the Wasteland, as shown on the coreward edge of the Omega hex map. As a species, they resemble large, hairless bears, with armour-like bones on their heads and torsos. For most of their known history, they have been known as savage, warlike, yet deeply superstitious beings, both on their home world and (eventually) beyond it.
In a prime case study of why the Vulcans argue in favour of upholding the Prime Directive, the pre-warp Ymatrians were contacted by the Kyrihn, a peaceful species which took it upon themselves to try and "save" a world which, due to the unrestrained use of weapons of mass destruction by its locals, had been rendered partially uninhabitable. While the Ymatrians treated the Kyrihn as sky-gods at first, this did not stop them from reverse-engineering the advanced technology provided by the Kyrihn in order to forge new weapons of war; the result was a xenocidal conquest of the Kyrihn themselves.
As they expanded into space, they conquered a number of pre-warp civilizations that were unfortunate enough to lie in their path. And yet, the Ymatrians hungered for a greater challenge. This they found in the form of the Drex, who they first encountered on the rimward side of the Wasteland; the Horde rushed to build a series of waystations across this zone of dead space, so as to support a full-scale invasion. Critically, the Drex failed to learn about this until the war was already underway; the Ymatrians made it all the way to the outer edge of the nearest Drexari colony system before the Unity was finally able to stem the tide.
Fortunately for the Drex, the Ymatrians had almost completely over-extended themselves; once the Drex mustered a counter-invasion force and crossed the Wasteland in the opposite direction, there was almost nothing to stop them reaching Ymatrian home space. Not wishing to occupy a territory so far from home, yet uninterested in giving the Ymatrians any chance to launch a second invasion, the Drex decided to bombard the Ymatrian-occupied planets until no structure was left standing. Once done, they made a final sweep of the Wasteland to clear up any Ymatrian stragglers (making First Contact with another Wasteland-adjacent realm, the Worb Technocracy, in the process), before returning to the Unity proper.
This was not quite the end of the story, however. Over time, the Worb would launch expeditions into and across the Wasteland, seeking to salvage Ymatrian technology for their own use; as would one or more Zosman Marauder cells later found to operate in the region.
As for the Ymatrians themselves, those which survived the Drex bombardment abandoned the warlike ways of their ancestors, choosing to live amidst the ruins of their worlds as nomadic wanderers... that is, until their home world was discovered by the Paravians of Omega in the Seventh Cycle.
-----
Ymatrian ships were built for one thing: to wage war. While slightly slower than their counterparts in other "Middle Years" Omega fleets in some cases, they are relatively agile; their War Axe heavy cruiser had a Turn Mode of B. Their "line" ships had no laboratory boxes, and (with few exceptions) had no probe launchers either.
What they did have was a range of antiproton weapons: antiproton phasers, antiproton beams, and the antiproton lance. Which, despite the names used, do not require warp power to arm.
Antiproton phaser-1s and -3s are much shorter-ranged than most other phaser-1 and -3 types respectively. However, at close range, they are quite vicious; even though they tend to have fewer phaser mounts that most Omega empires' ships, letting a Ymatrian vessel get close enough to leverage these weapons is the opposite of a good idea.
Antiproton beams are two-turn arming direct-fire heavy weapons; each requires a single heavy weapon mount to install, and can be installed on any size of warship (or fighter or PF). These are not overly remarkable in terms of damage output, in and of themselves at least.
However, the antiproton lance - which requires two centerline adjacent option mounts, and can only be safely installed on a ship of Size Class 3 or larger - changes this significantly. If used as a lance, each of these "weapons" allows as many as three antiproton beams on the same ship to double their damage output on the target unit. However, while APBs tend to have 120-degree firing arcs, the LNC (when used as a lance) must target a ship in the hex row immediately before the arc the weapon is set in. Although, it is also possible to arm the LNC as an antiproton beam, which has the same 120-degree arc as "standard" APBs.
