Unfinished Business - smikesworld.dksmikesworld.dk/smworld/magazines/gm_issue05.pdf · Unfinished Business ... 35 Alternity: The Vition 37 Babylon 4: The Lost Babylon Station 39 Stargate

Unfinished BusinessUnfinished Business

1THE GREAT MACHINEISSUE 5 March 2004 THE GREAT MACHINE


2 THE GREAT MACHINE ISSUE 5 March 2004THE GREAT MACHINE

ContentsContentsContentsContentsContents

Much Welcomings!

Hello, it is Zathras here. Zathras, isvery busy but he will still give you anintroduction to the Great Machine. Lately,Draal has told Zathras to finish manyunfinished jobs Zathras has not finished yet.

Zathras tell you something thatZathras told him. Zathras say, “Many peoplestart great things, but few people finishthem.” Zathras thinks it is because manypeople do more starting than finishing. Somany things go unfinished, waiting to befinished, but they are never finished becausemany new unfinished things are begunbefore finishing. Zathras confuse himself, butZathras is just a simple beast of burden. IfDraal were the brain, Zathras would be thehand, the hammer and the nail. Zathras doesnot like being the nail, but nails are used tofinish things. And finishing, is what this issueis all about.

This Great Machine will finish theunfinished. Finish ideas, like Freespaceand Encounters-1. And bring moreunfinished things, like Stargate, Attarn, Orieniand Escalation Wars closer to beingfinished.

Now Zathras must finish looking forFwiffo, to finish Fwiffo once and for all! Yes,even Zathras can be funny.

ZATHRAS,CARETAKER

2 Introduction

3 Freespace 2Paul Brown’s Freespace 2 conversionscome alive in this article detailing thehows and whys of the conversion.

11 Slaying the RavanaSCENARIO: Freespace 2

13 The Escalation WarsEncounters-1 might not be done, butthis grab bag of ships provide a valuableinsight into the capabilities of some ofpreviously unseen Escalation Wars races.

21 The Romulan WayNew ships for the Romulan Star Empire.

23 The Great CrusadeThis preview for Showdowns-11 introducesyou to the forces of the OISF.

25 The Sanchin ServitudeDevastated by war, the Sanchin take theirplace as a loyal Shadow servant.

31 A Superior Species:The Lumati

35 Alternity: The Vition

37 Babylon 4: The LostBabylon Station

39 Stargate Wars

44 The Attarn Union

47 Next Issue

ContentsContentsContentsContentsContents



“And they willbreak like waterupon a stone...”

Lieutenant Ortega took amoment to open the face shield ofhis flight suit and wiped the sweatfrom his brow before it interfered withhis vision, ‘I hate this waiting’ hethought. With his other hand he gentlyeased the controls of his MyrmidonFighter to the left, passing beneath

the Steadfast, a Deimos Corvette.Behind him trailed the othermembers of his flight, each keepingtheir positions.

“Can’t see a thing in thisdamn soup, why didn’t Commandgive us an AWACs” complained hiswingman, flying along in Gamma 2.The blue and red glow of the nebulasurrounded the fleet, lit by the raysof a dim sun and the lights of theirown vessels. Occasional there wasa burst of energy, rippling through theclouds. Lacking a better term, pilotssimply called it lightning, though insome places such electricdisturbances could seriously affecta ship’s ability to fight.

“Gamma 2, keep the com-line clear of irrelevant traffic,

Command will issue us forces asthey see fit”, came the voice of themissions director onboard theBirmingham. The Orion-classdestroyer was the command ship forthe current fleet.

Ignoring the warnings of theflight operations director, Ortega’swingman continued “Well what’s thedamn story? Command isn’t keepusing informed, how long are wesupposed to sit around waiting forthis thing?”

“You are aware of yourmission objectives Gamma 2,Command will inform us on a needto know basis, now cut the chatter.Gamma Leader, I suggest you try toinstil better discipline in your pilots.”

“Roger, Birmingham.”

Freespace Comesto Babylon 5 Wars

By Paul Prown



Ortega didn’t say it, but he agreedwith Gamma 2. His wing had beenordered to help guard a GTVA fleetblockading the node to GammaDraconis. The fleet, comprised of aDestroyer, several Corvettes andnumerous Cruisers was powerful byall accounts, yet against an enemyof unknown strength, the fleet’seffectiveness was in doubt. As theships had been sitting there for nearlya half an hour, these doubts onlyfestered and swelled with no newinformation.

Suddenly the voice of GTVACommand came over the com line,“Birmingham, our attempts to drawout the Sathanas have failed. She’sbypassing our vessels and headedfor your position, you must preventher from entering Gamma Draconis.”

And then for the first time,Gamma 1 heard a chord ofdiscontent in his superior officers,“Command, from what we’ve beenbriefed on we don’t have the meansto challenge a ship of that strength.We need reinforcements.”

“Reinforcements are on theway Birmingham, you are ordered todelay the enemy until they arrive.”

“Roger Command.”“This is a damn circus,”

chimed in Gamma 2.“Put a lid on your bulls*** and

stay focused Gamma 2,” Ortegaordered. He agreed with Gamma 2,but he knew that such commentswere not positive for morale,especially on the eve of a battle. Helowered his faceplate and orderedthe flight into combat formation, onlya few moments later the first signsof battle begun.

“Enemy craft inbound.”“It’s the scouting wings,

Flights Alpha through Theta, breakand engage. Everyone else maintainescort positions.”

“Alright people, move out,”Ortega hit his afterburners, the G-

forces pinning him to his seat. Theshivans were close, too close but hemeant to move in behind them andattack from their aft while the otherfighters engaged from the front. Hiswingmen knew his tactics well andfollowed in kind. The scouts weremade primarily of Maras andAstaroths, both of which were verymanoeuvrable. He lined up a targetand fired off a pair of Harpoons, evenas the Shivans began to launchswarm missiles of their own towardsothers fighters. A few moments later,his target exploded in fire, but theshivans continued towards the fleet,ignoring the assault from the rear.As the enemy began to mix inamongst the fleet vessels, the bluebeams of anti-fighter fire shot out andilluminated the gaseous clouds.While nimble, the Shivans were notquick enough and many of thefighters were cut down. Ortegaswung in behind a Mara, firing hisSubach cannons as the Harpoonsacquired a lock. The Mara turnedsuddenly, throwing off his lock, as itheaded for a nearby Leviathan.

Ortega followed in kind,“you’re not getting away that easy,bug”. As he squeezed the trigger apair of anti-fighter beams shot forthfrom the Cruiser, catching the Marahead on and disintegrating it. Thebeams continued through the debris,“damn” Ortega cursed, pulling up onthe stick but a moment later a beamclipped his wing and he began to spinout of control.

“Gamma 2, give me somecover here”.

“Roger Gamma Leader, I’vegot your back”.

Ortega steadied his fighterand checked the readout, hullintegrity was down to fifty-five percentbut he was still operational. A quickglance at the scanners revealed thatmost of the Shivans had beendestroyed, only a few fighters

remained and they would be easypickings.

Suddenly the gases of thenebula were awash in blue as a hugeportal opened a few thousand metresin front of the fleet. Though the actualsubspace opening was barelyvisible, the entire fleet came to astandstill in awe of the event. Eventhose who had seen the Colossusexit subspace were struck dumb byits size. For a moment, time stoodstill, the field of blood became tranquiland for an instant Ortega feltsomething like serenity.

And then, four new stars wereborn in the nebula, each of crimsonand fire. From these new stars, fourmassive beams struck out at theGTVA fleet. The Leviathan nearOrtega was enveloped and thensimply ceased to exist. The Steadfasttook two beams, fore and aft, almostinstantly the beams cut through thehull and passed through the otherside. Several fighters were caught inthe crimson glow and disappearedas the hulk of the Deimos crumpledand exploded in a cloud of energy andfire.

The battlefield descendedinto hell. Amongst the curses ofdisbelief, Ortega heard theBirmingham order all ships to returnfire. In amongst the fleet dozens ofnew subspace portals opened up,pouring out pitch-black shivanfighters. Two allied fighters nearOrtega exploded under a hail of fireand his own ship began screamingwarnings at him, as a flurry ofmissiles was suddenly inbound.

“Son of a b-“. Ortega hit hisburners and began to roll his ship,all the while launching countermeasures to try and divert themissiles. Most of the missilesmissed while a few impacted on hisshields, jolting him forward in hisgravity harness. A Sobek Corvettewas suddenly in view, unleashing



brilliant amber beams towards theimmense shivan vessel. He aimedfor beneath the ship as a hail of laserfire continued on his heels “Damnitboys, lend me some cover here.”

As if on queue piercing bluebeams and flak bursts fired pastOrtega into the fighters trailing behindhim, he dived beneath the Sobek,trying to use its hull for cover. Justas he passed the ship his cockpitwas suddenly awash in red glow, heturned to look over his shoulder justas the shockwave from the explodingSobek connecting with his fighter.Amidst the cloud of debris the all toofamiliar crimson beam stabbedthrough into the depths of the nebula.Ortega thought he saw a few of thefighters which had been on his tailcaught in the beam as well, but itdidn’t matter.

“Gamma wing, form on me”,he ordered, but there was noresponse, “Gamma Wing, form onmy wing.” Ortega checked hisreadouts, the other fighters in hisflight weren’t reading.

The com channel wasawash with scared pilots anddisordered chaos,

“Someone get this bastardoff my tail.”

“There’s too many of themm“

Ortega thought he evenheard some people praying, butmany of the messages were beingcut short. Then, theflights op on theB i r m i n g h a mcame over thechannel, negating allof the others.

“This is the Birmingham,we’ve taken a direct hit. Hull down tothirty-eight percent, eighty percent ofthe fleet is gone, return fire ineffective.Command we’re pulling out.”

“Negative Birmingham, holdyour position. Reinforcements are on

the way.”“This position is lost

Command, we’re moving out.”A moment later the

disordered ramblings on the com linecontinued, Ortega keyed hismicrophone, “All fighters, this isGamma Leader. Form on theBirmingham, let’s see if we can’t buythem some cover” he commanded.Ortega knew he was outside hisauthority, but to hell with it. Hepointed his damaged craft towardsthe Destroyer and hit his burners.The crimson paths from theSathanas were still burning bright,cutting lines in the nebular gases.Then one by one they diminished andceased. ‘It’ll only be a matter of timebefore they recharge’ he thought.Their absence was more unsettlingthan their presence. ‘At least whenthey’ve fired we know who’s dead.’

But with precious little targetsleft, there would be no doubt whowould be next to die. The Birminghamcame into view, its starboard sidewas gutted with fire, the hangar

twisted and melted.Along the rest of the hullburned small fires fromwhere the fighters hadattacked it. Ortegaspotted a few

Shivans andheaded into their

midst, firing at any target thatpresented itself. ‘Come on, get outof here’, but the Orion Destroyer wasstill readying its subspace drive.Another fighter fell under Ortega’sguns as enemy return fire rocked hisown ship, his shields began to fail andthen they were gone, a few hitsstruck true against his hull. He pulledoff and accelerated out of the line offire and swung back around to targeta new fighter, a Basilisk was headingfor the Birmingham launching,battering its hull with missiles. Ortegasqueezed the trigger, but nothingfired. A quick glance at his HUDconfirmed his fears; his weaponswere down. A moment later hiscockpit was awash in hell once againas the four beams of the Shivanvessel slammed into the hull of theBirmingham. Despite the glare fromthe beam’s impact, Ortega did notadvert his eyes. The four beams cutthrough the Destroyer like butter,severing it into smaller pieces. Whatwas left exploded, debris narrowlymissing his fighter. Somewhere inthe back of his mind Ortega heardthe order for a general retreat, but hehad already activated his subspacedrive.

The Shivans around him,familiar with such destruction did notpause to watch the Birmingham diebut instead headed for any freshtargets. Ortega saw the subspace ripforming in front of his fighter, and hebegan feel relief as the escape outof this hell presented itself. Amoment later, a missile slammed intothe top of Ortega’s fighter and the

subspace door wavered andceased, and the battlefield

became still as death.



Colossal Challenge:Converting Freespace toBabylon 5

Along with my owncustom races, I have delved intothe area of conversions for severalyears. It all started after one April Fool’sday when Agents of- er, I mean ahooligan hacker bustedinto AoG’s website andposted a conversion for anImperial Star Destroyer. Many people enjoyed this prank,while others criticised its lack of canonical correctness.From that point on I tried my hand at a few Star Warsconversions, eventually doing the main fighters, and afew ships. But that project, which involved Tracy Boveystalled mostly at my fault while the data and ideasfestered in my inbox for some time. I also entertaineddoing some Star Trek conversions, I had a few basicideas and some material, but nothing ever really gotstarted. Nowadays Star Trek and Star Wars conversionsare well published by Tyrel and Ben, along withconversions for Battlestar Galactica, Andromeda, Space1999, Fascape, and even a few more are emerging. Istill wanted to do a conversion, but had no desire to re-invent the wheel with any of these genres, I wanted totry something new and so I thought of Freespace.

Freespace 2 (FS2) was “Flight Simulator of theYear” back in the day, beating out its opponents WingCommander V and X-Wing Alliance. Since then, itsfollowing has continued to grow. While FS3 is notforthcoming, the release of the FS source code has ledto a public-driven improvement project. Even before thecode release, FS2 had been loved by fans because ofits MODability. Just like Doom2 was loved because ofability to integrate new maps, FS2 is loved because ofability to make new ships, campaigns, and stories. Thissame openness of the game data enabled me to look atthe actual numbers used in the game for ships and theirweaponry, allowing for a greater degree of accuracy thansimply ‘winging it’. I decided that because of this wealthof information, and my love for the game, that Freespacewould be a worthy candidate for Babylon 5 Wars.

FS2, however did not come without its problems.The major problem I encountered is that the game hasmany extremes. The differences in weaponry, and shipsare SO great that it’s hard to create an accurate scale.For instance, the lightest warship has a total of 10,000hitpoints while the largest has 1,000,000 hitpoints. While,

similarly, the lightest anti-ship beam weapon does amaximum of 1815 damage per shot while the biggestbeam weapon does 80850 damage per shot. I hadalready decided upon a path of ‘being as true to the feelof the game as possible’, I did not want to make a lot ofcompromises. Thus my first problem, how to make thesmaller numbers relevant while keeping the feel of thelarger values without making them absolutely ludicrous.To these ends, I tried to be as mathematical as possible.Here are a few of the formulas I came up with to solvethese various problems.

