In Showdowns-6, we mentioned that we had far more material submitted for that project than was possible to publish. This site includes all the extra stuff we couldn't cram into a 64-page book. Enjoy!
NOTE: These ships are still subject to modification as a result of player reports. They will become official on January 1, 2002 and any changes will be made by that date. They cannot be used in tournaments until then.
The Noscha fighter can only be supported by hangars on the following ships – the Scorran, and the external hangar on the Scorova. The external hangar on the Scorova may carry Noschas, Noscors, assault shuttles, breaching pods, cargo shuttles or remain empty. This is at the option of the player, using the standard rules to convert fighter boxes to different shuttle types. The Descari have no dedicated assault ship, and in situations where assault troops are required, simply use Scorovas to carry the necessary shuttles.
This primitive particle weapon is less accurate and damaging than a light particle beam, but faster firing than a particle projector. It scores damage in standard mode.
This is an early particle weapon seen on some light fighters. It is one of the least damaging weapons used on fighters in known space, but is easy to build and maintain, making it a viable option for some of the less advanced younger races or Raiders.
This is the original version of the first Descari warship that fought the Narn in their attempted invasion of Bestine. It is armed with primitive plasma and particle weapons, and must close to very close range for any of them to be effective. The design was quickly improved when Narn technology became available.
This is the post-Dilgar War refit of the Croscotu, as several of these destroyers were built just after the close of the Dilgar war simply because the Descari were desperate for ships and there were yards that could accommodate destroyers lying empty. The Refit adds plasma bolters to the design, dramatically increasing the stand off firepower of the hull, and increases the reactor to power these weapons and provide extra thrust to the engine. However, the hull is still both very small and not very maneuverable, and so is often found on low priority convoy patrols, or working as a training ship.
This refit of the Rulpa replaces the light plasmas with light particle beams and the medium plasmas for medium plasma bolters. Before Rulnar construction had satisfied the need for destroyers for direct combat, the Descari modified several Rulpas to the Rulpassa design. It was found to be a poor conversion, and when sufficient Rulnars were available, the ships were converted back to Rulthar missile destroyers.
Before converting the Scorava design to field plasma bolters, the Descari experimented with refitting the ship with lasers. They found that while the medium laser could do considerable damage, the light laser was woefully inadequate and slow firing for a weapon its size even in comparison to the plasma bolter. They preferred a weapon that was certain to gouge a large chunk out of a hull or destroy an enemy system to the light laser, which could end up doing very little damage due to the raking effect of the weapon. While the Descari kept a few laser cruisers in service, the vast majority of Scorovas were converted to the plasma bolter design.
NOTE: This ship is in Variants-4.
This ship is essentially a redesign of the Cruscar hull, replacing cargo pods with either hibernation pods (for very long journeys) or atmosphere pods for shorter trips. This ship was seen in limited numbers before the Dilgar War, and a large number of Cruscars were converted to this design during the conflict to transport refugees. However, the ship was still woefully undefended when Dilgar commerce raiders attacked.
This large, barely maneuverable ship serves to transport vast amounts of liquid or gas inside Descari space. With four light particle beams it is the best defended Descari civilian ship, but given the amount of cargo it carries it is still a tempting target for Raiders.
When the Narn arrived in the Bestine system and launched a planetary invasion, they were met by a wave of Cruscotu frigates and assault shuttles. These assault shuttles were primitive in nature, but their sheer numbers made them a match for the Goriths and Narn assault shuttles that were present at the time. After the assimilation of Narn tech, these shuttles were relegated to pilot training and ferrying passengers between surface and orbit. They were often disarmed. However when the Dilgar invasion seemed imminent the shuttles were re-armed and put into place as part of the defense net around Bestine. They proved woefully inadequate against the Dilgar Thoruns. Some were also used to ferry refugees either to orbiting transports or in a last ditch flight from Bestine, but the cramped conditions and limits to atmosphere that could be stored aboard resulted in several becoming tombs rather than vessels journeying to safety.
A larger, faster shuttle based off Narn technology. Armed with only one light plasma gun, this shuttle was designed to act only as an assault shuttle, and was adequate in that role. During the Dilgar war they were very unsuccessfully pressed into the role of fighters, and all those shuttles sent against the Dilgar were destroyed. After the Dilgar war production of this unit was resumed without the design being changed. They are occasionally seen deployed in the external hangars of Scorova cruisers.
An unremarkable breaching pod, the Descari produced a limited number of these after the Dilgar War. They are available from 2245 onwards.
The Descari did not use mines before the Dilgar War, but afterwards they experienced a short lived love affair with such fixed defenses, mainly brought on by intercepting a shipment of mines being carried by Raiders in a shady arms deal. This provided both the basic technology and a large number of civilian mines to start laying minefields with.