In terms of arming costs, it's worth noting that depending on how many heavy weapon mount slots a given ship has, it makes more or less sense to use some of that space up to install a spinal lance. By and large, the optimal APB-to-LNC ratio is 3 to 1; a ratio of 2 to 1 is acceptable; but a ratio of 1 to 1 is less useful than taking three APBs in that same mount space. And of course, this ratio is itself highly contingent of being able to line up the enemy ship along the LNC's "hex row of death" or not.
Most empires which make use of this technology abide by the engineering restrictions as outlined above. Not so for the Ymatrians, however; the "command/leader" variants of their heavy cruiser, destroyer, and frigate overloaded their frames in order to install more LNCs, causing them to generate shock effect points if - or rather, when - they tried firing all of their heavy weapons at once!
As if that wasn't enough, the Ymatrians massively overgunned their size-1 Dirk fighters; they too generated SEPs if/when firing all of their weapons at once, to the point of tearing themselves apart once they broke down. Perhaps fortunately for their enemies, the Ymatrians were no longer a power in the Omega Octant by the time heavy fighters or "volatile warp" gunboats entered service.
-----
A classic example of Ymatrian starship design was the aforementioned War Axe heavy cruiser.
This ship was relatively small for a CA, with not a lot of "padding" (in terms of hull boxes or what have you). Indeed, it "only" had five antiproton phaser-1s - though keep in mind that their main historical opponent, the Drex, had no seeking weapons (other than suicide shuttles) to deploy against them.
On the other hand, the War Axe had the optimal ratio of three antiproton beams and a single antiproton lance; the LNC's "hex row of death" ran directly to the front of the ship. Which made getting to close range in order to deliver a ferocious volley of fire - and preserving the front shield facing as much as possible on the approach - essential for the Ymatrian captain... and made keeping out of its front hex row equally important for the Drex ship opposing it.
The Double Axe command cruiser added a flag bridge, a sixth AP-1, and a second LNC. Although this 3-to-2 APB-to-LNC ratio was highly impractical, this didn't stop overly aggressive Ymatrian squadron commodores from rashly racking up SEPs on their ships regardless.
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As noted in the previous post, the Drex made a final sweep of the Wasteland in search of Ymatrian holdouts, in the wake of their victory over the Horde invasion. In so doing, they made First Contact with an empire known as the Worb Technocracy.
Upon examining this new and distant civilization, the Drex determined them not to be a threat to their Drexari masters, and thus decided to leave them in peace - though not without a stern warning against future aggression.
How well was this message received?
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Before answering this question, it's worth taking a closer look at Worb biology and society.
Individual Worb look something like a two-metre-tall mushroom, with a 50-60cm cap on top and six "limbs" (three for walking, and three for either walking or to manipulate objects) further down the "stalk'.
Worb reproduce by spore dispersal. However, only 1 in 10,000 spores produces a fertile Worb; while only 1 in 50,000 spores result in an intelligent Worb. Unintelligent Worb (fertile or not) are recycled as food; those rare Worb (1 in 5,000,000) which can both think and reproduce dominate all facets of Worb society.
Further, there are a number of different Worb sub-species, or "castes". Much like the Great Houses in the Romulan Senate, these castes vie for power and influence on the bgrwogic, or "Fertile Council", that serves as the Technocracy's governing body. Notable castes include the High Worb, who are somewhat more fertile than other castes and thus see themselves as the natural leaders of all Worb; the Broad Worb, who see themselves as mavericks and who are sen by other Worb as dangerously unstable; the White Worb, who are pacifistic and focused on scientific development; and many others whose fortunes wax and wane over time.
In the wake of First Contact with the Drex, the Worb launched expeditions across the Wasteland in search of Ymatrian wrecks and relics; these led to the adoption of more powerful warp drives and of antiproton weapon systems by the Worb fleet, alongside a range of home-grown Worb innovations.