Hitpoints to Structure andArmour

Other than the fore-mentioned problem,converting hitpoints to structure hits another roadblockbecause of B5W’s armour value. Like most games,ships in FS simply have hitpoints and so a ship with10,000 hitpoints hit 10,000 times by a weapon doingone damage will still die in the same way that if the shipwas hit four times by a weapon doing 2,500 damage.Weapons aren’t ineffective against some ships, theysimply take longer to kill them. Another problem I hadwas the fact that some ships, such as the Cain andLilith were identical in size yet the Lilith had about 350%more hitpoints. In FS1 the description for the Lilith statedthat the ship had heavy armour which allied weaponswere barely able to pierce, and so I thought up a formulawhich would take armour into account and give the



amount of structure. The formula is based upon thepremise of the ten-point rake. Thus I would be able touse different armour values, with the same amount ofstructure and achieve some level of accuracy. Of course,given certain weapons the accuracy goes right out thewindow but thought it was as good as any.

(Hitpoints) * (10 – average armour) = Structure 800

The value of 800 is simply a constant whichachieved the desired amount of structure for the firstships I converted. In general I would then aim for anamount of structure based upon the length of the ship,in comparison to existing B5 and Freespace vessels.Larger ships then have much more structure, muchmore than large ships in B5 but I wanted some sense ofscale.

Fighter structure was determined on a separatescale, where the total structure + shields were dividedby 25 with armour applied in a more arbitrary mannerreflective of the fighter’s size and technology.

WeaponryOnce ship structure was determined, I looked at

weapon damage. In order to determine the values Icompared the weapons’ maximum in-game damage tothe hitpoints of a select vessel, and then multiplied thepercentage against the vessels’ structure in B5Wars,adding armour. Thus a beam doing full damage, andhitting nothing but structure should cause the equivalentdamage. Of course with different armour and structurevalues on ships, it won’t be entirely accurate but that’sexpected. Here’s the formula roughly:

(In Game Damage) * (B5W Struct) + armour = max B5W Dmg (Ship Hitpoints)

For beam weapons, I had two separate formulaswhich I used for different beams. The end result was togive the smaller beams a boost in damage, while thelarger ones were pulled down to narrow the gap. Idifferentiated between the various beams in a few ways.Slashing beams were given variable damage but highfire control bonuses. While stabbing beams were givenmore consistent damage, with less fire control andconsistency rising in more advanced Shivan weapons.Anti-fighter beam damage was fairly arbitrary, andrepresented the effectiveness I thought they had.

Other weapons, including fighter mounted guns,had their maximum damage over a period of 10 secondsadded together and then applied to a formula in a similarfashion to beam weapons. Missile weaponry was morearbitrary, and bank capacity was reduced by a factor offour to make them more in-line with standard fighters.Given how fast fighters can bite the dust, most peoplewouldn’t put 25 missiles into their fighters anyway.

ManoeuvrabilityFreespace, like most space games doesn’t

follow Neutonian physics. Fighters and ships havemaximum speeds based on their role and class. In orderto determine how manoeuvrable a ship was I took thismaximum speed and translated it into a speed inB5Wars, and then gave the ship or fighter the thrust andturning ability necessary to turn at this speed. With ships



in particular, I also wanted to maintain some sense ofscale in terms of how much thrust a ship has comparedto its size. Bigger ships should have more thrust andmore redundancy. With smaller ships, especiallyfreighters this can lead to some silly turn costs. Whateverthe turn cost, players should keep in mind it is not to saythe ship is agile but merely to act as a means to an end.The ships thrust combined with its turn cost equals itsmaximum speed, nothing more.

Turn delay and other statistics were based onrotational times for ships in the game. A ship for instancewith a rotation time of 100 seconds was given a turndelay of 1x speed. Delays then varied from that baseline.Most ships you will see have similar, ponderous delaysbut this is reflective of Freespace ships.

Many of the fighters also have non-standardcosts for pivots and rolls (not like anyone ever rolls afighter), along with delays for larger fighters. These twoare based on rotational times and can severely restricta fighter’s ability in comparison with B5Wars fighters.

End ResultThe product, like the game is a scale of

extremes. On the one hand we have ships like Cruiserswhich have structure comparable to B5Wars vesselsbut are woefully under armed and then we have largerships with powerful weaponry and loads of structure.Don’t be fooled by the power of some beam weapons,many of the ships have a lot of bulk and will take a lot ofpunishment. At the same time, the ships are not

necessarily a good match for B5Wars ships. Alsobecause battles in Freespace often took several minutes,the increased structure combined with weaker weaponrymay lead to significantly longer battles. However, fightersand bombers, which Freespace is all about cansignificantly reduce the time required to play the battlesand should be used en mass.

I have in my best estimation given point valuesto all fighters and ships in this conversion, all of whichwill see the light of day on a website coming to you verysoon. However, if you’d like to play some battles withthese conversions I’d recommend a two-tiered pointsystem. Basically give maximum points for both shipsand fighters (and possibly ordinance), perhaps withability to overlap to some degree. This way the battleswill be more reflective of what we have in the game.The ships may also cater more towards writtenscenarios rather than free for all battles.

New Rules

Slow BallisticsSlow Ballistics represent guided weaponry

which is far slower than your typical ship-launchedmissile. In Freespace terms, a Slow Ballistic is anyweapon with the ‘bomb’ flag, meaning it can be targetedby the player and shot down in mid-flight.

Slow Ballistics follow all rules associated withstandard Ballistics with two exceptions. First, they donot impact during the ballistic impact phase. Rather due



to their slow nature, a slow ballistic will impact duringthe fighter attack ships phase (the last phase of combat).Also, if using the fighter missions found in Showdowns-2, a flight on the defensive intercept mission mayintercept slow Ballistics as long as they are within onehex of the line of fire from the launch to the impact hex.This is in lieu of the requirement of being in the sameship as the target hex.

Aspect LocksSome fighter-launched weapons, notably

bombs, require an aspect lock in order to fire. This lockrepresents the increased time required for the guidancesystems to gain a lock on the target. Any such weaponwill have two ranges, a lock range and a launch range.When a fighter wishes to fire an aspect lock weapon,they must first declare their intentional to gain an aspectlock. This is done during the ballistic launch phase, aslong as they are within the lock range and the desiredtarget is within. While acquiring a lock, the fighter maynot jink, or fire any weapons save independent turrets,and must keep the target within its arc in the samemanner as sustained weaponry. At the end of the turn,assuming the target is still in arc, the fighter has acquireda lock. Next turn, assuming the fighter is now withinlaunch range, it may fire its weapons and otherwise actas normal for the remainder of that turn. If a fighter isunable to get close enough to launch their ordinance,an aspect lock may carry over several turns as long asthe target remains in arc. Once a weapon is fired, thetarget must gain a new aspect lock for any subsequentfirings.

Fighter Rules RefresherFor those who haven’t seen or don’t remember

the rules associated with Freespace fighters in Babcom,here is a refresher. Because of the emphasis on fightersin Freespace, the craft employ slight modified rules fromstandard B5Wars fighters.

First, Freespace fighters always fly in flights offour fighters, as opposed to the normal six. Each fighterrolls to hit independently, though the flight still followsstandard firing procedures (ie all at same target). Whentaking fire, the defending player does not choose whichfighter is hit, but rather a fighter is selected randomly. Ad4 works best for this task. All fighter weapons, with theexception of turrets, are considered linked regardlessof whether the guns are different or the same. Fightersalso ignore the normal restrictions placed upon the firingof ballistics and normal weapons. Though, like B5

fighters, the target must remain in arc for ballistics if thefighter wishes to contribute its offensive bonus. Fightersare also equipped with counter-measures, electronicequipment to help intercept ballistic weapons. Whenattacked by missiles, a flight may use a number ofcounters as desired. Counter measures are marked offevenly across the flight. More than one charge may beused against an individual ballistic, but the interceptrating is subject to degradation which is in lieu of normalballistic rules.

Secondly, all fighters are equipped with their ownsubspace drive. Fighters may be deployed during a battlewithout the required hangar space onboard a ship. Thisallows a player to field a fleet composed solely of fighters,which hopefully will remain balanced against, at leastother Freespace opponents.

Thirdly, each fighter sheet has one or moreprimary and secondary/ballistic weapon systemsavailable. A player may choose from the various optionsbefore the start of battle. Each weapons packageincludes its own individual cost for the fighter. Fightersmay also have one to three secondary banks for ballisticweapons. The player may choose one type of missilefor each bank, and buy as many of them up to the limitstated. Each flight must be equipped with the sameprimary and secondary armament.

Shield RefresherThe Freespace shields differ from anything

previously seen in B5Wars or any of its conversions. Assuch, they require a bit of explanation. Beside thestructure for an individual fighter, there will also be ashield diagram. This diagram has three numbersassociated with it, Shield Strength, Breach Value andRecharge Rate.



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Shield Strength – This value represents theoverall strength of the shield. Each time a shield absorbsdamage, the amount of damage absorb is subtractedfrom this total. When the value reaches zero, all damagewill hit the fighter instead.

Breach Value – This represents the maximumamount of damage that the shield can absorb from anyone attack. Typically, this value equals one quarter ofthe shield strength. When a fighter is hit, an amount ofdamage equal to the breach value is absorbed by theshield, the remaining damage is applied against thefighter. Some weapons are noted as not breaching fightershields, in this case, all damage from the weapon isapplied against the shield.

Recharge Rate – During the power allocationsegment, each shield will regain an amount of strengthequal to this value and up to the shields starting level.This value may be increased if desired, as noted on thefighter’s SCS

Subspace DrivesThese act nearly identical to B5 jump drives

except that all units have them, and no unit can enteranother units vortex, or jump point. There are two maindifferences to keep in mind. If a subspace drive isdamaged, there is no roll to destroy the ship as in B5W.Rather a damage subspace drive only rolls to see if itworks or not. If the roll fails, the drive is jump fails andthe drive is considered destroyed (mark off all boxes).

Subspace drives also have different properties.A ship may use these drives anywhere to jump to anypoint within the same system, but inter-system jumpscan only take place at specific points in known as jumpnodes. This makes blockades a much more viableoption. If a battle takes place near to node, simplydesignate one hex as being the node point. The nodehas no physical representation (ie, it cannot be destroyedexcept for VERY scenario-specific circumstances).

* * *



SCENARIO:Slaying the Ravana

Early on in their exploration of the nebula, theGTVA encountered a frightening new ShivanDestroyer Class. In the opening battle, it destroyed aDeimos Class Corvette before being the allies wereforced to withdraw. After several harassing attacks,Allied Command launched a two-pronged attack ofbombers and a Sobek Class Corvette to destroy theenemy ship.

Shivan Forces:1x Ravana Class Destroyer Ravana8x Basilisk Heavy Fighters with Trebuchet/Trebuchet12x Mara Medium Fighters with Hornet/Hornet12x Manticore Medium Fighters with Harpoon/Harpoon

GTVA Forces:1x Sobek Class Corvette Khenmu20x Serapis Interceptors with Prometheus(S),Harpoon/Hornet12x Boanerges Heavy Bombers with Prometheus(S),Tornado/Cyclops/Cyclops

All fighters have full loads in their respective missilebanks.

Setup:1. This battle takes place in a nebula. Rather than

use the rules found in the compendium andshowdowns-1, the only adverse affects is that theline of sight of all units is limited to 20 hexes. Thisaffects all weapons fire, and missile lock-ons.

2. The map is the standard B5Wars map. The mapmay be floating if desired. The Ravana is placedwith 10 hexes of the centre of the map with any



facing and at speed zero. The Basilisks areplaced within 5 hexes of the Ravana at speed 5.All other Shivan Fighters are in their hangars.

3. On turn 1, the Khenmu and all Serapis fightersjump in at any desired point using standardjumping in rules. Keep in mind that as fightershave their own drives, each unit will arrive and rollfor its own hex.

4. At the end of turn 1, the Ravana may launch herremaining fighters. The GTVA Bombers will arriveduring the jump-in segment of turn 2.

Victory Conditions:The battle is played until one side is completely

destroyed or driven off. Neither the Shivans, nor theGTVA will retreat.

Total Allied Victory: All shivan forces are destroyed,with the Khenmu and more than 50% of the fighterssurviving.

Major Allied Victory: The Ravana is destroyed andKhenmu survives.

Minor Allied Victory: The Ravana is destroyed, butthe Khenmu does not survive.

Minor Shivan Victory: The Ravana survives

Major Shivan Victory: The Ravana survives, whileloosing no more than two structure blocks and fiftypercent of its primary structure.

Total Shivan Victory: The Ravana survives withoutloosing any structure blocks.

* * *

Shannik Escort Destroyerby Paul Brown

Filling a need for fleet and convoy escort,the Shannik was designed in the early 22nd centuryby Modrani naval engineers. The ship utilises acombination of Blast Lasers, Tachyon Pulsers andrapid-firing Tachyon Gatling Arrays to fulfill this role.The Blast Lasers are capable of warding off smallships, such as those designs used in pack tactics.The pulsers and gatling arrays are suited fordestroying enemy fighters while supporting theblast lasers in anti-ship actions. The Shannik is fastand very manoeuvrable. Though only moderatelyarmoured at best, like all Modrani ships, the Shannikutilises Tachyon shielding for further protection. Inaddition to all of these features, the Shannik isfurther able to bring one flight of fighters to the fieldin its small hangar.

Shanniks are most often utilised escortinglarger ships or in fleet actions. On their own, theycan prove less than effective against a capableopponent. Perhaps the ship’s greatest weaknessis their relatively weak rear structure. When facinga more manoeuvrable opponent, or when flankedin fleet operations the Shannik can often becomecrippled by a barrage to their aft quadrant.Nevertheless, the ship is effective in its role and iswidely used throughout the Modrani fleet.

* * *



So Where isEncounters-1?

Originally I planned on havingEncounters-1 released lastSeptember. Obviously that didn’thappen. I have been trying to finishup the background text and shipcontrol sheets over the last fewmonths, but real life has intruded. Ihad hoped to have Encounters-1more or less finished by the time thatthis issue went to press. Guesswhat? It isn’t done. But it is muchcloser to being done now than it wasbefore. Hopefully this month’scollection of ships will help to holdyou over until you can have the fullsupplement in your hands!

Circasian EmpireThe Circasian Empire

appeared as the feature power in theEmpire Rising book. Encounters-1will several new hulls to theCircasian inventory, including

several early technology hulls usingcutting-edge technologies.

Included in this issue of TheGreat Machine are two ships fromEncounters-1 and a special bonusship from War of the Seven Stars.Full information on the LancerDesign Project will appear inEncounters-1.

Dolinar TechnologyCruiserBase Hull (Special Availability –Only Six Exist)

A handful of lance-equippedcruisers saw prototyping andconstruction before the CircasianEmpire finally adopted the KalicharLancer Cruiser. One of these hullswas the Dolinar Technology Cruiser.The Dolinar Lancer Cruiser designplans were drawn up shortly after thesuccessful combat testing of theXandar Lancer Frigate andattempted to overcome some of theXandar’s shortcomings. The shipdirectly integrated its particle lanceweapons into the hull, giving themgreater durability. The ship’s hullwas also reinforced, making it betterable to absorb the heavy weaponsfire from its opponents.

