Koulani Sunclipper | Ch'Lona Es'Kahsi Destroyer | Technomage Pinnace | Raider Hybrid Saucer | Centauri L'Karus Raider Cruiser | Cascor Nashaq Fleet Carrier | Medium Shipyard | Tal-kona'sha Til'Sha | Deneth Heavy Cruiser | Yolu Hastan Escort Frigate | Gaim Outpost | Narn Dag'Kur Early Missile Frigate |
One of the largest Koulani ships, this cruiser was named after a type of ship used to cross the vast Koula oceans in the early days of exploration. The name has been taken by Earth Alliance observers to mean "Sunclipper," which is a rather loose translation. (The names of other Koulani ships, such as the Skymarshal and Starguarder, have been similarly translated for simplicity.)
The Sunclipper is a standardized ship class built in concert by three of the largest Koulani companies, each of which also produce components for the many variants of the class. When these companies are not on good terms, this can cause significant problems. In times of emergency, the Directorate has been known to step in if the well-being of the Koulani people is at stake. Nonetheless, Sunclippers needing maintenance have been known to orbit the homeworld for months waiting for their turn in the repair yard. This is a disadvantage not seen in most other Koulani ship classes.
The SCS shown here is for an early version of the Sunclipper. More modern improvements included upgrades to heavier particle-plasma beams as well as the addition of flash bombs and similar devices.
This unusual device is a barely successful attempt to produce a plasma effect from a directed beam rather than a plasma weapon. It operates by focusing a weak particle beam on the target, then exciting it with a follow-up electrical burst, converting what remains of the beam into a plasma discharge. This produces a "one-two" particle-plasma effect, almost as though two entirely different weapons had impacted near-simultaneously.
To use the PPB weapon, first calculate the chance to hit normally and make the roll. If it hits, score the listed particle-weapon damage in standard mode. Now roll to-hit a second time, at a bonus of +5 since the target is already "lit up" by the particle beam. If this is successful, score the listed plasma damage in flash mode against the same system that was hit the first time. This is treated as a separate volley for all purposes, so the system?s armor will be effective again (but at only half strength since this is a plasma attack). If the target system was destroyed by the initial particle beam, the follow-up strike will hit structure automatically (and if the original target was in the primary area, the primary structure will take this hit). If the follow-up plasma shot misses, there is no collateral flash damage.
Note that though the rules of Babylon 5 Wars permit players to resolve attacks in any order they choose, the two volleys scored by the PPB must be handled one after the other (as they are effectively a single attack).
This fast-firing plasma weapon is designed as a defensive device, not a long-range attack weapon. It is a sphere of plasma held in a magnetic bottle that detonates upon contact with the target. The resulting blast is not particularly effective, but can fire rapidly enough to be respectable. Because it is a plasma weapon, it loses damage at range (though not as much as one might expect) and is not as effective against fighters as the Koulani might prefer. While it scores damage in flash mode, the collateral effect is usually so low as to be unnoticeable by all but the lightest armor.
One of the more frequently encountered Ch?Lona vessels, this destroyer is actually a powerful gunship in a destroyer?s clothing. It is maneuverable and quick, but so poorly armored and light on structure that it rarely survives a determined strike from an opponent. Es?Kahsis have seen numerous variants throughout their term of service, and their wolfpacks contain different types with such regularity that an opponent is never quite certain which variants he?s about to fight until they are upon him.
Ch'Lona ships employ a specially designed "sheath" of armor over their entire surface, including their gun ports. The effect is that every system on their ship possesses the same armor value, as shown in the Special Notes box. Individual systems can still have their specific armor values lowered by weapons (such as the plasma stream) that cause such effects, but because the sheath is so well integrated into the ship, the repair costs of such damage (in a campaign) are only half that paid by other races. Unfortunately, upgrades to this armor type are simply impossible, as the entire ship would have to be virtually torn apart to make any such alterations. Even expert crewmen who would normally afford such improvements are unable to use their special abilities in this regard.
This is the basic ship used by individual Technomages when they need to move about in the Galaxy. While small, it is difficult to locate if it doesn't make its presence known. While it does not pack a tremendous amount of firepower, it is highly maneuverable and possesses armor strong enough to shrug off hits from anything other than heavy weapons.