Over time, the Worb found themselves clashing with the Drex, along with other Omega powers such as the Hivers, plus the typical encounters with the Iridani, Bolosco, and Zosmans. During the Sixth Cycle, the Souldra were on the verge of wiping out the Worb entirely when an outbreak of conflict between the Souldra and Andromedans in the region gave the Worb a brief respite. In the Seventh Cycle, the recovering Worb once again found themselves clashing with the Drex, while also keeping tabs on fresh threats: namely, the Paravians of Omega in one direction, and the newly-emergent Echarri Dynasty in the other.
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In terms of starship design, the Worb tend to deploy turrets on their full-sized starships; because of this, most of their ships are in fact one size larger than those of most of their contemporaries. For example, their "heavy cruiser" is closer to another empire's heavy battlecruiser. However, this also means that Worb ships have very poor Turn Modes and breakdown ratings; the aforementioned CA has a Turn Mode of E.
Worb turrets typically have a "default" facing, with the ability turn 60 degrees to the left or right, and back again. For example, the weapons in a forward-facing turret typically have an FA firing arc by default, which can be set to LF+L or RF+R depending on which direction the turret is set. (In the case of turrets with antiproton lances installed, the "hex row of death" runs directly ahead of whichever direction the turret it is placed on is facing.)
In terms of home-grown technologies, the Worb developed the subspace rocket as their primary heavy weapon. This two-turn direct-fire weapon is unusual in that it is a "time-on-target" system: depending on how many hexes it has to travel, it takes anywhere between one and five impulses to actually cross the distance and impact the target ship. As a result, the SSR is much more useful against fixed or slow-moving targets.
The Worb developed the subspace energy field as a defensive system. Similar in concept to a Lyran ESG, the SEF effects the ring of hexes immediately surrounding the ship, yet is "hollow" (and does not impact the hex of the ship itself). It damages objects of Size Class 5 and below (such as gunboats, fighters, and drone-like seeking weapons), scoring more damage per unit the smaller the target unit is; however, it has no impact on units of Size Class 4 and above.
From salvaged Ymatrian wrecks, the Worb acquired antiproton phasers, antiproton beams, and the antiproton lance. However, while antiproton phasers are commonly used, APBs and LNCs tend only to appear on larger Worb ships - and, even then, only in turrets large enough to accommodate them.
Zosman Marauder cells in Worb space can salvage the various antiproton weapons, as well as subspace rockets; however, they cannot make use of Worb subspace energy field technology.
Notably, Worb caste rivalries have an impact on Worb starship deployment. the High Worb were the ones to develop the Worb dreadnought design, and saw it as a means of solidifying their power on the Fertile Council; Broad Worb ships are phaser boats, as that caste insists on their being the optimal weapons; while Worb scouts are built by the Low Worb, who often refuse to deploy them in wars of aggression (though will fight to defend Worb home space).
Such caste rivalries apply to Worb fighters, also. There are separate High and Broad Worb fighter designs; these can never be mixed into the same fighter squadron, nor can they be deployed from the other's fighter ground bases. In either case, size-1 Worb fighters are deployed in squadrons of 10, while the later Worb gunboats deploy in flotillas of 4. Since Worb fighters and PFs do not have turrets, they are in the same size range as those of other Omega empires.
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As noted above, the Worb heavy cruiser is technically a heavy battlecruiser; it has a Move Cost of 1.25 and a Turn Mode of E.
On the base hull, it has four antiproton phaser-1s and four antiproton phaser-3s, plus two subspace energy field generators. It has two turrets. The larger forward turret has two more AP-1s, two antiproton beams, an antiproton lance, plus two subspace rockets. The smaller aft turret has two Ap-1s, two AP-3s, and a single SSR.