Only six Dolinar LancerCruisers were constructed. It wasonly after the keel of the last threehulls were laid down that several

important problems with the designbegan to surface. The ship wassluggish and unpredictable. TheDolinar’s engine had a propensity formalfunctioning when the ship’s mainguns were activated, negating thebenefits of its more powerful enginesystems.

The War Council haltedconstruction of new Dolinars andshifted control of the existing six hullsover to the Research andDevelopment division. Once therethe Dolinars were used astechnology platforms for the testingof new ship systems. Several shipsof the class were also used for thetesting of newly acquired alientechnologies, to varying degrees ofsuccess.

Several of the DolinarTechnology Cruisers were pressedinto active duty during the lastmonths of the Chouka campaign inorder to bolster existing fleetstrengths. The Circasians neededevery ship capable of fighting in orderto push onwards to Chouka anddefeat the Chouka Theocracy’sforces at their homeworld. Of thethree Dolinars active during the wartwo survived the conflict with minor

Another Peak intoTyrel Lohr’s Epic

Sci-Fi SettingBy Tyrel Lohr



damage. The third was lost in arunning battle with enemy forceswithin the Chouka home system.

Dolinar-P PlasmaCruiserDolinar Variant (Unique)

After the fall of Chouka, theCircasians were able to procureseveral samples of Chouka plasmatechnologies. With the help ofdetained Chouka scientists andtechnicians the Circasians wereable to quickly adapt the weapons foruse on Circasian ships.

A Dolinar cruiser was one ofthe first ships to be equipped withthese experimental plasma cannons.One of the damaged cruisers thathad participated in the last stages ofthe war was selected for theprocedures and saw extensivesystem refits in order to test the newtechnology. The Dolinar-P PlasmaCruiser proved easy to upgrade withmedium plasma cannon weaponry,though attempts to fit the ship withheavy plasma cannons failedmiserably.

Lhonshur Super CarrierBase Hull (Special Availability:Only Two Exist)

After the Chouka War theCircasian Empire began the processof rebuilding their tattered fleet. Thewar had taught the Circasians manythings about true interstellar warfarein both the areas of technology aswell as doctrine.

One of the first fleetweaknesses identified by the warwas the lack of dedicated fightercarrier units within the SpaceForces. Carrier variants of theKolanis Cruiser were very commonon the battlefield, but these unitswere not able to deploy the purenumbers of fighters necessary toachieve superiority against heavierfighters like those used by theChouka. During the Chouka War theCircasians had been forced toactivate auxiliary carrier units as astop gap measure, but the WarCouncil desired a more lastingsolution.

The Lhonshur Super Carrierproject was hoped to be the solutionto the Circasian’s carrier woes. Theship was conceived as a massivecommand and control unit that

would operate as the fleet’s nervecenter while also bringing six fullsquadrons of fighters to the fray. TheLhonshur’s sheer size and durabilitywas believed to be enough to

drastically increase itssurvivability, insuring thesurvival of theexpensive carrier unit

as well as its equallyvaluable command personnel.The first Lhonshur Super

Carrier, the Lhonshur, was laiddown in the orbital shipyards at

Circasia in 1974. The Lhonshur tookeighteen months to construct andwas the second largest class ofships ever built by the Circasians atthe time it entered service (theKiralina Jump Ships remained theCircasian’s largest ship class). Theship had a successful shakedowncruise and was accepted into serviceby the Circasian War Council. Asecond Lhonshur Super Carrier, theHuerivian, was contracted by theWar Council with an eye towards a1978 commissioning date. To all ofthose involved the Lhonshur SuperCarriers looked like the perfectsolution to the Circasian carrierproblem.

Like many such grandioseprojects, the Lhonshur inevitably hitseveral very major snags. TheLhonshur proved to be incrediblymaintenance intensive and becamea logistical nightmare when on long-range deployment to the Circasianborder. Near weekly deliveries ofconsumables and repair equipmentwere required by the Lhonshur by theend of its first six month mission tothe Kilos system. It was only 1976,less than a year since theLhonshur’s commissioning, and theWar Council was beginning to havetheir doubts about the new design.To further compound the error alarge amount of resources hadalready been budgeted and paid to



the civilian contractors working onthe Huerivian.

The hard decision was madeto end the Lhonshur Super Carrierproject. As the Huerivian wasalready a ‘sunk cost’ the War Councilelected to finish construction of theship as planned, moving the craftdirectly from the shipyards tomothballs for possible lateractivation. The Lhonshur itself wasrotated back to Circasia where itjoined the local defense forces.Being close to home, the supply trainrequired to maintain the ship wasdrastically shortened while keepingthe super carrier readily available incase of military emergency. TheHuerivian was finished on schedulein 1978 and took its place at theHath`dam yards to awaitreactivation.

The War of the Seven Starswould be the reason for both ships’eventual activation and first combatactions. The Lhonshur initially tookup the reigns of control of theoutward campaign, commandingthe initial defensive actions atEchek’til is as well as the firstoffensive campaigns against the ak-Tai and their allies. The Huerivianjoined the ship later, also taking up acommand position within the fleet.

Of the two ships, theHuerivian was destroyed the KapilinaCampaign of 1981, downed by aGhotekhen/Solassi defense fleetduring a Circasian fighting retreat.The Lhonshur survived and continuedto fight on, serving as the fleetflagship during the Sokoshima andLhokall campaigns until the arrival ofthe first Fierias Dreadnoughts. TheLhonshur then assumed asecondary position within the fleet,providing valuable fighter support tothe primary Circasian striking fleet.The Lhonshur was destroyed onDecember 5, 1985 during the finalpush against Ghotekh.

No other Lhonshur-classSuper Carriers were constructed,their cost in construction andmaintenance simply outweighing thebenefits they brought to combat.They did however help to mold futureCircasian carrier development andare largely responsible for the rapiddevelopment and deployment of theMisha Jump Carrier, a craft thatwould prove one of the mostvaluable fleet elements during thewar.

Courata ImperiumThe Courata Imperium is the

Circasian’s arch-nemesis in theEscalation Wars universe. The twoempires did not make contact untilthe early 21st Century, but by the pointof contact a chain of events hadbeen put into motion that no onecould hope to stop. The wars foughtbetween the Courata Imperium andthe Circasian Empire—theEscalation Wars—swathed knownspace in flames, changing thecourse of history forever.

Physiologically, the Courataare a felinid race, much more so thanthe Circasians. Where theCircasians were similar in form andstyle to the Dilgar from Babylon 5,the Courata are more akin to Niven’sKzin or the Kilrathi from WingCommander. Even then, the Couratacannot be adequately described as“big cats”. If you imagine what itwould look like if you merged a Kzinwith a giant sloth, but still keeping itonly slightly larger than a human, youwould have a Courata.

The Courata long dominatedtheir region of space, subjugatingneighboring powers through a mix ofpolitical intrigue and militarydomination. The Courata were notfearful of committing theirdreadnoughts in battle, but they

preferred less combative means forsecuring their place in the galaxy.This is not to mean that the Courataare in any way cowardly. TheEmperors of the Imperium, warrior-kings of the highest caliber, oftenpersonally led their fleets into battleagainst the enemy.

The Courata rely on HET(high-energy transfer) lasers as theirprimary anti-ship armament. HETlasers function by detonating anexplosive round within a reactionchamber and using the subsequentenergy release to fire a focusedlaser beam. In essence they arefiring bomb-pumped lasers fromwithin their own ship! The radiationfrom doing so is sometimes severe,forcing the installation of theweapons in areas were few crewreside.

The Courata have refinedHET laser technologies further thanany other race in the EscalationWars universe. Many races,including the Tavast, make use ofprimitive HET lasers, but mostabandon the technology shortly afteracquiring advanced space travelcapability. The Courata’s modernHET lasers are known as reactionlasers. Unlike other raking laserweapons, the reaction lasers do notfire in a continuous beam form butrather through a series of quick,successive raking pulses. As sucheach pulse is considered a rakingsub-volley.

Reaction lasers are volatileand can sometimes do very littledamage depending on pulse count.However the weapon is also moreversatile than other laser weapons,as special munitions can bepurchased to extend the abilities ofthe reaction lasers.

Heavy Munition: +2 damageper pulse, -1 max pulses. Cost: 6combat points each.



Saturation Munition: -2damage per pulse, +2 max pulses.Cost: 4 combat points each.

Masaada DreadnoughtBase Hull (Unlimited Deployment)

The Masaada Dreadnoughtserved as the Courata’s mainlinewarship during the Escalation Wars.A large, imposing vessel, theMasaada relies on its thick structureblocks for survivability. These shipsare bristling with fast firing gun turrets,including incredible, short-rangebroadside laser batteries.

Due to the logistics strain ofoperating so many reaction lasers,the Masaada Dreadnought isequipped with two interior cargobays which allow it to carry enoughmunitions to completely re-supplyitself one time, extending thedreadnought’s operational range.This ability came in very handyduring the Escalation Wars,especially in the outwardcampaigns.

Masaada Tar CommandDreadnoughtMasaada Variant (Rare)

A rare variant of the muchmore common Masaada, theMasaada Tar CommandDreadnought operated as the

taskforce command ship for largerCourata fleets. The Masaadaexchanges its cargo bays andreaction laser munitions storage forimproved sensors and commandand control abilities. Heavy reactionlasers were removed in favor ofheavy laser cannons. Supplied byVendrizzi weapons manufacturers,the decision to use heavy lasers onthe Masaada Tar was a largelypolitical one meant to mollify thesemanufacturers by giving them alucrative contract.

Ghor Tak Light CruiserBase Hull (Unlimited Deployment)

The Ghor Tak Light Cruiseris one of the most common shipsever to be fielded by the CourataImperium. The original Ghor TakLight Cruiser was armed with threeimperial lasers, two of them mountedin forward hardpoints. These heavyweapons allowed the Ghor Tak to bea serious threat to other warships ofthe day. Ghor Tak cruisers sawaction during the Ingalli War and inthe various border conflicts in the fiftyyears after.

The first major upgrade to theGhor Tak came after the Ingalli Warin 1836. With access to advancedVendrizzi laser weapons secured,the Courata Imperium was able to

refit their entire fleet of Ghor Tak LightCruisers, replacing the ship’simperial lasers with medium lasercannons. A second upgrade cameduring the Rekshu War when thenstandard particle beam upgradebecame available.

Although the Ghor Tak LightCruisers began their lives asmainline warships, by the 20th

Century they had been relegated tothe role of escort craft, and moreoften than not Ghor Taks foundthemselves escorting convoysrather than war fleets. As the age ofthe surviving Ghor Tak hulls becametelling, more and more of the hullswere stripped of equipment and soldas export hulls to neighboring worlds,including the Courata protectoratesand Kilhansu allies.

Yuket Light FighterBase Hull (Unlimited Deployment)

The Yuket Light Fighter wasthe primary Courata interceptor inservice during the Escalation Wars.These small, fast fighters wereadept at hunting down anddispatching enemy fighters. Couratapilots adored the Yuket for its abilityto out maneuver enemy fighters,even nimble enemy interceptors.

Courata designers wereforced to make several concessionsduring the development of the Yuket.In order to achieve maximumacceleration and maneuverabilitythe amount of armor on the fighterhad to be scaled back. This left theYuket more vulnerable to enemy fire,but the extra speed was seen as aworthwhile tradeoff. In any case, theCourata never intended the Yuket foranti-ship actions, and it is against theanti-fighter guns of enemy capitalships where heavier armor wouldhave the greatest effect.



Vendrizzi RepublicThe Vendrizzi are an

insectoid species not unlike the Ur-Quan in general form. As with theCourata, pigeonholing the Vendrizzias insectoids is not entirely fair.There are numerous notabledifferences, but it is the closestpossible analog that can bereferenced. In any case the Vendrizziare not even remotely humanoid inshape. They are also not verynimble, their sixteen arms/legspropelling the Vendrizzi very slowly.

The Vendrizzi Republic haslong been the most powerful nationin the downspin sectors. Onlyslightly younger than the Kholran, theVendrizzi were once connected tothe Kholran via the Stomglaas sectoruntil its loss during the Ingalli War.The Vendrizzi were co-partners withthe Courata in the formation of theKilhansu League at that time,creating a permanent defensivealliance to counter future threats likethat posed by the Ingalli.

Vendrizzi technology isextraordinary, equal to if not superiorto that of any of the younger races.The Vendrizzi hoard their technologyand only rarely grant access to eventheir closest allies. This naturaldistrust is less paranoia than simplewisdom. The less that Vendrizzicirculates the greater the chance theVendrizzi will not be forced to combattheir own weaponry.

Despite the name, theVendrizzi have not connectionwhatsoever to the Babylon 5 racenamed Vindrizzi. They were actuallynamed and created independently ofone another, given that I did not getto see the episode that featured theVindrizzi until several years after itfirst aired. The Vendrizzi are perhapsone of the oldest aliens I havedesigned. In fact, the VendrizziSkielray Light Fighter was the first

fighter I ever designed for Babylon 5Wars way back in the First Edition!

Shocavulo Strike CarrierBase Hull (Limited Availability 33%)

The Vendrizzi military hashad a long love affair with the carrier.The Ingalli and Rhekshu wars onlyacted to reinforce this affinity. TheShocavulo Strike Carrier was aunique design study authorized totest the viability of a strike carrierwithin the Vendrizzi militarystructure. The venerable ShavaeloCarrier, which had served theVendrizzi loyally for over onehundred years, was showing its ageand was no longer consideredcompetitive.

Like the Shavaelo, theShocavulo is built around acavernous fighter bay that runs thefull length of the ship. The Vendrizziprized the versatility offered by suchpass-through fighter bays as itallowed fighter to launch/land fromboth the fore and aft sections of theship. There were still somedisadvantages to this arrangement,however; deep strikes into the ship’shull would more often than not dodamage to the ship’s hangar,destroying vital craft, equipment, andpersonnel.

Where the Shocavulodiffered the most from precedingcarrier designs was theimplementation of a significantheavy weapon arsenal. Four forwardmounted heavy lasers provided theShocavulo Strike Carrier with thesame firepower of older heavycruisers.

Skielray Light FighterBase Hull (Unlimited Deployment)

The war against theRhekshu marked the debut of theSkielray Light Fighter. The Skielrayproved its worth in that conflict and

the decades that followed. This largelight fighter was well equipped.Perhaps the Skielray’s greatestadvantage was its advanced graviticdrive. One of the first fighters to beequipped with a gravitic drive, theSkielray’s engine is highly efficientand produces more thrust thanalmost any fighter built before orsince. Vendrizzi pilots were capableof making the most of this speed,keeping themselves out of harm’sway while ensuring the elimination oftheir opponents.

In addition to an exceptionalthrust system, the Skielray wasarmed with a triad of particle beamsarranged in rotary fashion. Eachweapon barrel would fire and thencycle to the next available barrelwhile the idle barrels cooled andrecharged. This rapid-firing particleweapon proved equally successfulagainst enemy fighters and ships,broadening the scope of operationsfor the fighter.