The Technomage pilot is capable of creating an illusion around his ship that can make it look like any ship-sized thing he has ever encountered in the Galaxy (and some things he hasn't). He could make his ship appear to be an asteroid, another kind of ship (of virtually any race), a terrifying monster, or anything else he likes. He cannot make the ship look smaller than it already is, nor may it appear larger than a Capital Ship. The illusion, of course, has no actual physical power and cannot attack (other than with its standard weapons), use ELINT functions, or do anything else the basic ship can't do. The illusion persists until the ship does something to reveal itself, the Technomage vessel fires its weapons, is hit with enemy fire, or is missed by weapons that should have hit a larger target. A Technomage may not use his illusions and the stealth feature at the same time.
The illusion is ignored by any First One. If the illusion is of a living creature (such as a Vorlon or Shadow ship), it can be identified as a fake by any telepath within 30 hexes and with line-of-sight to the Technomage, but this counts as that telepath's action on the current turn.
The illusion field is an ability of the ship's pilot, not of the ship itself. The field cannot be destroyed unless the ship is destroyed. If the control system suffers a critical hit of any type, the illusion is disabled for one turn (thus dispelling it).
The ships operated by Technomages possess a built-in stealth capability that makes them all but invisible if they don't want to be seen. So long as it does not do anything to violate its stealth (see below), a Technomage ship cannot be targeted by any weapon system, and moves invisibly on the map as though it were using a Torvalus shading field. The only way it can be attacked is by ramming (and then only if you are fortunate enough to enter its hex, an unlikely prospect). With their stealth intact, Technomage ships can go just about anywhere they like. Of course, First Ones ignore this level of stealth (which, while impressive, isn't anything near the level of a Torvalus shading field), so they have to be careful around the Ancients.
If a Technomage ship fires a weapon, uses EW, opens a jump point, or takes damage from terrain, it can be locked-onto on the ensuing turn (but not the current turn). To do so, roll "to-hit" as though your sensors had no fire control and a range penalty of -1 per 4 hexes. Include any EW in the calculation, including that provided by ELINT ships, but no other modifiers. If lock-on is lost, you cannot fire on the Technomage ship at all. For example, if a Pinnace is facing you at range 15 with 6 DEW, and you have 8 OEW against it, you must roll an 8 or less to lock on (defense 10 - 4 range penalty - 6 DEW + 8 OEW = 8). Even if you do achieve a lock, any weapon range penalties are doubled due to the ship's stealthy nature.
If it is not locked-onto by at least one unit, the Technomage ship will disappear from the map (a la the Torvalus shading field) unless an opponent has at least one unit within 10 hexes to maintain a visual fix. If this occurs, you may try to lock-on again on the next turn and on any turn in which the ship is still visually spotted. Roll as above, except treat the range penalty as -1 per 2 hexes. Until you can achieve a lock, you may not fire on the Technomage ship, though you may attempt to ram it.
Fighters that can see a stealthy ship can fire on it, but treat it as though it were protected by a jammer for all purposes. Obviously, fighters are the best way to deal with Technomage pinnaces.
The stealth ability is unaffected by critical hits.
Despite the fact that the Vree are among the most common merchant shipping force in the League, their vessels are not as commonly converted into raiders as are the Pak'ma'ra. The reason is simply technology. The advanced and complex gravitic engines and dangerous anti-matter weaponry make Vree ships extremely difficult for raiders to convert and use. More often then not, Vree ships are looted and destroyed rather then re-used. However, some raider bands have the reasources and willingness to retrofit these vessels with more conventional technology and hybrid drive systems.
The Hybrid Saucer is typical of such conversions, and is based on the most commonly captured Vree vessel, the Vymish Armed Trader. The dangerous antimatter systems have been stripped off and replaced with easily maintained particle beams and a turret-mounted laser. In addition, the engine system has been hybridized, and much of the added machinery is attached directly to the back of the hull, making the engine more vulnerable. It can be damaged on a "thruster" hit by any weapon in its arc, as shown on the control sheet.