The Descari can use the following mines:
All civilian mines, a mine essentially the same as the EA Class D3 mine (firing medium plasma cannon)
Sirna class Captor mine: Cost 20, Range 3, Accuracy +8, Damage 16, signature 3
Sircho class DEW mine: Cost 10, Range 5, Accuracy +6, Signature 4 (1), armour 1, Structure 5, fires a light particle beam.
The Descari often use mines to defend larger defensive platforms, like bases and OSATs, knowing the vulnerability of OSATs to fighter assault several Sircho DEW mines usually accompany every OSAT.
This ship is often seen transporting Balosian troops on mercenary assignments, as well as on more mundane assignments transporting personnel or commercial charters. The Balosians have managed to make a small profit selling liners to a variety of buyers, and they are slowly becoming a common sight in northern League space.
This small tanker is basically a drive pod with four attached tank pods, and is easy prey for raiders. This ship is rarely seen away from convoys or stations.
The Balosians haven?t changed their Pre-Dilgar War assault shuttle design, and it continues to serve. However they now lack a dedicated assault ship, and often transport troops n Verlessa liners. Liners may purchase up to two assault shuttles (replacing normal shuttles). If the Balosians ever needed to launch a planetary assault, they would transport the troops to the system on liners, then transfer them to a Kraasus or Brahassa. It is permitted for one Balosian ship per 10,000 points to exchange its fighters for assault shuttles (6 for a Kraasus, 24 for a Brahassa) using the standard conversion rules.
A good breaching pod by modern standards, particularly as it is both well armed and armored. This unit is available from 2223 onwards. The Balosians didn?t change it after the Dilgar War, having enough things to change already.
The Balosians can purchase Raji proximity mines (which are found in the Centauri section of SOTF), Corant –A mines (also Centauri), and class P and C EA mines. They can also purchase class D2 EA DEW mines and civilian mines. They also produce one home grown mine, the Hafka-A. Cost 40, range 12, Accuracy +3, Signature 3 (1), Armour 2, Structure 10. Fires an ion cannon.
When the Abbai sold a number of Tiraca frigates to the Gaim as war surplus, the Gaim managed to negotiate for the purchase of three old Aldrith Cruisers that were lying in mothballs awaiting conversion to Bimith Defenders (the Abbai were in no hurry to convert more Aldriths to Bimiths once they had met their minimum needs, preferring to leave warships in mothballs, to keep their deployment of warships to a minimum). The Gaim converted them to this design. As the Abbai had stripped the ships of their gravitic shields and shield generators, the Gaim found enough internal space to enlarge the hangar in order to accommodate a squadron of fighters.
While the design lacked a jump engine, the Gaim found it to be an excellent hull. The sheer number of mounts meant that a large light and medium weapons suite could be mounted on the hull, and the ship is easily able to fill the role of a Bimith defender (which the Abbai converted their Aldrith cruisers to), and still have some long range firepower.
This also marked the start of a series of deals between the Gaim and Abbai for spare parts, as the Abbai could not only maintain assault lasers, but had available spares that, with a little adjustment, could be used to service battle lasers. The combat laser is largely the same as the battle laser, with those differences being due to differences in Abbai doctrine rather than technology. This became quite important when the Centauri removed their technical support and stopped the supply of spares to the Gaim in 2260, as a prelude to an attempted invasion of N?Chak?Fah. The Gaim then approached the Abbai, who at that time were happy to set the Gaim up as a bastion of resistance to the Centauri, and as a distraction for the xenophobic Descari. Both powers looked to have a potential conflict with the Gaim, and the Centauri seemed to be launching wars against all their neighbours, and if left unchecked, could prove as great a danger to the league as the Dilgar had been before them. Only the Centauri fought the Gaim, and that was as the result of a pre-emptive strike by the Gaim against the Centauri base in the Sin?Talith system. It was only the supply of Abbai spares that allowed the Gaim battle and assault laser equipped ships to take part in the Shadow War.
Bassari cruisers are usually fielded as part of fleets, and usually carry a fighter load out of Koists, only carrying Reskas when Koists are unavailable.
This conversion of the Kutai is frequently used to provide long range support for the Gaim fleet. While it places twin arrays in the rear matter cannon slots, it is still not regarded as adequately defended against fighter attack. However, four packet torpedoes provide the design with significant long-range punch and it is regarded as a valuable fleet unit.
The Gaim Kruppas does not operate in wolfpacks like the original Centauri design, as the change of armament and their restricted numbers prevent this being a practical proposition.