The Skielray Light Fighterremained in service for nearly 150years and saw service in numerousconflicts, the most important ofwhich were the Rhekshu War andthe Escalation Wars. Only the Novonhad fighters capable of combatingthe Skielray, and they could notproduce enough of them to be athreat.

Th’sook DominionThe Th’sook are a burly

reptilian race, very similar to theThennanin from David Brin’s UpliftWar universe or the Ssakra fromMaster of Orion (the first game, thegood one). The Th’sook have anarrow, triangular head that makesthem look a little strange.

Culturally, the Th’sookresemble “Vikings in Space.” TheTh’sook mythology has many ties to



Norse mythology, in particular thestrong warrior culture born from thebelief in a final battle in the afterlife.Of course by the modern era thesestories have become onlymythology, but it is a cultural historythat the Th’sook are proud of.

The Th’sook are a bityounger technologically than theCircasians, with the Th’sook laggingbehind in ship constructionmethodologies. The Circasiansadmired the Th’sook legends andstories and formed a strong bondwith them. This bond becameimportant during the War of theSeven Stars when the Th’sook joinedthe fight alongside the Circasians inthe war against the ak-TaiHegemony.

Shla’veen ArmoredCruiserBase Hull (Unlimited Deployment)

The Shla’veen ArmoredCruiser was one of the first largecapital ships built by the Th’sook.The technologies and advancementsfound in the Shla’veen weredeveloped entirely by Th’sookscientists and engineersindependent of any other foreignpower, a point of pride for the stillyoung Th’sook navy.

The Shla’veen exchangesraw firepower for increased durabilityand stamina, the reinforced armorbelts shielding the ship from theeffects of damage from enemy lightarms fire. The Shla’veen ArmoredCruiser also has the distinction ofbeing the first Th’sook vessel to beequipped with the Heavy RepeatingPlasma Cannon, a weapon that givesthe Shla’veen a marked advantageover their older cruiser designs.

Shla’veen Armored Cruiserssaw combat during the War of theSeven Stars, the Th’sook using themas fleet command ships to lead their

forces into battle. The Shla’veensproved to be formidable opponentsand earned the Th’sook a name forbeing brave fighters with remarkablyplucky warships that could dish outmore damage than normal for shipsof their size.

In battles before 1990, theShla’veen Armored Cruiser isconsidered to be a LimitedDeployment (33%) vessel. It wasnot until after the conclusion of theWar of the Seven Stars that theTh’sook were able to rev upconstruction of this class of cruiser.

The name shla’veen meansarmored “armored leader”,describing the ships intendedpurpose in combat as an armoredcommand cruiser.

Ukal CombineThe mysterious Ukal have yet

to be thoroughly mapped out, but thescope of their impact is clear. It wasthe Ukal that brought jump gatetechnology to most of the races inknown space. They were also theones to map most of the region,contacting the alien races that laterdominated the region.

The war with the Takaaransdrained the Ukal, causing a greatrecession of the Combine’s bordersaround 1750 CE. Most notably thisincluded the abandonment of theoutward sectors, including Khalir,Solassi, and Ghotekh. The departureof the Ukal security forces from theregion left these protectorates tofend for themselves.

Technologically, the Ukal arethe equals of the Minbari, if not slightlymore advanced. They havethoroughly mastered gravitics,applying this knowledge to createincredibly powerful weaponry. Thisincludes the development ofcontrolled quantum singularity

weapons: weapons which useminiature black holes to scoredamage against their enemies.

Few races in recent memoryhave ever attempted a confrontationwith the Ukal. The Circasian wereone of them. The Ukal Border Warsin the 1990’s saw the Circasiansattempts to invade and annex theYpssi homeworld fail. The Ukal heldno malice towards the invadingCircasians and simply batted backtheir fleets whenever they attemptedan assault. Eventually theCircasians got the hint and ended theconflict.

Relete Heavy CruiserBase Hull (Unlimited Deployment)

The Relete class of heavycruisers was the most commoncruisers operated by the UkalCombine during the period 1960 to2100. A large cruiser design, theRelete Heavy Cruiser was intendedto serve as a dedicated border patrolunit, protecting the Ukal from anypotential external threats.

Strong armor and thickstructure contributed to the ship’sdurability in combat. This durabilitywas supplemented by a “skin tight”advanced gravitic shielding system.Unlike the shields of the Novon thatfunctioned by projecting an artificialgravity well around the ship, Ukal’sgravitic shielding projected its graviticfield only millimeters from the ship’shull. This meant that enemy unitscould not fly beneath the shields andthe shield’s generation grid was farless prone to being shorted out dueto battle damage. Such advancedhad been deployed before theirappearance on the Relete, but theRelete was one of the first mass-production cruisers to fully exploit theadvantages of advanced graviticshielding.



When compared to potentialthreat sources of the period, theRelete Heavy Cruiser was more thana match for any of them. Not onlywas the ship more structurallysound but also sported some of themost amazing weaponry yetdeveloped by the younger races. Amix of fused-graviton beams, forcebeams, and singularity torpedoesensured the swift destruction of anyforce foolish enough to attempt acampaign against the Ukal or theirprotectorates.

Suoyloka DistortionFrigateBase Hull (Unlimited Deployment)

This nimble frigate was thefirst production model vessel to beequipped with gravitic distortion wavegenerators, commonly referred tosimply as distortion waves. The Ukalhad spent nearly 125 yearsattempting to develop a weaponcapable of creating a self-propagating spatial distortion byusing gravitic forces to warp thefabric of space/time. They finallyachieved success in the distortionwave. In simplest terms, thedistortion wave uses advancedgravitics to establish a volatilequantum wave harmonic that sendsconcentrated ripples throughsurrounding space. Some Ukalscientists liken the weapon’s effectsto creating a microscopic fissure inthe fabric of space, resulting in asubsequent “spacequake.”

The Ukal determined that asmaller hull would be most suitablefor deploying the new distortion waveas smaller, more maneuverablevessels would be better able toposition themselves in prime firingpositions. As such the SuoylokaDistortion Frigate was a smaller Ukalvessel, though still nearly cruisersized by alien standards. The

Suoyloka benefited from excellentmaneuverability, though this addedengine performance came at a lossof aft armor protection around theship’s engines.

The Suoyloka DistortionFrigate performed adequately in fieldtrials and the Combine authorizedfurther construction of the class.Soon, Suoylokas could be foundthroughout the Ukal Combine. Inparticular the Suoyloka frigatesbecame staples of the local Ukalpatrol forces maintaining defensiveperimeters around protectorateterritories. Illinia and Dokar eachwere assigned a full squadron of theships, as the Ukal felt that thedistortion wave generators wouldmake excellent defensive weaponsin case of an attack.

The name suoyloka(pronounced shwy-lo-ka) is derivedfrom the Ukal words suoy, meaningwave, and loka, meaning great fire.This name is especially fitting giventhe frigate’s modus operandi.

Gravitic Distortion WaveGenerator

Unlike many of the otherweapons found in this issue’sEscalation Wars material, thegravitic distortion wave generator, ordistortion wave, requires someexplanation. The weapon is mostsimilar to the Vree antimattershredder. Both weapons do notbenefit from EW of any kind, nor arethey affected by jinking. Also like theshredder, the distortion wave rolls tohits against every target between thefiring unit and the target. Unlike theshredder, the distortion wave can betargeted on a hex as well as anenemy unit.

The major differencebetween the two weapons is thedistortion wave’s ability to combineeffect with other in-arc distortion

waves mounted on the same vessel.Each additional distortion wave willincrease damage by 1d10 and themaximum range by 5 hexes. So theSuoyloka Distortion Frigate can, ona centerline, combine all fivedistortion waves, hitting units out to25 hexes and scoring 5d10 damageto every affected unit.

The distortion wave scoresdamage in flash mode with no splashdamage. This means that ships hitby a distortion wave will most likelylose several of their facing systems.Fighters on the other hand will morethan likely be destroyed or dropout ifthey are forced to take damage froma high-concentration distortion wave.

Sshel’ath AllianceThe Sshel’ath Alliance’s

power continued to grow after theChouka War. Sshel’ath exploratorymissions secured data on severalnearby star systems and the Alliancequickly snapped up the worlds andtheir resources. The Sshel’ath usedthe output of these fledgling coloniesto help fuel the refit andmodernization of their star fleet.Improvements in technologyincluded the development ofelectromagnetic lasers, weaponswhich scored collateral EM damageto afflicted systems. As with theirother technologies, the EM laserswere a response to the Sshel’ath’sprevious conflicts with the Novon.

The Sshel’ath launched aseries of military campaigns in the1980’s in an attempt to exert greaterinfluence in the region. The primarytarget were the Neliste, a race ofaquatic aliens on the Sshel’athfrontier. Sporadic fighting in the Tonasystem continued for four yearsbefore the Sshel’ath eventually gaveup hope of conquering the system’sstalwart defenders.



The Sshel’ath shipsdeveloped during this period were ofgreat utility during the EscalationWars. Although the Sshel’ath werebeaten back to Sshel’a by theCourata and Ragalthan forces,enough of their fleet survived to makea major contribution to the AnticianLiberation Fleet. After the liberationof Sshel’a until the end of the war,the Sshel’ath fought alongside theAnticians, Novon, and Nathta as theydrove the Courata out of theirconquered territories.

Vulshara Heavy CruiserBase Hull (Unlimited Deployment)

The Vulshara Heavy Cruiserreplaced the Vipindra Heavy Cruiseras the Sshel’ath’s main line cruiserhull in the 1980s. The Vulshara hadbeen in development for some timeand was hoped to be comparable tothe heavy cruisers that were fieldedby other, older neighboring powers.

Perhaps the greatestachievement made in the design ofthe Vulshara Heavy Cruiser was inthe integration of no less than eightlight laser cannons onto thespaceframe above and beyond itsother heavy arms. The inclusion ofthis many light lasers on a Sshel’athwarship would not have been quiteso noticeable if not for the fact that itwas nearly double that found on theolder Vipindra. In fact, the number oflasers mounted on the Vulshara ledto many foreign militaryintelligence personnel to classifythe Vulshara as a “pocketbattleship” instead of a heavycruiser.

The Vulshara Heavy Cruiserwas one of the first Sshel’athwarships to be equippedwith EM lasers. Theselasers had beendeveloped as a counterto Novon shielding

technology, the disruptive effects ofthe lasers intended to short outNovon shield and weapon systems,effectively disabling the Novon’sgreatest advantage. The weaponsproved their effectiveness and a laterrefit upgraded the Vulshara’s forwardlaser batteries to a more damagingvariety.

Svarton HeavyInterceptorBase Hull (Unlimited Deployment)

The Svarton HeavyInterceptor was the Sshel’ath’s firstattempt at creating a medium-sizedinterceptor fighter. The Skrehga LightFighter had proven an efficientdefense against enemy fighters, butthe Alliance knew that a modernizedfighter replacement was needed.

The Svarton is both largerand better armed than the Skrehga.Improvements in fighter constructionallowed the Svarton to outperformthe older Skrehga in nearly everyway. Better armors andcomposite materials gave itincreased durability, alarge engine

provided significantly more thrust,and it’s new fighter-mounted laserweapon was capable of piercingeven the heaviest starship armorbelts.

Despite the advantages ofthe Svarton, the Sshel’ath Alliancemembers were slow adopters of thenew fighter. The existing fleet hadbeen predominantly built around adedicated light fighter doctrine withmost of the fleet’s hangars unableto support the larger fighter design.Others simply could not believe thatthe Svarton could keep pace with aSkrehga in battle and that the olderfighter was still economicallysuperior to the costly Svarton.

The Escalation Wars forcedthe Sshel’ath to finalize the adoptionof the Svarton Heavy Interceptorsinto the fleet. The Svartons were theSshel’ath’s best counter to the likesof the Vendrizzi Skielray and CourataYuket fighters.

* * *



IntroductionDespite the attempted character assassination

that was Star Trek: Nemesis, the Romulans remain oneof the favorite adversaries in the Star Trek universe.Secretive and cunning, the Romulans are a worthyopponent for the likes of the United Federation of Planetsand the Klingon Empire.

In the Star Trek Conversion, however, theRomulans have been sorely underrepresented. Whencomparing the number of Romulan ships to those ofthe other two major powers the Romulans suffer from alack of selection, especially during the Movie era (2270-2295).

This issue we are going to take a stab (in theback!) at fleshing out the Romulan fleet a little bit moreand giving Romulan players more choices when creatingtheir fleets. Several players have submitted designs forthe Romulans, and there is a wealth of interestinglicensed or fan-created content available for theRomulans on the Internet.

D’Gallam War CruiserBase Hull (Unlimited Deployment)

The D’Gallam War Cruiser was an attempt bythe Romulan Star Empire to remain competitive in thelate 23rd Century military arena. A climate of hostility hadintensified during the period, pushing the three majorgovernments closer and closer towards the brink of war.

The D’Gallam built upon the proven technologyof the A’vara and Vas’Deletham cruisers. The shipboasted strong shields for a Romulan ship and copiousamounts of forward firing weaponry. Perhaps the biggestimprovement made in the D’Gallam was a significantlyreinforced impulse drive system. Although it did notperform to the standards of A’vara Heavy Cruiser, theD’Gallam’s impulse drives could take substantially moredamage before being disabled.

This class fell out of favor after the widespreaddeployment of Federation Excelsior Heavy Cruisersalong the Romulan/Federation border. The D’Gallam wastoo fragile to confront an Excelsior without significantthreat. The A’vara Heavy Cruiser proved more popularwith Romulan commanders and the D’Gallams wereeventually phased out of service.

Design by William Sage

Reman Snare Attack FrigateBase Hull (Unlimited Deployment)

The Reman uprising had a major impact on thefuture development of the Romulan Star Empire. Despite

Expanded Options forthe Federation’s MostEnigmatic Opponent

By Tyrel Lohr



the debacle of Shinzon’s short reign over the StarEmpire, the Remans had earned an unheard or voice inthe political establishment. The Reman leaders usedthis voice to win concessions for Remus and itsinhabitants. This included the formation of a strictlyReman fleet to help defend Remus from future threats—both foreign and domestic.

Although the Remans had managed to developthe Scimitar, a large battleship intended as a weapon ofterror, they did not have much experience with wide-scale ship production. Instead of investing in costlysuper-dreadnoughts such as the Scimitar, the Remansinstead developed a series of small frigates of the Snareclass to provide close-in defense of Remus.

The Snare Frigate is very similar in form to theancient Vas’Hatham. The Remans used this ship as astarting point for their own fleet as it was a relativelysimple design, and one that could be duplicated at littleexpense.