This ship is a preview of Raiders & Privateers-2 and was provided by Ned Farnsworth.
The overwhelming majority of Raider bands lack the skill or spare parts to maintain a gravitic drive system. Engineers capable of maintaining these systems are almost universally well paid and highly respected. It is, therefore, virtually unheard of for such people to abandon their societies for a pirate's life. Even if they did, the specialized parts required to maintain such systems are almost impossible to come by. Therefore, most Raiders do not even both to attempt to steal ships using gravitic drives (except to ransom them back to their original owners or to a competing nation for study), and those who do usually wear the systems down rapidly and then abandon the ship.
However, some Raiders are not willing to give up their prize, but prefer to convert them into a useful form. Since a gravitic drive in an integral part of a ship, it cannot simply be removed and replaced with a more conventional drive system. Instead, conventional drives are installed in addition to the existing gravitic system. The gravitic systems are then powered down to minimal power, in order to conserve them. Even on low power mode, these systems grant artificial gravity, giving the Raider greater endurance, and compensate somewhat for the effects of the additional mass of the conventional drive system. When needed, the gravitic drive's power can be increased, giving the ship a boast to maneuverability, but this is risky and can overload the ships systems.
Hybrid drives are represented by a regular drive icon (or icons), always placed on the ship's outer structure. In most circumstances they function exactly like conventional drives. However, the player may choose to use the drive's gravitic abilities, allowing the ship to maneuver as if it had a gravitic drive. This decision is made at the start of the turn, at the same time systems are normally activated or deactivated for power, and cannot be changed later.
Whenever the ship's gravitic abilities are used, a critical must be rolled for all the ship's engine and reactor systems, as the poorly maintained gravitic drive may overload. Roll the criticals at the usual step of the Combat Sequence, in addition to any other criticals required from other rules, and include penalties in the usual manner for any damage the system has previously sustained. If the ship has an expert engineer or expert technician in the appropriate system, they provide that system a -2 bonus on the critical roll.
Narn privateers operated unofficially along the border of Narn space during the height of the Narn Regime, attacking what the Kha'Ri deemed "hostile shipping." Most often this meant striking at Centauri civilian and military freighters, but during the Narn's more expansionist periods they were know to attack at League transports.
The largest Narn Privateer hull, this ship is based on a heavily modified T'Loth side pod, heavily rebuilt, and with the addition of cargo bays, fighter bay and jump engine, the pod was increased to almost twice it's original size, mostly by deepening the hull.
This ship is the testbed for the newly developed EFS-ELINT sensor suite recently developed by Cascor scientists. The Norsca hull proved a perfect choice for this system, which takes up an unusual amount of space within the hull. To make room for it, the internally mounted ion torpedoes were removed, and their mounting struts proved to be the perfect location for the external segments of the EFS sensor array. During testing, elements of the EFS system proved vulnerable to feedback caused by the radiation cannon, so it was removed and replaced with an additional hangar deck. Lessons learned from the original Nashaq test platform suggest that it will be impossible to mount rad cannons on future ships that use the EFS system.
Note: This ship was originally intended to appear in Variants-5, but was removed for lack of space and because the EFS-ELINT system did not have time to receive adequate playtesting. Try it out and let us know if it works. If it does, we'll put it in a future book.
Based on a concept by Paul Brown.
Recently the Cascor have begun to deploy extremely specialized carriers equipped with an advanced electronics suite specifically designed to support fighters. Referred to as Electronic Fleet Support ELINT, or EFS-ELINT, it currently appears only on a modified Norsca hull and is considered experimental.
Like standard ELINT, the EFS system provides special abilities for the ship's EW points. Each turn, when those points are assigned, the player can (but is not required to) choose to use them for special fighter support actions. The ship may also use them for standard EW purposes (DEW, OEW, or CCEW), but not for ELINT functions except as listed. Note that a standard ELINT ship cannot use these abilities unless it is specifically noted as an EFS-ELINT ship.