For comparison's sake, the Broad Worb escort cruiser is about the size of another empire's heavy cruiser, with a Move Cost of 1 and (still) a Turn Mode of E. Despite being designated as an "escort", it is treated by the Broad Worb as a "line" ship - though it is liable to appear as a heavy escort for a Worb space control ship later in the Omega timeline.
In keeping with the Broad Worb preference for phaser boats, the base hull has six AP-1s and four AP-3s, plus four SEFs. Meanwhile, the lone turret (facing forward) has four more AP--1s, plus a pair of AP-3s.
Both hulls are powerful, yet best suited when fighting from (or against) fixed locations such as planets or bases. In open space, they can struggle against their historical Drex rivals, as well as with other enemies who can maintain their distance from all of that close-in firepower.
Upon examining this new and distant civilization, the Drex determined them not to be a threat to their Drexari masters, and thus decided to leave them in peace - though not without a stern warning against future aggression.
How well was this message received?
-----
Before answering this question, it's worth taking a closer look at Worb biology and society.
Individual Worb look something like a two-metre-tall mushroom, with a 50-60cm cap on top and six "limbs" (three for walking, and three for either walking or to manipulate objects) further down the "stalk'.
Worb reproduce by spore dispersal. However, only 1 in 10,000 spores produces a fertile Worb; while only 1 in 50,000 spores result in an intelligent Worb. Unintelligent Worb (fertile or not) are recycled as food; those rare Worb (1 in 5,000,000) which can both think and reproduce dominate all facets of Worb society.
Further, there are a number of different Worb sub-species, or "castes". Much like the Great Houses in the Romulan Senate, these castes vie for power and influence on the bgrwogic, or "Fertile Council", that serves as the Technocracy's governing body. Notable castes include the High Worb, who are somewhat more fertile than other castes and thus see themselves as the natural leaders of all Worb; the Broad Worb, who see themselves as mavericks and who are sen by other Worb as dangerously unstable; the White Worb, who are pacifistic and focused on scientific development; and many others whose fortunes wax and wane over time.
In the wake of First Contact with the Drex, the Worb launched expeditions across the Wasteland in search of Ymatrian wrecks and relics; these led to the adoption of more powerful warp drives and of antiproton weapon systems by the Worb fleet, alongside a range of home-grown Worb innovations.
Over time, the Worb found themselves clashing with the Drex, along with other Omega powers such as the Hivers, plus the typical encounters with the Iridani, Bolosco, and Zosmans. During the Sixth Cycle, the Souldra were on the verge of wiping out the Worb entirely when an outbreak of conflict between the Souldra and Andromedans in the region gave the Worb a brief respite. In the Seventh Cycle, the recovering Worb once again found themselves clashing with the Drex, while also keeping tabs on fresh threats: namely, the Paravians of Omega in one direction, and the newly-emergent Echarri Dynasty in the other.
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In terms of starship design, the Worb tend to deploy turrets on their full-sized starships; because of this, most of their ships are in fact one size larger than those of most of their contemporaries. For example, their "heavy cruiser" is closer to another empire's heavy battlecruiser. However, this also means that Worb ships have very poor Turn Modes and breakdown ratings; the aforementioned CA has a Turn Mode of E.
Worb turrets typically have a "default" facing, with the ability turn 60 degrees to the left or right, and back again. For example, the weapons in a forward-facing turret typically have an FA firing arc by default, which can be set to LF+L or RF+R depending on which direction the turret is set. (In the case of turrets with antiproton lances installed, the "hex row of death" runs directly ahead of whichever direction the turret it is placed on is facing.)
In terms of home-grown technologies, the Worb developed the subspace rocket as their primary heavy weapon. This two-turn direct-fire weapon is unusual in that it is a "time-on-target" system: depending on how many hexes it has to travel, it takes anywhere between one and five impulses to actually cross the distance and impact the target ship. As a result, the SSR is much more useful against fixed or slow-moving targets.