As with the Scimitar, the Remans demonstratedan uncanny (some would say impossible) penchant fordeveloping revolutionary new weapons technologies.The first was the light disruption bolt, a smaller versionof the disruption bolt. The Romulans dismissed the lightdisruption bolt as a failed prototype during thedevelopment of the disruption bolt, but the Remans sawthe weapon as an effective weapon due to its small sizeand lower power requirement. The second and perhapsmost impressive development was the suicide plasmatorpedo. The torpedo launcher fires a single, massiveplasma torpedo at the target, scoring a large amount offlash damage to the target. Unfortunately for theRemans, the launch of the torpedo’s plasma roundeffectively destroys the launcher. Finally, the ship wasalso equipped with primitive ablative armor systems. Itwas hoped that this armor would help to mitigate thedamage the Snare received when firing its suicideplasma torpedo at point-blank range.

Design by Tim Sylvester.

Laehval Experimental WarbirdBase Hull (Restricted Deployment 10%)

This cruiser was a stepping stone in the weapondevelopment program started in the early 2360’s by theRomulan government. This was the first ship of theRomulan fleet to carry the Heavy Disruption Bolttechnology and was designed only for this purpose. TheLaehval also uses the Romulan’s newest cloaktechnology as well as a new armor technology similarto ablative armor. Closer to a Klingon Vorcha in size,

the Shadow is a rare departure from traditional Romulandesigns that use visual size as a terror weapon.

Although never produced in great numbers, atthe time of its development, this ship was a heavilyguarded secret and very few knew of its existence. Onlyduring the final key engagements of the Dominion Wardid alliance and Dominion forces see this ship. Plans offuture production runs were scheduled but in the wakeof the successful testing of the new bolt technology theLaehval was cast aside to make room for a morepermanent design solution.

Design by Jon Letham and Tyrel Lohr. Convertedfrom the Star Trek: Armada computer game.

Takara Morlatta War CruiserBase Hull (Limited Availability 33%)

The Takara Morlatta War Cruisers wereproduced to provide the fleet with a suitable flagship orfleet command craft that would be capable of taking onthe best warships of both the Klingon and Federationgovernments. Very well armed, the Takara Morlatta WarCruiser also benefits from reinforced shielding,increasing its survivability in a fight. The Takara isstructurally weaker than a Vas’Deletham Heavy Cruiser,but the improved shielding makes up for this failing.

The Takara Morlattas served their intendedpurpose with distinction, acting as the central commandnexus for Romulan border fleets. Their survivability andraw firepower was demonstrably better than their aliencounterparts.

Design by Tyrel Lohr. Converted from the FASAStar Trek Starship Tactical Combat Simulator.

* * *



IntroductionFor me the Orieni have

always held a special place in myheart. Without a doubt they are myfavourite race and had a superbamount of background fluff as wellas some truly horrific vessels in theirfleet. But what happened to themafter the Orieni/Centauri War? Thisis what myself and Renaud Gagneset out to cover. Did the Orienicollapse totally destroy them? Wherethey destroyed by another hostilerace in the area? Or did they survive,recover and get very, VERY angry?

After the completion of theFree Human Union over a year agoRenaud suggested we work on theOrieni in a more modern time period.We both believed that the Orienisurvived the war, and given that theEA can recover its fleet within adecade the Orieni would be able torebuild their fleet and Empire in overtwo hundred years. Our initial planwas to have the Orieni roughly reachthe size of the Drazi in terms ofworlds held and military power, butplans change and the Empirecontinued to expand. As well asrebuilding the Orieni we had to givethem something or someone to fight.

We was going to have asurprise attack on the Centauri by amuch smaller Hand Of The Blessed

mainly out of revenge and hatred forthe Centauri. Whilst not a majorattack and not a massive threat tothe Centauri this would lead torepeated bush wars between the two.Instead we chose to concentrate onthe Orieni religion, and moreimportantly the significance of theVorlons to this religion. To the Orienithe Vorlons WERE their Gods andyou can only imagine what they musthave felt when the Vorlons left KnownSpace. Religious hatred has beenthe cause of dozens (maybehundreds of wars) and this factorwould cause the Orieni to declarewar against the most unlikely foe, theMinbari.

When it came to refitting theOrieni ships we opted to keep thetactical doctrine of the Orieni fleetmuch the same, with them relying onmassed small vessels and a fewlarge ships. Weapon ranges wouldnot change much keeping the Orienia close quarter brawling race andtheir modern weapons would alsoreflect the Orieni preference forfirepower over range or rate of fire.Whilst the Orieni are no matchtechnologically compaired to theMinbari we knew that the Orieni couldtake on the best Minbari ships oncethey got close enough. Renaud wasa SCS production line aftermanaging to produce the prototypeSCSs within a couple of weeks! Withhelp from Tyrel Lohr and Mr Punchhe quickly finalised the SCSs wellbefore I finished the fluff.

We now proudly present toyou the final instalment in the Great

Crusade in the form of Showdowns11 which covers the Orieni’s mainallies the Rogolons and their policeforce the Orieni Internal SecurityForce (OISF). The Rogolon shipsare radically different compared tothose they originally used whilst theOISF uses old Usuuth hulls and ismainly crewed by subject alienraces. As a taster the RogolonGarantha Dreadnought and OISFArtokus Police Cruiser feature in thismonth’s Great Machine. I hope youenjoy them and the finished productwhich will soon be available fromTyrel Lohr’s site: (planetside.firenebula.com) .

Starships

Garantha DreadnoughtLimited Availability 33%

The Garantha was thelargest ship class built by theRogolons. Armed with a fearsomearray of four dual plasma cannons,the Garantha has a massive short-ranged punch. For long-rangedfirepower, the Garantha relies on twoParticle Hammers and four Class-LMissile Racks. Six GRGs form thedefensive armament of this powerfulship. Given the amount of rawfirepower available on thisspaceframe, the Garantha was athreat to many IA ships. The heavilyreinforced hull of the Garantha meantthat it could take an impressiveamount of damage whilst it closedto bring its armament to bare. TheGarantha also featured berths for 18

The Great Crusade:The Great Crusade:The Great Crusade:The Great Crusade:The Great Crusade: Reflections on the Orieni Reflections on the Orieni Reflections on the Orieni Reflections on the Orieni Reflections on the Orieni

The Future of theResurrected Orieni

By Steve Cross



fighters as well as a pair of catapultsfor two super-heavy fighters.

Although a rare sight in battle,this class was the largest shipdeployed in the defence of Orien,where a total of three were fielded.All were destroyed in that battle andthe construction of this class wasbanned by the IA in the Second Treatyof Seleffe.

Artokus Police CruiserThe Artokus was the largest

ship in the OISF and a popularvessel in OISF service. A threat toany raider vessel and armed wellenough to take on IA light cruisers,the Artokus was a capable cruiser.The flexibility of this design wasenhanced by the addition of a jumpdrive and basing capacity for 24fighter. Both of these abilities confera massive advantage compared tothe capabilities of most raiders.

A popular variant of this hullreplaced the three Particle Ramswith three Burst Torpedoes. Althoughthis drastically reduces the ships rawfirepower it made it more flexible inanti-pirate operations.

Editor’s Note: At the time of publishing,Showdowns-11 is in the final stages ofbeing readied for release.

* * *

Hatoga-Class Patrol Corvette A newer vessel designed to replace the aging and limited

Nehann Based primarily on the Centauri Haven patrol ship, theHatoga is small, relatively mobile and inexpensive, while carryinga useful armament. Many believe that it is too fragile, and becauseit is not as agile as its Centauri inspiration, unable to effectiveavoid enemy fire. As a result, the Hatoga has seen limited servicein somewhat smaller numbers, primarily with smaller clans.

Editor’s Note: The Hatoga originally ran in The Great MachineIssue 2, but a ship control sheet for the ship was omitted. It isincluded with this month’s issue.

The NashaniThe NashaniThe NashaniThe NashaniThe Nashani



The InspirationThese ships were born

originally under the name of Ti-Kar,in my attempt to flesh out the B5universe, but upon seeing the firstvessel of my creation, a cruiser withthree symmetrical sections, myopponent Jason Stadnyk said ”looksa lot like a Ja’stat”. But my inspirationfor what I’ve now called the Sanchinwas not born under the premise ofJa’stats flying around would be cool,but rather came from a few othersources.

The Sanchin are quite simplya combination of Star Fleet Battlesand Robotech. They’re based onSFB because one day I wasbrowsing the backs of SFB coversand found drawings of some funnystarships based on the Canadianmapleleaf, the blurb said they had‘unusual movement’ properties. AndRobotech because the primary‘gimmick’ of this race is based upon

the endgame ‘three joining into one’found among the troops of theRobotech Masters in the last bookof the second generation. Fromthese two stimuli came theinspiration for the vessels, and morerecently I have refined and craftedthe Sanchin into both a history anda people.

History of theSanchin Servitude

The Sanchin people wereborn on the world of Ku-San, locatedin the region spinward of the MinbariFederation. A relatively insignificantworld in an unimportant part of space,it is rarely found even on jump-lanemaps. In the late 20th century theSanchin had a thriving society.Technology was improving by leapsand bounds and they were makingtheir first forays into their solarsystem. Then however, theCentauri-Orieni conflict came to ahead, and the entire region wasengulfed in war. Despite theinsignificant and anonymity of theirworld, the conflict spilled into theirsystem. Caught between thecrossfire of the two rival powers, thedamage inflicted upon their societywas swift and brutal. Unlike theRologons or the Usuuth, the Sanchincould offer little resistance to any

size of force. Their world had little ofvalue and became little more than acasualty. At one point their planetwas used as a firing range for massdriver cannons by both the Centauriand Orieni. These attacks combinedwith warships and other debris fallingplanet-ward, devastated their world,their infrastructure and their society.Eventually the war moved on anddiminished, and like so many otherinnocents, the Sanchin wereforgotten.

From the ashes of their worldthey began anew to rebuild theircities and their infrastructure. Whatpeople were left congregated into afew larger cities and they achievedtechnology equal to their pre-warlevel and beyond. Nearly twohundred years later, in the 2200s,they had an orbital facility and a smallfleet built using some of the know-how found on derelicts still floatingwithin their system. And thenshadow fell over Ku-San.

The Shadows, which hadbeen sleeping for nearly a thousandyears, were in the slow stages ofawakening. Though it would beseveral decades before they wouldbegin retrieving and rebuilding theirfleets, the agents of the Shadows,such as the Drakh, still served themduring their slumber. Several suchagents had secretly visited Ku-Sanbefore, and had since monitored

SanchinServitude

The Reawakeningof a Dark Servent

By Paul Brown



their progress. They admired howthe Sanchin had not fallen intoanarchy and despair despite thedamage to their world, but hadinstead had risen from its ashes andbecame stronger because of it. Butbecause of their neighbours andtheir relatively poor system, theSanchin would never have themeans by which to act upon thisresiliency and strength. After muchdeliberation and reporting to theirmasters, the agents revealedthemselves to the Sanchin with anoffer. They revealed their masters tothe Sanchin people, and the doctrinewhich they followed, and offeredthem the chance to move to a newworld, a better world, and to growstronger as a people. Many Sanchinsaw the logic of this argument, of theShadow’s doctrine, and after muchdebate many of the Sanchin tooktheir fleet from Ku-San, boarded thetransports which arrived on theirworld, and headed to Z’ha’dum. Themajority of the people left that day,

but not all of them. About thirtypercent of the population remainedbehind, either because theydisagreed with the offer, or they heldthe world of Ku-San too dear to theirhearts. To separate themselvesfrom their brothers, they calledthemselves the True Sanchin. TheSanchin of Z’ha’dum, for their parthave always planned to return to Ku-San and to help those who chose toremain.

Unknown to the Sanchinwas the true reason behind theShadow’s decision to embracethem. While their spirit wasadmirable, they would never havebeen accepted without the highfrequency of telepaths within theirsociety. The Sanchin, it is believed,had been another pet project of theVorlons to be used as a weaponagainst the Shadows in anysubsequent war. Since thedevastation of Ku-San, the Vorlonshad assumed their ‘crop’ of telepathsto be lost. Before they were able to

realise that they had not succumbedto anarchy, the Shadows would takethem for themselves.

In the years following, theShadows provided the Sanchin alarge underground city on Z’ha’dumand, above its surface, the meansto make starships. Little in the wayof technology was offered to theSanchin, giving them help in theirdevelopment would be against thedoctrine of the Shadows. Insteadthey had to fend for themselves anddevelop their own technologies.Posing as merchants or raiders,they began to barter or stealtechnologies from other powerssuch as the Deneth and the Leagueof Non-Aligned Worlds. Throughconflict and trade they quicklyrealised their shortcomings andbegan to develop technologies tocounter-act them.

To compensate for their lowlevel of sensors and otherequipment, they studied what theycould of pilot-ship interaction within



a Shadow vessel, and with theirstrengths as telepaths, tried to adaptit to their own uses. To a degree theysucceeded, with what is nowreferred to as Symbiotic Sensors.

When races such as theMinbari, Yolu and Brakiri were provento have advanced gravitic drives, theServitude knew that such technologywas well beyond their grasp. Insteadthey tried to compensate for thisweakness through unique shipdesigns and advanced and complexthruster arrays, again through somepartial study of the Shadow vesselbiodrives. In these endeavours theShadows offered some assistance,but only enough to prevent thisresearch from stalling completely.

Much of the Sanchinweaponry has been either bought orstolen, primarily from the Deneth.Old technologies such as Dilgarweaponry, and more commonequipment like Particle Cannons,now abound in their fleets. Thoughthe years up until the great ShadowWar, they developed a decentlysized fleet, and based it at Z’ha’dum.With the Shadow War, the Shadowsoffered them greater help in theireffort to use them as a tool againstthe other races. This help cameprimarily in the equipping of severaldesigns with advanced shadowtechnologies.

The Shadow War wouldprove to be the second greatobstacle to the Sanchin Servitude.Initially they began their servicethrough attacks on other worlds inorder to try to promote conflict andwar. As both the Shadows andVorlons entered the war, the Sanchinwere dealt another blow. Havingsince discovered the influence of theShadows on Ku-San and with theawareness of their new role asShadow servants, the Vorlons chosethe Sanchin homeworld as one withwhich to test their re-launched Planet

Killers. Ku-San was destroyedutterly, along with any True Sanchinwhich were living there. Theirbrethren on Z’ha’dum quicklydiscovered this as they had initiatedsome limited trade with the TrueSanchin in the last few years beforethe planet’s destruction. They wereincensed by this action, but to theirmerit did not fall into a mindless rage.

Only a short time later, theSanchin Servitude was forced,along with the Drakh and the othershadow servants, to flee Z’ha’dumas it began to self-destruct all aroundthem. Forced into the unknown, theynow seek a world of their own inwhich to start again.

The Sanchin have begunsporadic attacks against thoseisolated powers which are not amember of larger alliances. Whiletheir ultimate motive is to find a newhome, unlike the Drakh they do notattack out of spite, malice orrevenge. Since their initialindoctrination the Sanchin haveserved the Shadows not out of needor lust for power, but because they

truly believe in the doctrine of theShadows. They attack others not tokill, but to better themselves,because they believe they will bemade stronger because of it.Whatever their motives, their chanceto be stronger still or succumb todefeat will be tested soon as powerssuch as the Interstellar Alliance beginto take notice of their activities andseek to quell them.