When the Gaim negotiated the purchase of the few remaining Oracle-D export cruisers in 2253 in the midst of their war with the Descari, some of the less scrupulous members of the EA government were eager to be rid of the hulls, which had proven to sell quite poorly and be inadequate in combat against the enemies the Earth Alliance expected to face. They had only produced a few Oracle Ds in the post-Minbari War period in desperation for combat hulls to patrol EA space, and several had been stationed on the Ch?Lonas border and survived the war by simply being the last ships fleet commanders transferred to the front lines.
While the Gaim snapped these designs up as their losses against the Descari mounted, they were not happy with them, finding that the three medium mounts were greatly below their expectations of a weapons fit for a cruiser. Mounting a flight of Reskas on rails in the nose (taking up the space that had previously been occupied by the forward interceptors) improved the design's usefulness in a fleet, but had the Gaim been able to purchase Talvan or Altarian hull instead, they would have.
After the purchase of gunboats from Raider intermediaries, the Gaim set about negotiating the purchase of more hulls. This led to the delivery of a number of captured civilian hulls and culminated in the delivery of several Dragonship hulls.
The Gaim pondered on the possible conversions for these units for a time, as they were embroiled in the Great Conquest March. They eventually settled on commerce raider, the Dragonship's original role. However, they removed the cargo bay and expanded the hangar to accommodate three flights of fighters.
The resulting ship became the lynchpin in several strikes against the Descari, and this configuration was kept after the end of the war, and when new Dragonships were acquired they were converted to this design as well. With a jump engine, three flights of fighters and a respectable armament the Rakar often served as a squadron flagship.
This ship was the testbed for Gaim pulse technology, and served as a convoy escort, often accompanied by a Roka. Together they could field two squadrons of Reskas and create a storm of anti-fighter fire. The light pulse cannons proved to be very useful for eliminating light fighters, but the number of heavy and medium fighter designs operated by League members meant the twin array remained the more widely used secondary weapon. It was the success of pulse technology on the Ralla hull that encouraged the Gaim to deploy pulse cannons on other designs.
The Gaim negotiated the delivery of a few of these designs while laboring to secure the purchase of a large number of Brakiri freighters and auxiliary warships. They found the design to be under-armed for a medium ship, but appreciated the maneuverability of the hull, and that it could land on planets, which always made conversion to Gaim technology significantly easier, as it eliminated the need to move materials and workers into orbit.
The purchase of several Sim?sall?e transport cruisers left the Gaim puzzled as to what use to put the hulls to. They were large, slow and poorly armored. The Gaim, after considering several designs, settled on a fleet scout, and gave it the same sensor array as a Tiac. As the Gaim continued their exploration of the galaxy, the Tiac class ships were becoming scarcer for fleet assignments. The Gaim reasoned that an ELINT without jump capability would never be sent on exploration duty and set about creating another class of ELINT to supplement the Tiac.
The Shamor is designed to operate as part of a fleet, with a pair of battle lasers to provide long-range support, and three flights of fighters to provide ?air? cover for a fleet or squadron. The Gaim armored the rear of the ship, which was especially vulnerable. The impressive forward bulkhead system is the largest seen on any Gaim ship.
The Gaim bought a handful of captured Sho?Kos patrol cutters from Raiders and the Centauri over the years, and they were converted to this design. Their atmospheric capability was appreciated as all the hulls were badly damaged during their capture and needed extensive repairs.
The presence of three medium mounts on the hull gave the Gaim several options, one of which was placing packet torpedoes in the mounts. However, it was felt that the Gaim fleet needed more laser equipped units and they were fitted with three assault lasers. However, their fighter defenses are poor, and these ships are always escorted.
This conversion of the Tethys police ship was designed for hunting fighters. With two scatterguns and five twin arrays, it does very well in this role, but its lack of maneuverability compared to other Gaim units in this role is a handicap. Thus it is usually assigned to guard slow moving ships, or auxiliaries, like Grast support frigates and Moor torpedo destroyers, or Sulos or Tocrats, and is often found in carrier groups.
The Gaim are one of the few races to create a specific recon fighter with extended endurance. While the EA Badger can last for 8 hours without fueling and taking on atmosphere, the Krast can go for weeks on deep patrol. The pilot enters a state of hibernation and the fighters proximity detector wakes it if an object approaches.
The Krast is a heavily stripped down version of the Koist, sacrificing armor, weaponry and engine power for endurance. The addition of two Y-missiles on rails goes some way to making up for the lighter guns, but this fighter is essentially a light fighter on a medium frame, and while this is adequate for facing off Raider groups its limits are shown when facing intruding fighters of another race.