The Worb developed the subspace energy field as a defensive system. Similar in concept to a Lyran ESG, the SEF effects the ring of hexes immediately surrounding the ship, yet is "hollow" (and does not impact the hex of the ship itself). It damages objects of Size Class 5 and below (such as gunboats, fighters, and drone-like seeking weapons), scoring more damage per unit the smaller the target unit is; however, it has no impact on units of Size Class 4 and above.
From salvaged Ymatrian wrecks, the Worb acquired antiproton phasers, antiproton beams, and the antiproton lance. However, while antiproton phasers are commonly used, APBs and LNCs tend only to appear on larger Worb ships - and, even then, only in turrets large enough to accommodate them.
Zosman Marauder cells in Worb space can salvage the various antiproton weapons, as well as subspace rockets; however, they cannot make use of Worb subspace energy field technology.
Notably, Worb caste rivalries have an impact on Worb starship deployment. the High Worb were the ones to develop the Worb dreadnought design, and saw it as a means of solidifying their power on the Fertile Council; Broad Worb ships are phaser boats, as that caste insists on their being the optimal weapons; while Worb scouts are built by the Low Worb, who often refuse to deploy them in wars of aggression (though will fight to defend Worb home space).
Such caste rivalries apply to Worb fighters, also. There are separate High and Broad Worb fighter designs; these can never be mixed into the same fighter squadron, nor can they be deployed from the other's fighter ground bases. In either case, size-1 Worb fighters are deployed in squadrons of 10, while the later Worb gunboats deploy in flotillas of 4. Since Worb fighters and PFs do not have turrets, they are in the same size range as those of other Omega empires.
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As noted above, the Worb heavy cruiser is technically a heavy battlecruiser; it has a Move Cost of 1.25 and a Turn Mode of E.
On the base hull, it has four antiproton phaser-1s and four antiproton phaser-3s, plus two subspace energy field generators. It has two turrets. The larger forward turret has two more AP-1s, two antiproton beams, an antiproton lance, plus two subspace rockets. The smaller aft turret has two Ap-1s, two AP-3s, and a single SSR.
For comparison's sake, the Broad Worb escort cruiser is about the size of another empire's heavy cruiser, with a Move Cost of 1 and (still) a Turn Mode of E. Despite being designated as an "escort", it is treated by the Broad Worb as a "line" ship - though it is liable to appear as a heavy escort for a Worb space control ship later in the Omega timeline.
In keeping with the Broad Worb preference for phaser boats, the base hull has six AP-1s and four AP-3s, plus four SEFs. Meanwhile, the lone turret (facing forward) has four more AP--1s, plus a pair of AP-3s.
Both hulls are powerful, yet best suited when fighting from (or against) fixed locations such as planets or bases. In open space, they can struggle against their historical Drex rivals, as well as with other enemies who can maintain their distance from all of that close-in firepower.
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That would be such a waste of neutronium IMO, using them as bullets, really?
I don't think that would be a good use of neutronium considering how valuable & useful that material is.
There are a good number of useful things you can do with that material, especially defensive or structural to make your Vehicle/Vessel/Facility nearly indestructable.
Imagine if your Reactor Room was armored such that enemy ships couldn't penetrate the reactor room, no matter what it hits your ship with.
Or the Skeleton of your ship is coated with Neutronium to make it impossible to destroy the skeletal frame.
Or line the bridge with Neutronium so that nobody can damage the bridge and kill it's occupants.
There are any number of useful uses for Neutronium IMO.
Using it as Expendable Ammunition sounds incredibly wasteful.
And that is why you split it apart and alloy it with other materials so that it isn't so dense.
That makes it not as strong as "Raw Neutronium", but it brings the weight/mass into a manageable level once you alloy it.
except Neutronium isn't a metal. you can't alloy it. it's a phase state of matter. one where all the electrons, protons, and neutrons have been compressed together to create a material that is solely comprised of neutrons. if you add other materials, you don't get an alloy.
Then what do you get?