SanchinTechnologies

Omni-ThrustersThese are essentially the

same as those thrusters found onTyrel’s Thraddash Torch in an earlierissue (GM Issue 2). Each thrusterpoints in two directions, and maythrust in either of those directions,with one exception. Should a thrusterbe pointed such that it faces nodirection but rather two diagonals ofeither aft or forward, it may be usedas only a main or retro thruster.

A

B CPort / AftThrust

Stbd / AftThrust

Retro Thrust

A

B

C

Port / RetroThrust

Stbd / RetroThrust

Main Thrust

No Pivot

60’ Pivotto Port

A B

C

Port / AftThrust

Stbd / AftThrust

Retro Thrust

120’ Pivotto Port

LEGEND

Direction of Movement

Omni-Thruster



Hull ConfigurationThe unique design of

Sanchin vessels means they havenear-gravitic capabilities with normaldrive systems. To initiate a pivot orroll, the only restriction is that the shipmust use two separate thrusters ontwo separate sections. When thecraft is pivoted, it is not as though itsfacing a direction other than itsmovement vector, but rather thandifferent parts of the ship have takenon different roles. In the diagramsbelow, it shows a ship in differentpositions and the differing roles ofthose thrusters.

Symbiotic SensorsSymbiotic Sensors are

essentially the merging of man andmachine. A relatively primitivereplication of Shadow biotechnology,the system links one being (alwaysa telepath) into the ship to improveits combat capabilities. UnlikeShadow vessels, the beingconnected to the machine does notserve as the core of the ship butrather supplements its capabilities.Each ship still has a crew whichmanoeuvres the vessel and fires theweaponry. In combat, according tothe capabilities of the ship’s

computer, the telepath may form astrong telepathic bond with one ormore telepaths and their ships.While bound to the ship and the othertelepaths, the ships act in relativeconcert with one another. Targetingcapabilities are increased, as forexample in a group of three ships,each firing ship now has data fromthree different angles, which allowsthe ships to better triangulate theposition. While possible in any othervessel, the telepathic link means thatany such collaboration happens inreal time. With their minds workingin concert, the telepathy reachesbeyond the normal boundaries ofspace; there is no delay for data tobe transferred to other vessels. Onthe whole the ship gains bonuses inawareness, offence, defence andother capabilities.

What is problematic is thatwhen this telepathic link is broken,either because a telepath has beenkilled or that ship has been destroyed(subsequently killing the telepath),the other telepaths suffer animmense emotional strain. Atelepath would describe the feelingas though a part of themselves hadbeen cut off or ripped out. The unionbecomes weaker, as both mindsbecome fatigued or even physicallydamaged. This means that while thesystem provides great capabilities incombat, once members of the group

begin to falter and be destroyed therest of the group suffers

greater because of it. A solesurvivor of a telepathic

union is often easypickings for an

opponent. Assuch it isadvisable thatany such ship‘cut its losses’and retreatbefore theytoo become

destroyed. In any powerallocation segment, a player maydeclare that two or more ships havejoined using symbiotic sensors. Aship may join in a group accordingto its level of ability, typically two orthree. From that point on the shipsare considered to be joined and gainthe following benefits:

• Each member of the groupmust stay within 6 hexes of anyother member of the group. Whiledoing so, the ships maymanoeuvre as individuals. Shouldone or more ships become ‘out ofunion’ by ending up outside of 6hexes maximum, that ship will onthe next turn suffer the effects oflosing one ship for that turn and anysubsequent turn until it becomes‘in union’ with the other ships. Ifthere is some dispute as to whatships are in-fact out of union,designate one ship as a core ship,any ship outside of 6 hexes fromthat ship is not in the group for thatturn. When a ship is out of union,all benefits the other members ofthe groups gain from its presenceno longer apply though they do notsuffer sensor and initiativepenalties.

• If for any reason a ship doesnot have Line of Sight to the ‘core’vessel for that turn, the ship is alsoconsidered ‘out of union’. Line ofSight can be inhibited by asteroids,enormous units and other largebodies of mass. Just as telepathsattacking Shadow vessels mustmaintain line of sight, so mustships in union.

• Each turn, each group hasonly one sensor allocation. Thegroup is considered to have asensor value equal to the highestvalue plus one for each duplicatevalue. When a ship fires or is firedupon, they will all use EWaccording to this one setting.



• When any one ship fires, therange from the firing ship to thetarget is considered to be theshortest distance to any memberof the group (assuming it is withinthe specified 8 hexes). This will notincrease the launch range of self-guided munitions such asmissiles, or the maximum rangeof weapons like Ion Torpedos andE-Mines.

• Any ship in any one group canintercept with any weapon for anyother ship in the same groupfollowing the same rules as thoseassociated with the CentauriGuardian Array.

• The group rolls one initiativeroll for all ships in the same wayas the Dilgar Pentacan. When thegroup is first joined, each shipgains an initiative bonus equal tothe total number of ships within itsgroup. Should the initiative valuesbe different due to classdifferences, or loss of groupmembers, the average initiativebonus/penalty will apply.

• Each time a ship’s C&C isdamaged, roll d20 apart from thestandard critical roll. If the result is18 or greater the linked telepath iskilled and the ship drops out ofunion immediately.

For Each time that a shipwithin a union is lost, the remainingships suffer the following penaltiesindividually. Should a ship drop outof a union, such as due to critical

damage to the C n’ C, the ship sufferspenalties as though all othermembers of the group had beendestroyed or dropped out.

1. Roll 1d3 and subtract the resultfrom sensors

2. Roll 1d6 and subtract the resultfrom ship’s initiative

During any end phase, a shipmay announce its intention to detachitself from the union. The ship mustthen deactivate its sensors for twoconsecutive turns while the telepathis removed from the sensorequipment and secondary systemscome online. After the two turns, theship may operate as normal,nullifying any of the above penaltieswhich may have been suffered. Theship may not join a second unionduring the remainder of the battle.While the ship may have back-uptelepaths, the time in which it wouldtake to connect them properly to theequipment makes the procedurenonviable.

Integrated Example:Three Cruisers with an

Initiative Bonus of +0 and Sensorsof 8 join using symbiotic sensors.Once joined, each Cruiser gains aninitiative bonus of +3 and the totalsensor value for the group isconsidered to be 10 (8+1+1). Duringa turn, the player decides to allocate4 OEW to Target A, 1 CCEW and 5DEW. Once in combat, Target A is

14 hexes from one ship, 16 fromanother and 20 from the third. Butbecause the ships are in union, eachship that fires will apply only a rangepenalty equivalent to 14 hexes.Likewise, a fighter flight is 2 hexesto one ship, 8 to another and 5 toanother. But all ships will fire asthough the flight was 2 hexes away.

On turn 3, Ship C, due tomanoeuvring problems becomesout of union. On turn 4, the playerrolls a 1d3 and subtracts the resultof 2 from sensors, for 6 which willapply for that ship only. He then rolls1d6 and gets a result of 4, which hesubtracts from initiative with an endresult of –1. On turn 5, the ship isstill out of union, and so he rerollsthe sensor and initiative penaltieswhich are not cumulative withprevious results and apply for thatturn only. The other two shipsmeanwhile, have a combined sensorrating of 9 and initiative bonus of +3.

Later on, ship C joins theunion once again but is subsequentlydestroyed. Ship A rolls for thepenalties, reducing sensors to 7 andinitiative to +1. Ship B rolls a 3 forsensors, resulting in a 5 and a 3 forinit result in +0. These effects arepermanent until the ships deformfrom the union. Their combinedsensor value is now 7, unless ShipB boosts its sensors to 7 (in whichcase it will be 8). Their initiative isnow +1, the average of the twobonuses rounded up. Later on, ShipA is destroyed and Ship C rolls again



for penalties. Once again forsensors, he rolls a 3 and for initiativerolls a 6. Ship C now has a sensorvalue of 2 and initiative penalty of –6. The ship is at a severedisadvantage, and would be best toeither flee or to deform from theunion which will require the sensorsto be taken offline for two turns.

Starships

Kona Heavy CruiserThe Kona is the main fleet

warship of the Servitude navy.Equipped with powerful Bolters andParticle Cannons, each Kona cancause significant damage to anyopponent. Each Kona is able to joinwith two other ships to increase theircapabilities. The main failing of theKona is the relative lack of anti-fighter weaponry and a jumpengine, which makes it lesseffective outside of a fleet settingwhere it would have escorts andscreening vessels.

Kihon DestroyerThe Kihon Destroyer is the

workhorse of the fleet. Equippedwith an array of particle weaponry,relatively good manoeuvrability andthe ability to join with two othervessels, the Kihon is well suited toboth fleet and individual-groupoperations. Individually however, theKihon suffers from low sensors anddefensive gaps which are traitscommon to most Sanchin vessels.

Uke Escort FrigateThe primary escort vessel of

the Sanchin Servitude, the Uke isequipped with no less than sixparticle beams to engage fightersand lightly armoured targets. Able tojoin with one other ship, one oftensees Ukes acting in concert by

providing a wide field of close-combat protection in front of largerSanchin vessels. They aresometimes seen acting solely withcommand ships in a defensiveposture, by intercepting any firewhich may be directed towards it.

Shuto Uke SupportFrigate (Uncommon Variant)

The Shuto Uke is a fleetsupport vessel designed to operateon its own on the battlefield. Notequipped with symbiotic sensors,the ship replaces its array ofparticle weapons with self-guidedmissile racks. Acting alone on thebattlefield, it can gain some degreeof anonymity to the enemy while itdelivers round after round ofmissiles. Because of the logisticaldemands and modifications madeto the vessel, the Shuto Uke has avery short operating range makingin unsuitable for actions outside ofa fleet or in-system defencenetwork.

* * *



A Superior Species:

The Lumati

IntroductionThe Lumati are largely an

enigma. They appeared in oneepisode of Babylon 5, and mentionedin another, but were never seen orheard from again. The Lumati wereone of the only forays I ever madeinto designing ships for the races ofthe Babylon 5 universe. I don’t likeplaying in other people’s sand boxes,as I know that whatever I create isnever going to be anything more thana single perspective that will meanabsolutely nothing to most people. In2000 however, I was going throughmy “let’s try to get something donefor B5W” phase and found myselfdrawing up notes for several races

with an eye towards submitting themto Agents of Gaming.

Was it a waste of time to do?Absolutely. After working up someinfo for the Ti Kar and submitting itonly to be received with generalapathy, I decided to forget about thewhole idea.. My Lumati notes, alongwith those for the Ti Kar, wererelegated to the dusty drawers of myhard drive and left to decay. I didn’tcare enough to pursue themotherwise, and I had other universesthat were of far more interest to methan alien-of-the-week races fromBabylon 5.

Some of the discussions onthe b5wars.net forums eventuallymade me decide to go back and takea look at the Lumati ships andtechnologies I had designed nearlyfour years ago. I found that theywould require substantialmodification, as many of the weaponstatistics were not appropriate for arace of the Lumati’s stature.

The Old NotesMost of my notes for the

Lumati revolved solely around theirships and technologies. I hadn’t

considered much about theirgovernment before I dropped theproject, and I was less worried aboutfleshing the Lumati out given theiractual appearance on the show,which went a long ways towardsdemonstrating their culture andbiology.

As was the habit of the day,the Lumati were designed around aspecific “gimmick”, something thatwould set them apart from the otherBabylon 5 races. I stared long andhard at the Lumati diplomatictransport and tried to find somethingthat stood out to me. Those glowingpylons, those were what I would useto set them apart! They became fluxcannons, weapons that could eitherbe mounted individually in dualarrays for better effect. In my mind’seye I saw these pylons firing off smallenergy charges, electrical surges ofenergy running the full length of thepylons before hitting the glowing ballsand accelerating off towards thetarget. This was the effect I wasgoing to set the Lumati apart.

The flux cannons wereoriginally meant to be incredibly weakraking weapons that only becamestronger when combining fire within

The Lost Recordsof the Lumati

By Tyrel Lohr



an arrayed setup. How this wouldhave worked I’m not sure, and ifmemory serves the reason forhaving the flux cannons score smallamounts of raking mode damagewas to make them most effectiveagainst enemy fighters in theiruncombined firing mode.

Of course, anyone that looksat the Lumati diplomatic transportknows that the ship was positivelybristling with flux cannons. Fromwhat I can find in my notes I reallydidn’t have a contingency for dealingwith that problem. In fact, the shipsnever did see ship control sheet formuntil I decided to write this article.

One thing that I did realizeupon looking back at the old notes isthat I was taking for granted that I hadwritten down everything that Iremembered wanting to give theLumati. The torpedo destroyer inparticular has always been a stapleof the Lumati fleet, or so I thought.Reviewing the old notes, there wasno mention of a torpedo destroyer.In fact, there wasn’t any mention ofanything other than the diplomatictransport and its base destroyer hull!

The Lumati presented hereare an extrapolation of those oldnotes, reviewed and reconstructedto make them playable within thecurrent Babylon 5 Wars gamesystem. I hope that you enjoy them,or at least can crack a wry smile andask “Now why did Tyrel have to gooff and design such silly ships?”

The LumatiThe Lumati are an isolationist

power of some import locatedcoreward of the Centauri Republic.Long independent, it is surprisingthat theywere also not subsumed bythe Republic during the Lion’s yearsof power. It can only be assumedthat the Lumati held a strong enoughtechnological and military edge, so

as to dissuade Centauri militaryadvances.

Culturally, the Lumati are anextremely stratified society whereupward mobility between its twosocial classes is impossible. TheLumati social mandate is to weedout the weak or poorly regardedmembers of its society and allowthose individuals with preferred traitsto flourish. In practice this has led toa divergence of their species. TheHigher Lumati are the thinkers andleaders of their people while theLower Lumati serve as the rawmanpower to accomplish their goals.Members of both the Higher andLower Lumati are telepathic,meaning that the gene for telepathyis likely not tied to the otherundesirable genetic qualitiescommon of the Lower Lumati.

In foreign affairs, the Lumatihave chosen to isolate themselvesfrom those races that they consider“inferior.” Inferiority of the candidaterace is largely a decision based onthe base economic and military valueof the race as well as their sense ofsocial order. Those that the Lumatido not feel are worthy of theirassociation are shunned, and theLumati have nothing to do with themthereafter.

Of course, many of the racesthat the Lumati agree to openrelations with quickly refuse whenthey learn that sexual intercoursebetween the two race’srepresentatives is required to sealthe pact. Some aliens have managedto think of clever ways to outwitLumati dignitaries in this regard,while other have just had to endurethe experience and the years ofintensive counseling that inevitablyfollow.