Each of these functions affects only a single fighter flight within 30 hexes, and it must be a flight launched by the EFS-ELINT ship. (This is a limitation the Cascor hope to eventually eliminate, but so far they have not been able to do so.) Only Cascor fighters can benefit, even if the carrier is deploying another race's fighters for a special mission. Shuttles cannot use EFS abilities, only true fighters.
An ultralight or light fighter flight may benefit from no more than one EFS ability per turn, while medium fighters can use two, heavies three, and super-heavy fighters four. Unless otherwise noted, all abilities are cumulative and combine with each other, so (for example) a super-heavy fighter could receive +12 to its initiative by receiving four points of EFS-ELINT applied to that purpose.
All EFS abilities are defined, announced, and used in the same way as ELINT except as modified in the individual descriptions below.
Initiative: The flight receives +3 to its initiative. This requires one point of EFS sensors. Note that since ELINT points are assigned after initiative is rolled, the player can use this function to allow some of its fighters to recover from particularly bad initiative rolls, thus getting the drop on nearby enemy flights.
Skin Dancing: The flight receives a -2 shift on its roll to successfully skin dance. This requires one EFS point. A second EFS point assigned to the same flight provides only an additional -1 bonus, and no further support is effective.
Dropout: Sometimes the cause of fighter dropout is the failure of its electronics systems. An EFS-equipped ship can attempt to act as a surrogate in this role, keeping a fighter in the battle when it would otherwise be forced to retire. Any time a fighter eligible for this kind of support drops out, roll 1d6. If a 1 appears, the dropout was indeed a result of electronics failure, and the fighter can be kept in its flight by applying one point of EFS to dropout protection. This point must be applied to that specific fighter, not the flight itself, and must be maintained every turn thereafter or the fighter will immediately drop (and cannot be restored later once this occurs). If the fighter sustains additional damage, the electronics test roll must be made again. An EFS-ELINT ship can sustain as many fighters in this way as it has EFS points to spend, provided the player wishes to use them in this manner.
Efficiency: The EFS ship can help coordinate the flight's maneuvering. Because of the improved efficiency provided, the flight receives the equivalent of one free point of thrust that can be used towards turns or pivots only (not acceleration or deceleration). This ability costs one EFS point.
Formation: This function improves the speed and efficiency at which the flight changes its assigned mission (if using that optional rule). On the turn any mission is altered, the flight is considered to still be using its original mission, if desired, and it suffers only a -6 initiative penalty instead of -12. This ability costs one EFS point and may be used only once per flight.
Intercept: This function increases a flight's combined defensive intercept rating by 25%, rounding fractions of 0.5 or more up. This costs one EFS point for each 25% improvement, adding the percentages together before any calculations are made (i.e., one point yields 25%, two gives 50%, three 75%, etc.). For example, a flight of six Tiqinccs using its tail guns for defense would have an aggregate -8 intercept rating (instead of -6) for one EFS point, or -9 for two EFS points (+50%). Note that a Tiqincc could not receive a third point because medium fighters can only benefit from two EFS points per turn. This ability is particularly effective when being used with the optional "Defensive Intercept" assigned fighter mission.
Defense: The flight's defense rating is lowered by 1 (this will affect enemy fighters). This requires two points of EFS sensors, not one, and otherwise operates just like standard defensive ELINT. It does not combine with ELINT provided by friendly scouts.
Offense: The flight receives an extra point of fire control. This requires two points of EFS sensors, not one, and does not act in combination with offensive ELINT provided by friendly scouts.
Mine Detection: The flight's mine detection range is increased by 1 hex. The flight must actually be attempting to detect mines (i.e., it must be spending at least two points of its own offensive bonus towards this purpose) to benefit. This ability costs one EFS point.
This is a medium-sized base used to construct and repair ships. It is suitable for use in a campaign for any race (except, of course, the Ancients).
The control sheet shows generic "defense turret" weapons for use against Raiders. In more threatened areas, these would be replaced by more powerful guns appropriate to the race. Your campaign's local rules will specify which weapons appear in these slots. A "standard defense turret" would be equivalent to a heavy weapon (heavy laser, battle laser, heavy plasma cannon, etc.) or class-B missile rack, while the "light defense turret" would be replaced by a medium weapon (medium laser, particle cannon, etc.) OR two light defensive guns (interceptors, standard particle beams, twin arrays, etc.). Note that the category of "heavy weapons" specifically excludes mega power guns like heavy particle cannons, mega plasmas, and spinal lasers!
These units have no listed point cost, as they are generally economic only and appear in scenarios only as targets.You cannot bring one to a free-form battle or tournament, as it would only appear in specific scenarios and campaign circumstances. In the event a point cost is required, use 200 for the version shown on the control sheet, and 400 for the "war" version described in the above paragraph.
Designed by Tyrel Lohr for the upcoming Campaign Guide.
The Tal'Kona-Sha are a midborn race that occupies a significant chunk of territory coreward of the Drazi. Very little is known about them, as they permit no intruders in their space. The ships and fortifications that defend their territory are organic in nature and may be self-aware, though whether this is true is unknown. These vessels are not true Tal'Kona-Sha, but appear to be creatures genetically engineered (possibly from an animal native to space) for the purpose of defending their territory. Certainly no Tal'Kona-Sha actually "crew" these ships, and probably do not even participate in battle, except perhaps in a supervisory capacity from worlds deep within their space. The Tal'Kona-Sha may even have already evolved beyond a point where they care about galactic affairs (and some speculate that they may have already passed beyond the Rim), but probably only the Ancients (and possibly the Technomages) know this for sure. Even so, a few Tal'Kona-sha may yet remain behind, engaged in whatever activities attract the attention of such beings.
Be that as it may, the term "Tal'Kona-Sha" (occasionally called the "Tal" or "TKS") has come to refer to the living ships and fighters that aggressively defend their territory. They seldom emerge from the borders they have claimed, though occasionally this has been known to happen. TKS vessels were observed in Dilgar space in the late stages of the Dilgar War, though they did not hinder Alliance advances (they were presumably just observing and making sure the Dilgar were being removed as a threat). It is theorized that the Dilgar unsuccessfully attempted to penetrate TKS territory during the War, thus attracting their attention, but if this occurred it was a failure so devastating as to be covered up and stripped from all war records.
The Tal'Kona-Sha resist any and all attempts at communication, diplomacy, and trade. They aggressively pursue and destroy any Raiders with the temerity to risk attacking them (sometimes carrying the chase well into someone else's territory). Forces that approach their borders are quickly located and shadowed, and attacked if they so much as open a jump point near a TKS system. Vessels which stray into TKS space by accident, such as exploration ships that fly off course or vessels flung the wrong way by a hyperspace whirlpool, receive no mercy. Whoever the Tal'Kona-Sha are, it is obvious they just want to be left alone.
This is a small vessel designed to operate as a hunter-killer on TKS borders. If Raiders dare to encroach on TKS space, they are usually spotted and chased by ships of this type first. Despite its small size, it operates dual jump drives (which appear to be organic in nature, suggesting the original creature might have been native to both normal space and hyperspace), so a fleeing enemy cannot escape simply by dodging through a vortex.
This unusual gravitic weapon is initially fired as a cone of energy wider than the target, then quickly snaps down to a focused beam, whereupon it delivers a powerful final blast of force. When rolling for damage, first score 3d10 in the normal raking method (10-point rakes). Then, after the final point is allocated, apply a final "bonus" 20-point rake. This is treated as the same volley for all purposes. For example, if the 3d10 roll totaled 21, the target would receive two 10-point sub-volleys, one 1-pointer, and a final 20-pointer.
This defensive weapon has the same role on TKS ships as the standard particle beam does on an Earth Alliance vessel. In addition to being an excellent interceptor, it can deliver a decent amount of damage at a good range.
The Tal'Kona-Sha do not have advanced or adaptive armor, but their living vessels do have an ability to "thicken" their skin in places in order to avoid damage. To simulate this in the game, each ship has a certain amount of Variable Damage Boxes (VDBs). At the start of each turn (at the same time adaptive armor points are allocated), any undestroyed VDB can be secretly assigned to protect any system on the ship (including structure). However, no more than 5 VDBs can be applied to any single icon. If a system protected by a VDB is damaged, any VDBs assigned to it are destroyed before any "real" box can marked off (this is required, it is not optional). Naturally, armor continues to protect the system in the usual way.