TechnologiesThe Lumati are highly

advanced, operating systems moreadvanced than those of the Centauriin many instances. For example,Lumati ships have long enjoyed thebenefits of gravitic drive systems.The Lumati have also explored thefields of molecular andelectromagnetic weapon systemsmore fully than other neighboringpowers.

Although the Lumati have anenviable technological advantage,they still have not mastered thetechnologies fully. Lumati graviticdrives in particular are far cruder thanthose operated by the Hyach, Yolu,or Minbari. The engine which powerstheir gravitic drive systems is lessresilient to damage and can beeasily destroyed by an unfortunatedetonation.

Flux CannonsThe Lumati use flux cannons

as their primary weapon type. Fluxcannons are molecular weaponsand are typically mounted externallyto the hull with only the actual powerplant and fire control computershoused within the ship’s hull. Thewhitish-pink lightning-like bursts firedby each of the long, slender fluxcannon projections light up thebattlefield, even if they don’t do muchdamage. Flux cannons areextraordinarily fast firing, making upfor their low damage.

Light Flux CannonThe lightest flux cannon, this

weapon is used primarily for anti-fighter operations. Seldom seen onmodern craft, the light flux cannonis not extremely effective atdamaging the target.



Flux CannonThe flux cannon is the most

common flux weapon used by theLumati. Its good damage and range,coupled with a fast rate of fire,makes it a deadly weapon. The fluxcannon may not be able to cutdeeply into the enemy’s hull, but therepetition of successful blasts hittingthe hull can slowly wear down anopponent, forcing them to retreat.

Heavy Flux CannonThe heavy flux cannon is the

deadliest flux cannon in the Lumatiarsenal. A comparatively recentdevelopment, the heavy flux cannonis only mounted on larger Lumatistarships due to the size of theweapon mount. They are howeverextremely effective ship killers,especially when mounted in dualweapon mounts.

Dual Flux CannonsEach of the flux cannons

types (light, standard, and heavy) aresometimes mounted into dualweapon arrays. The advantage ofthese dual flux cannons is that shotsfrom the two weapons in the arraycan be combined to deliver a single,more damaging volley. In each case,refer to the weapon data box on theship control sheet for details. Of thedual flux cannon weapons, the heavyflux cannon is special in

that a one turn cooldown is requiredafter firing in combined mode.

Shock TorpedoThe shock torpedo is a

specialized electromagnetic torpedoused exclusively by the Lumati. Theshock torpedo is optimized forgenerating the maximum amount ofradiation and interference possibleupon detonation. The blast zone ofthe shock torpedo is also muchmore concentrated, directing thetorpedo’s damage deep into theheart of the enemy vessel. Thispiercing effect allows the shocktorpedo to damage vital primarysystems, weakening or possiblyeven disabling the target.

Although the shock torpedodoes very little actual damage to thetarget, it is capable of at leastshorting out electrical systems. Allsystems damaged by a shocktorpedo gain a +5 to their criticalrolls.

Burst BeamThis weapon is identical in

function to the Narn weapon of thesame name. The Lumati have usedburst beams for centuries on their

patrol ships. The use of non-lethalweaponry to disable and not destroyinvading ships has allowed theLumati to study new aliens and theircraft, gaining valuable intelligencedata during their periods ofheightened isolationism.

Ships & Fighters

Courzanalem DestroyerThe Courzanalem Destroyer

is an older destroyer unit that has along history of service within theLumati star fleet. The small ship isliterally bristling with flux cannonswith weapons in every possible arc.

Loregamalon DiplomaticCourier

This variant of theCourzanalem Destroyer is a popularconversion used as a diplomatictransport by the Lumati. The shipexchanges firepower for expandedluxury quarters befitting its VIPs anddiplomats. The ship’s aft batteriesremain intact, making theLoregamalon optimized for fightingretreats.

Despite its large size theLoregamalon is still capable ofdocking in the hangars of most largebases, including Babylon 5. Onesuch craft visited the station in 2259

during a brief break in the Lumati’straditional isolationist

tendencies.

GorremzeonTorpedo

DestroyerThis potent destroyer has

long been a favorite of the HighLumati leadership. The Gorremzeonis a mid-sized destroyer optimizedfor fleet support operations. Thedestroyer’s primary weapon system



is its pair of shock torpedoes. Theseballistic cousins of the shock cannonare used to weaken enemy ships bydisabling or otherwise impairing keyship systems. This then makes iteasier for other Lumati ships to takeout the target.

Loremkezon HeavyCruiser

The Loremkezon HeavyCruiser is the typical Lumati heavycruiser operated along the bordersof Lumati space. The LoremkezonHeavy Cruiser is a heavily armedcapital ship capable of laying downa hail of concentrated flux cannonfire. The fast firing rate of fluxcannons means that theLoremkezon can maintain a steadytorrent of fire against the target.Individual shots may not do muchdamage, but eventually the enemyhull will break under the punishment.

Tomgu Scout Cruiserby Tyrel Lohr

The Barada had little reason to explore outwardfrom their star system. It was not until after the end oftheir disastrous war with the Nep’tal’e that the Baradadecided to commission a scout for their forces. TheBarada selected the versatile Gomtu hull as the basisfor their future scout, stripping the ship’s hangars andforward weapon batteries to make room for theprerequisite electronics equipment.

The resultant scout cruiser, designated Tomguclass by the Imperium, was intended for short-rangeexploratory missions outward from Barada. The TomguScout Cruisers and their consorts were to map theregion and establish contact with foreign powers inhopes of finding allies sympathetic to the Barada.

In combat, the Tomgu Scout Cruiser acts asan escort for larger cruisers and carriers. The Tomgu’sguns lay down a concentrated anti-fighter screen whileit uses its two sensors arrays to provide ELINT supportto the rest of the fleet.

The Loremkezon was one ofthe first starships to be equipped withthe new twin heavy flux cannon. Thisflux cannon can fire a devastatingcombined volley capable of cuttingdeep into an enemy’s hull. Thedisadvantage is that the weaponmust cool down for one turn afterfiring, leaving the Loremkezon withfewer flux cannons to fire at theenemy.

Designer’s Note: The CGI forthe Loremkezon I came upon whensearching for Lumati art on theInternet. The render is by GlenCrouch and is supposed to be of thesame ship as the diplomatictransport. Given a few differences Inoted between this image and thereal transport I decided to make itinto the Lumati’s heavy cruiserdesign.

Gar Medium FighterThe Lumati’s interceptor

fighter is a lackluster fighterdesigned to protect Lumati capitalships from enemy fighter assaults.Though the Gar’s two light fluxbeams do very little damageindividually, they can be combined toscore far greater damage, butcannot fire on the following turn.

As the Higher Lumati do notsee themselves as expendable, allLumati fighters are piloted by LowerLumati. The Lower Lumati performthe jobs as best they can, but theyhave less personally invested in thebattle and are well-known forreturning to their carriersprematurely, dropping out of combatunnecessarily in many cases. Thisis represented by a +2 DropoutPenalty.

* * *

When compared to the scouts of otherpowers the Tomgu is below average, but it has longmet the needs of the Barada Imperium.

Errata: The Barada Barogh Meduim Fighter SCSincorrectly listed it as a light fighter. A corrected SCSis included with this issue.

* * *

The Barada ImperiumThe Barada ImperiumThe Barada ImperiumThe Barada ImperiumThe Barada Imperium



IntroductionIn a testament to the

versatility of the B5Wars rulessystem, it has found yet another useby serving as a starship combatgame in Mark Dwinnel’s RolePlaying Group. Playing an RPGcalled Alternity, Mark (aka Ramius),has converted several ships for usein his gaming sessions. Most of thenew ships he has created are notcompletely new designs, but rathermodifications to existing ship controlsheets to better reflect some of thestarship designs of Alternity. Marksays that in comparison to Babylon5, the Alternity universe “isn’t muchdifferent”, as both sport similartechnologies and naval designs,though with varying degrees of useand deployment. Gravitic drives arecommon in the Alternity setting and,while jump engines do exist, theirjump delays are measured in daysrather than hours.

In Alternity, most campaignsare based off of Corvette classwarships. Sporting a crew under ten,these ships are ideal for the average

role-playing group. Mark’s campaigncurrently has their group based off amodified Artemis Frigate. For thisarticle however, Mark has offered toshow us one of his capital shipconversions. In Alternity capital shipsare far less prevalent, but no lessdeadly. The CSS Vition, whichfollows, is testament to that.

Academy ClassDreadnought,Concord Star Navy

One of the heaviest warshipsin service with the Concord StarNavy, the Academy Class serves asa major deterrent to any would-beinvaders of Concord systems. TheAcademy Class was designed to beeffective against a variety ofopponents. Though relativelysluggish, the ship’s weapons aremounted with wide arcs of fire to dealwith more nimble craft. Mainarmament consists of five HeavyFusion Beams which are mountedfore and aft. Each of these weaponsdeals a tremendous amount ofdamage and usually only a few hitsare required to destroy or cripplemost, smaller opponents. Thecannons, however, require a fairlylong re-arming time which is oftenexploited by the craft’s opponents.For this reason, the captain of an

Academy Class will usuallystagger their fire so as to have atleast one cannon available at any onetime.

Secondary armament isnumerous and no less effective.Eight pulse turrets are mountedalong the length of the ship. Thoughdealing less damage, theseweapons are flexible enough to beused against both ships and smallerfighter craft. In addition to theseguns, the Academy fields nearly twodozens rapid-firing guns which areable to decimate enemy fightersquadrons and pose a serious threatto warships which stray too close.Finally the Academy is equipped withseveral defensive Interceptors whichboth shoot down incoming rounds,as well as provide a gravitic shieldaround the vessel which can aid inredirecting rounds away from the hull.

One example of the AcademyClass Dreadnought is the CSSVition. Deployed in the Verge on theedge of known space, the Vition isused as a rapid response warshipagainst incursions by external threatssuch as the Klicks, primarily in theHammer’s Star system. In thiscapacity, the Vition is used withseveral other heavy warships suchas the CSS Tender Dawn, CSSInamorata and the CSS Revealer.

Babylon 5 Warsin the Alternity

RPG SettingBy Mark Dwinnels

Alternity:Alternity:Alternity:Alternity:Alternity: The Vition The Vition The Vition The Vition The VitionAlternity:Alternity:Alternity:Alternity:Alternity: The Vition The Vition The Vition The Vition The Vition



Other Technologies

Plasma/Pulse WeaponsPlasma/pulse weaponry is

the most common weapon type inAlternity and are favored by moststarship captains. Advanced controltechnologies have allowed someplasma/pulse cannons to be outfittedwith range modules, making them aslong-ranged as railguns in Babylon5.

The combination of damage,economy, and better range of theplasma/pulse weapons havecontributed towards making themthe mainstay of military defensebatteries.

Particle WeaponsIn Alternity, particle weapons

are inordinately expensive, limitingtheir deployment. However, they alsodo more damage than other weapontypes. Absolutely lethal in the largercalibers, one of the larger particleweapons—the Heavy FusionBeam—scores only slightly lessdamage than a Drazi Heavy ParticleBeam.

Laser WeaponsThough long ranged, laser

weapons are rarely used. The HeavyLaser in Alternity doesn’t have anybetter price tag than an equivalentparticle weapon, so mostgovernments opt out of laserweapons altogether. Laser tech iseasy to produce, and somegovernments continue to use Lightand Medium Laser weapons ontheir smaller warships.

Matter WeaponsAlmost as scarce on

larger vessels as lasers,matter weapons areuncommon, especially in

low-tech backwaters of the galaxy.The advantage of the matter weaponis not so much in the kinetic roundfired by the weapons, but in thedefenses of their opponent. Vesselsbelonging to the External powersoften have added protection againstenergy weapons at the expense ofbeing vulnerable to matter weapons.

Deflection InducersBy projecting a gravitic ‘slope’

around an area of the ship, it ispossible to redirect incoming fire.This has been represented on theBabylon 5 Wars ships as beinganalogous to Interceptor Mk-II’s, buthigh end inducers provide even moreprotection than the Mk-II offers, albeitat increased power costs.

ArmorArmor in Alternity is mostly

the same as that found in theBabylon 5 universe. Some customships do use alternative armor types.One of these is anti-energy armorwhich counts twice against energyweapon attacks.

* * *

Why are youstill here, silly

Hu-nam?

Is Zathras stilllooking for

me?



IntroductionBabylon 4. It showed up twice

in the series and had a major impacton the Babylon 5 story line. Despiteof this, Agents of Gaming neveropted to include Babylon 4 in thegame. This isn’t entirely surprising,though, since it was not until SecondEdition that the titular space stationwas actually included in the game!Like many ships and races in theBabylon 5 series, Babylon 4 wasconspicuously absent.

Now, was the absence ofBabylon 4 a major hindrance to thegame? Of course not! Most playerscan attest that bases are used onlyvery rarely in Babylon 5 Warsgames, especially outside of

campaign-related battles. But

Babylon 4 is a different case. Thereare limitless possibilities for playing“alternate history” scenarios withBabylon 4 in Babylon 5’s place.Imagine the consequences of havingthe larger Babylon 4 battle stationfighting Clark’s loyalist forces in“Severed Dreams”. Or perhaps thestand against Varn’s People in “AVoice in the Wilderness”. Thepossibilities abound for playinginteresting one-off scenarios usingBabylon 4.

A Fortress of LightWhat do we know about

Babylon 4? Babylon 4 was thelargest of the Babylon stations to bebuilt. The station’s builders used theremnants of the three previouslydestroyed Babylon stations to helpbuild Babylon 4, defraying the costof construction and allowing such alarge space station to be built. TheEarth Alliance spared no expense inbuilding the fourth Babylon station

and it was the first station tosurvive to completion.

Unlike Babylon 5, Babylon 4was built at a different location in theEpsilon Eridani system, later calledSector 14. This is lucky for Babylon5, as the appearance of a temporalrift so close to the station would havebeen unfortunate to say the least.Also unlike Babylon 5, Babylon 4was built with a functional thrusterassemblage, allowing the base toslowly move itself from place to placeas required.

Shortly after Babylon 4became operational it became thetarget of an attempted Shadowattack on the base. Havingrecognized the significance of thestation, the Shadows dispatchedseveral fighters with a fusion bombto destroy the station. It is interestingto note that this discovery later in theseries casts some doubt on whetheror not the earlier Babylon stationswere destroyed by terrorist interestsas claimed or if the Shadows hada hand in their destruction. The

Babylon 4:Babylon 4:Babylon 4:Babylon 4:Babylon 4: The Lost The Lost The Lost The Lost The Lost Babylon Station Babylon Station Babylon Station Babylon Station Babylon Station

Babylon 4:Babylon 4:Babylon 4:Babylon 4:Babylon 4: The Lost The Lost The Lost The Lost The Lost Babylon Station Babylon Station Babylon Station Babylon Station Babylon Station

Babylon 4:Past, Present,

and FutureBy Tyrel Lohr & Paul Brown

A look back at one of themissing pieces of the

Babylon 5 Wars universe.



crew of the WhiteStar, sent back intothe past by way of the Great Machine,was successful in foiling theShadow’s plan. They then proceededto outfit Babylon 4 for time travel,readying it to make its prescribedjump into the past, making anunexpected (but alreadyencountered) stopover two yearsback into the future to make arendezvous with the original Babylon5 rescue party. After this last jumpthe crew of the White Star returnedto the “present” (all things beingrelative) and Babylon 4, crewed byZathras and Sinclair/Valen, returnedone thousand years into the past totake their rightful place in history.