If damage to the system is entirely absorbed by VDBs and none penetrates to the actual icon itself, then no critical hits are generated, except by weapons that specifically cause them even if no damage is scored beyond the armor. VDB boxes do not count for purposes of critical hit die roll adjustments.
Once a VDB is destroyed, it remains attached to the system it was assigned to and cannot be changed. It is repaired along with that system, and must be fixed before that system will operate (if applicable). It also counts against the limit of 5 VDBs assignable to that system, even while destroyed. A player is not required to reveal his VDB allocations unless they come into play during the scenario (once a defended system is hit and the VDB comes into play, its presence will be obvious, but not until then).
Example: A TKS player wants to protect a point defense beam from being destroyed in a single 10-point raking volley. The point defense beam has 4 boxes and 3 armor, so he assigns 4 of his variable damage boxes to it. Later in the turn, a 10-point rake does indeed hit that weapon. Three of these are absorbed by armor, and the next four are taken by the assigned VDBs, which are marked off on the appropriate track on the SCS. The remaining hits destroy three boxes on the weapon icon, leaving one undestroyed. Because boxes on the icon were damaged, a critical hit (at +3, not +7) is generated as usual. The next turn, the player can assign at most one VDB box to this weapon, as it already has four destroyed VDBs that count against the limit of 5 allowed.
TKS ships do not have reactors and do not use power. Their weapons always recharge automatically and do not have special power-requiring modes. It is not possible to deactivate weapons for extra thrust or sensor power.
TKS vessels use self-repair like those found on Vorlon ships. Self-repair can fix anything on the ship, including structure, with the exception of self-repair boxes (which only come back after a long period of rest and regeneration).
TKS ships always have as much thrust as they need for any maneuver. The only restriction that exists for their movements lies in their organic thrusters, which have ratings just like any other vessel. However, they do not receive criticals for overthrusting, but instead mark off "stress" boxes. These additional boxes are shown to the side of each thruster, outside the icon. As these are not part of the system, they cannot be destroyed by damage, repaired, or be targeted by called shots. Mark a stress box used each time any of the following occurs:
It is not possible to use more stress boxes than you have available. Stress on thrusters automatically regenerates shortly after any scenario (assuming the creature has any time at all to rest), so in a multi-part scenario, assume all thrust stress is erased between battles.
Because TKS ships are alive, certain weapon effects work differently on them:
TKS fighters are an integral part of the ship and do not have pilots. They cannot operate beyond a few thousand hexes from their carrier without perishing. If the mothership is destroyed, they will die soon after, so they are automatically permitted to ram. If they are in the same hex as their mothership, have at least 2 free thrust unused, and are not jinking, they can use their point defense beams to intercept fire directed at the ship. This is treated exactly as if the mothership is using the point defense beam itself for all rules (including intercept degradation).
The latest version of the Deneth Heavy Cruiser is one of the better units produced by a race with such a small territory. The flood of weapons for sale by unscrupulous arms dealers and galactic powers (most notably the Narn and Centauri) has allowed the Deneth to create a cruiser with a long ranged laser based punch and a smaller pulse and twin array secondary armament.
With the Hyperion taken as the ship it was most likely to come into combat with, the Deneth built a design with an additional flight of fighters and superior handling. The addition of Narn heavy lasers made the unit truly formidable, and while it remains very much inferior to the Omega, the aging patrol vessels the EA deploys around Vega colony, the closest EA holding, would be easily outclassed. This cruiser was built with the single ship and supporting fighters duel in mind, correctly assuming a situation that involved skirmishes over jurisdiction as raiders sought refuge in Deneth space. This unit is often sold in a stripped down export version as the dragonship, and it is the sales of export hulls like this that has allowed the Deneth to build their military up to the level it occupies today.
Designed by Ben Rubery based on the Raider Dragonship hull.
After the Dilgar war the Yolu found themselves reconsidering their fleet doctrine. The conflict had deeply shaken the Yolu command and they were re-examining their tactical dogma after it had proven almost fatally flawed against the Dilgar. Several reverses following the conflict against emboldened raiders and the Kor-Lyans had done nothing to reassure the Ingyo of their fleet's abilities. Put simply, their fleets focused on heavy ships wearing down an opponent at range and then closing for the kill (if the enemy did not simply retreat).
Against the Dilgar this had not worked. The Dilgar deployed fighters in numbers the Yolu had not previously encountered, and operated a fleet command structure that gave them better coordination and an advantage in fleet battles. The Yolu had seen this doctrine crush their neighbors and threaten the Yolu with extinction. The Yolu had trouble fighting pentacan formations, and fighting Ochlavita and Jashakar pentacans had proven even more problematic, as these ships and their fast firing weapons were able to move in and destroy Yolu ships as their weapons cycled.
The Yolu dealt with their fleet co-ordination shortcomings with a dedicated command cruiser, but the debate over how to deal with enemy fighters and wolfpacks was heated and fractious. There were two choices of countermeasures to enemy fighters, either a new interceptor design (and accept the casualties through attrition) or dedicated escort craft to protect vulnerable ships. Because of the debate, the decision was refered to the Ingyo, who chose a dedicated escort craft over easily destroyed fighters to preserve Yolu life. The design bore fruit in 2243, when the first prototype left dock to join fleets patrolling around the dead colony of Beta 9, protecting from Kor-Lyan probes and raiders.
The ship itself had 10 turret mounted fusions and two forward heavy fusion cannons. It was a solidly built HCV slightly larger than the Minbari Tinashi, but without the comparable long ranged firepower.Since the mid 2240s it has become a common sight in Yolu fleets, preventing assault fighters making attack runs on capital ships and disrupting enemy wolfpack formations. During the Shadow war it was often seen protecting Yolu capital ships from shadow fighters and destroyers, and has become a valued fleet unit.
The first Yolu tech development in centuries, this heavy weapon is a development from existing fusion cannon technology. Designed to damage light craft and destroy fighters at long range, it was developed specifically to fill a niche in which the Yolu were weak, rapid firing weaponry. While it is power-hungry and takes up the same space on a Yolu craft as a fusion agitator or disruptor, the Yolu felt the choice was worthwhile on a dedicated escort craft. The Minbari were aware of this development, but felt that the Sharlin design would not benefit from replacing its neutron lasers with a shorter ranged and less accurate weapon, given the Minbari doctrinal emphasis on long ranged duelling. They had just initiated a similar program that produced the molecular pulsar, which was useless to them until the development of the White Star, and had no desire to waste more time and resources. The Yolu felt that on a dedicated escort whose role would be to destroy fighters and light craft, the choice was perfect, and this development program replaced the Yolu efforts to create pulsar and bolter weapons based on their existing weapons technology.
The heavy fusion cannon scores damage in standard mode.
The Gaim are still new to space and are only now learning the usefulness and versatility of bases. On the ground, the Gaim need no such outposts, for they have only one true command center and that is the Queen's burrow. The unusual requirements of space travel, such as logistics and maintenance (rarely a problem for the Gaim in the past), are now a vital concern.
The Gaim found several empty Markab bases after the fall of that race, and in one instance literally tore the facility to pieces and carted the remains back to their homeworld, where it was painstakingly reassembled. Futher outposts are now under construction elsewhere in the Gaim sphere of influence. The modified base uses packet torpedoes and particle concentrators for long-range firepower, as well as scatterguns for local defense and the usual bulkhead arrangements for stability.
Designed by Stephen Meyer.
The only significant new warship produced in the last 2210s was the Missile Dag'Kar. The Narn had been developing missile technology before the arrival of the Centauri. They felt that a dedicated fire support vessel would be an asset to their fleet. The Dag'Kur fielded 8 missile tubes but had no active defenses. All survivors of this class where later converted to carry Ion torpedoes and E-Mines, but in 2256 an Earth Alliance "coffee table" ship recognition guide still managed to mistakenly include an illustration of one of these veterans instead of its modern replacement. [Editor's Note: Why, whatever could you mean...?] (By Mike Jasperson for Showdowns-10. Description text provided by the HRT.)