Babylon 4 reappeared for ashort time in 2260. A party fromBabylon 5 arrived at the station andwere successful in recoveringseveral historical data files left behindon Babylon 4’s computer systembefore the station eventually brokeapart as its orbit decayed.

A Relic of the Past?In the past there have been

a few brave souls who haveattempted to recreate Babylon 4within the Babylon 5 Wars gamesystem. One attempt in particular

bearsspecial mention.

Here at The Great Machine weresearched the background of thedesign and its author, searching ourpersonal archives as well as the wellof readily available information whichis the Internet. The most famousBabylon 4 ship control sheet wasproduced by an unknown author thatsimply went as ‘neghvar’. Neghvar’srendition of Babylon 4 went througheight different revisions before hedisappeared beyond the Rim. Manyof your probably remember seeingthe ship control sheet at one time oranother.

RecreatingBabylon 4

In reviewing and discussingNeghvar ’s work on the eighthrevision of Babylon 4 it was decidedthat a mesh of both the older andnewer Babylon 4 ship control sheetthat he created would make for amore appropriate rendition. His oldership control sheets gave Babylon 4primary mounted heavy lasers inpreference to the heavy pulsecannons found on the most currentrevision. The heavy lasers gaveBabylon 4 greater individual flavor,instead of being a simple rehash andenlargement of the basic Babylon 5Battle Station.

In the end the Babylon 4presented with this issue is anamalgamation of the Babylon 4versions created by Neghvar andmy own personal preference.The show gave us scarce details

on what the capabilities ofBabylon 4 could havebeen. Obviously it wassufficiently well armedso as to be an adequate

replacement for theMinbari’s own destroyed starbase.This means the station’s battlecapabilities must have been equal toor greater than that of the upgradedBabylon 5 Battle Station.

Babylon 4 andMovement

Although Babylon 4 wascapable of movement, it is notcapable of doing so in combat. Nothrusters, engines, or other suchsystems are located on the shipcontrol sheet, either. Instead,Babylon 4’s movement capabilitiesare limited to the strategic, nottactical, level.

When used in a campaignenvironment, Babylon 4 is allowed tomove from one system location toanother during the course of onecampaign turn. For example,Babylon 4 could either change itsorbit around Epsilon 3 or even moveto another planet in the Epsilonsystem. Inter-system movement isstill restricted, however, though itwould conceivably be possible tomove Babylon 4 through hyperspacewith the assistance of a largenumber of tugs. The possibility ofmoving Babylon 4 between starsystems would have to be okayed inadvance by your game master and/or gaming group.

* * *



IntroductionAbout a month ago, my friend

John Sinclair (daoloth) and I(epyon35314910824) decided tocreate our own Stargate SG-1Babylon 5 Wars conversion. Duringthe conversion I was the one creatingmost of the ship control sheets, asJohn had work and business toattend to. We created all of the rulesnecessary to handle the currentbatch of Stargate ships. At somepoint we will complete the availableEarth ships and, after StargateAtlantis debuts, the Wraith andAncients as well. For now the Asgardand Goa’uld are ready for use.

The rules detailed below arestill under development. At a laterdate I will create rules for cloakingdevices, but these rules have notyet been completed.

Rules and SystemsTech Levels

In game terms there arethree levels of technology in theStargate universe:

• Standard. Normal level of techadvancement. Humans normallyhave this level of technology

• Enhanced. Higher level of techadvancement, which providesvarious advantages overstandard tech (as describedlater). The Goa’uld, Tollan andthe Aschen have attained thislevel of technology.

• Advanced. Highest level of techadvancement, which providesvarious advantages over bothstandard and enhanced tech.The Ancients, Asgard, Furlings

and Nox have attained this levelof technology.

If not otherwise stated itshould be assumed that a particularrace’s weaponry has a tech level asmentioned above.

Systems

Shield GeneratorsShield generators have a

shield rating which is the percentageof damage from a hit that is stoppedby the shield. Damage penetratingthe shield has any fractional partrounded down.

Every time a shield absorbsdamage its shield rating is reduced,based on the damagerolled before

A First Look atthe Stargate SG-1B5W Conversion

By Paul Wilson



1-20: -5%21-40: -10%41-60: -15%61+: -20% + -5% per

additional 20 pointdamage bracketbeyond 61-80.

DamageBracket

Shield RatingReduction

1-10: -5%11-20: -10%21-30: -15%31+: -20% + -5% per


DamageBracket


any reduction by the shield. The tablebelow describes how the shieldrating is reduced for damage fromships using standard and enhancedsensors.

If the damage is beinginflicted by a ship with advancedsensors, the damage bracketreduces to 10 points reducing theshield rating twice as quickly,reducing the shields in the mannerdescribed in the following table:

Example 1.

The Prometheus (which hasstandard sensors) fires on a Goa’uldship with shield rating of 60%, doing26 damage. 60% of the damage isabsorbed, which is 15.6, letting 10.4through which gets rounded down to10 damage.

The full damage of 26 is thenused to determine the reduction inthe shield rating. As the firing shiponly has sensors with the same orlower tech level table 1 is used. Thisresults in a reduction of 10% inshield rating and the Goa’uld ship’s

shield now has a rating of 50% forfurther hits.

Example 2.

An Asgard O’Neill classBattlecruiser (which has advancedsensors) fires on a unlucky Goa’uldship with a shield rating of 60%, doing53 points of damage. 60% of thedamage is absorbed, which is 31.8,letting 21.2 through which getsrounded down to 21 damage.

The full damage of 53 is thenused to determine the reduction inthe shield rating. As the firing shiphas sensors a higher tech level table2 is used. This results in a reductionof 30% in shield rating and theGoa’uld ship’s shield now has arating of 30% for further hits.

It is possible to improve aunit’s shield rating by deactivatingsystems and using the spare powerto recharge the shield. For each full5 points of power applied in this waythe unit’s shield rating is increasedby 5%. In instances where you want



1-40: -5%41-80: -10%81-120: -15%121+: -20% + -5% per


DamageBracket


to increase the shield rating abovethe generator’s base shield rating,double power must be applied; so+5% shield rating costs 10 points ofpower. The shield rating cannot beincreased beyond double the baseshield rating.

Shield rating improvementsare resolved in the Adjust ShipSystems Segment of the TurnSequence.

When a shield is charged toa level over its base rating thegenerator must roll for a critical in theCritical Hit Segment. Each 5% overthe base rating adds +1 to the criticalroll. The following critical chartdescribes the effects of criticals.

Advanced ShieldGenerators

Advanced shields follow thenormal shield rules with the followingexceptions:

• Advanced shields are moreresilient against weaponry of thestandard and enhanced techlevels. As a result more damageneeds to be inflicted

• Advanced shields are moreresilient against weaponry of thestandard and enhanced techlevels. As a result more damageneeds to be inflicted by suchweapons to reduce the shieldrating as shown in the followingtable:.

• Damage from weapons of theadvanced tech level reduce theshield rating in the normalmanner as shown in table 1.

• When an advanced shield ischarged over its base rating thegenerator must roll for a criticalin the critical hit segment. Each10% over the base rating adds+1 to the critical roll.

Goa’uldSystem Lords

Special RulesEnhanced Sensors

A ship equipped withenhanced sensors gains thefollowing benefits against enemyships provided they are not equippedwith Advanced or Enhanced sensors:

• Loaned defensive EW is halved(rounding down).

• Use of disruptive ELINT is doublecost against a ship withenhanced sensors. DisruptiveELINT cost 6 points of EW perpoint of disrupted OEW insteadof the normal 3 points.

Enhanced ArmourEnhanced armour provides

the following benefits againstweapons that are not of theadvanced or enhanced tech levels:

• Matter weapons count enhancedarmour as 3 points less thanlisted rather than ignoringarmour. In the case of systemswith 3 or less armour, they areconsidered to have zero armour.

·• Plasma weapons only ignore 25% of enhanced armour.

Goa’uld Flawed ShieldGenerator

Goa’uld shield technologyhas a weakness against ionweaponry. Ion weapons of thestandard tech level ignore half of theshield rating. Reduction of the shieldrating is done as normal using thefull rating value. Ion weapons of theenhanced or advanced tech levelignore the shield rating completely.Reduction of the shield rating is doneas normal using the full rating value.Ships in Anubis’ fleet have this flawremoved, as their shields areconsidered to be of advanced techlevel. If “(Anubis)” is in the ship title itis not considered to have this flaw.

Starships andFightersHa’tak Mothership

A Goa’uld mothership,tetrahedral in shape. Ha’taks facilitatethe transport of Goa’uld and their Jaffaarmies. They are also significantforces in attacking worlds fromspace, but are capable ofatmospheric flight and landing on aplanet’s surface. (Typically, pyramidsare utilized as landing platforms.)

1-15: No critical hit16-19: Shield rating reduced

by 10%20-24: Base shield rating

reduced by 5%25+: Apply both criticals



The Ha’tak is armed withpowerful energy weapons, ringtransporters, and are capable oflaunching entire squadrons of deathgliders.

Cheops WarshipThis class of Gao’uld warship

is more powerful, larger and fasterthan the more common Ha’takwarship. It’s full of armed Jaffa andthe bays are filled with Death Gliders.It has a large pyramid as the centralportion and a vast network ofpropulsions and quarters stretchingout from midway up the pyramid’sside.

PyramidAn ancient Goa’uld

mothership design, pyramidal inshape, which the parasitic race hasused for thousands of years. Rahimself used this type of craft tocapture aboriginal humans fromEarth many thousands of years ago.The vessels routinely use pyramidsas their landing platforms on variousplanets — which Daniel Jacksonspeculated was the reason for theconstruction of the pyramids.

Once landed, the pyramidship’s primary hull retracts intoseveral distinct plates, as well ascreating an optional “watch tower” atthe top of the ship, presumablywhere the Goa’uld’s throne roomresides.

Pyramid ships are equippedwith at least one set of transportrings, as well as at least one deathglider bay. It is unknown if the vesselitself is armed with Goa’uldweapons, although this is highlylikely.

Though this termdescribes a specific vesselclass, it is also used as ageneral term for any Goa’uld shipthat incorporates a pyramid into itsdesign — such as a Ha’tak.

Tel’tak TransportA Goa’uld cargo ship. The

mid-sized vessels typically carry fourescape pods and a set of transportrings, and are unarmed. Somemodels are equipped with a stealthdevice, allowing the ship to becomeinvisible. The Tel’tak also has theability to self-destruct.

The ship is divided into twomajor sections — the flight deck,onto which the main entrance opens,and the cargo area. They areseparated by a bulkhead, which isremovable to allow for more spaceduring flight.

Al’kesh BomberA Goa’uld mid-range bomber.

The mid-sized Al’kesh ismaneuverable, heavily-armed, andcapable of firing enormous blasts ofplasma energy.

Death Glider FighterTwo-man attack vessel

designed for combat in both spaceand an atmosphere. Death glidersare outfitted with broadcast speakersto allow the pilots to terrorize thepopulations beneath verbally, as wellas with their weapons. They areoutfitted with removable staffcannons, two to three times larger

than standard staff weapons, bututilizing the same form of energy.

Gliders are capable oflanding on smooth terrain, but areprimarily designed to facilitate terrorand obedience from those beneath.

Apophis’ MothershipAn advanced Goa’uld

battleship, several times larger thana Ha’tak class mothership. The shipis spidery in design, with manypowerful armaments. It waspresumably stolen from Sokar whenApophis assumed control of hismassive fleet.

The ship’s weapon systemsare significantly more powerful thanthose of a standard Ha’tak-classmothership, and can penetrate aHa’tak’s shields even when they areat full strength.

Anubis’ MothershipConstructed with advanced

shields and weaponry from theAncients, Anubis’ mothership is theultimate Goa’uld creation forconquest of words. It is capable ofobliterating entire land masses fromorbit. The entire vessel is essentiallyan enormous super-weapondesigned to work with six crystals,or “eyes,” of various Goa’uld.

The computer system on theship is protected with elaborate

ciphers coded in the oldestdialect of the Ancients. When

in atmospheric flight, Anubis’mothership’s shields can

only be maintained ata maximum of

40 percent,



making it highly susceptible to attack.The vessel has a ventilation

shaft that aids in the cooling of itssuper-weapon. SG-1 destroyed theventilation shaft while the weaponwas powered, destroying theweapon. The mothership isequipped with an escape pod, whichis capable of travelling throughhyperspace on its own.

AsgardConfederation

Starships andFightersO’Neill Battlecruiser

An advanced Asgard spacevessel, serving as the template for anew class of Asgard battleship. TheAsgard named the class afterColonel Jack O’Neill after a veryeffective impression, as the Asgardsaw humanity’s potential in him.

The vessel was equippedwith advanced weapons anddefences that surpassed any of theprevious Asgard starships — themost advanced ship everconstructed by the Asgard.

Beliskner CruiserConfigured in the original,

older design of Asgard vessels.capable of removing several Goa’uldships.

Feared by Goa’uld acrossthe galaxy, the Asgard mothership isthe main arsenal of defense for theAsgard fleet. Incorporating thegeneral shape of Thor’s Hammer atits bow, the Asgard mothership is arelatively flat vessel with two verticalhyperdrive engines at the stern,giving the ship a sleek, streamlinedlook.

Within the vessel are manylabyrinth-like, curved corridors inexotic, violet tones. The ship isequipped with a deceleration drive tofacilitate the return to normalvelocities after exiting hyperspace.The ship is also equipped with

advanced weapons, and multipletransporter arrays.

The most well-known of allAsgard motherships is the Asgardship Beliskner, commanded bySupreme Commander Thor andnicknamed “Thor’s Chariot.” It wasthe flagship of the fleet before beingdestroyed in Earth’s atmosphere.

For more Stargate Wars craft, visit theirwebsite at: http://mysite.freeserve.com/stargate_wars/index.html

* * *



TheTheTheTheThe

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TheTheTheTheThe

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By Steve Crossand Renaud Gagne

IntroductionGralth cursed as another

fighter in his squadron was hit by alight bil-pro shell, the Relga fightersimply disintegrating under theimpact. Gralth had started the battlewith twenty-three wingmen, but nowhe was down to fourteen.

“Brawler group prepare tosplit on my order, target turrets andthrusters.”

As the Relgas closed in, theirtarget became more and moreobvious. Sensors were nearlyuseless due to the sheer volume ofships present at the battle, so theGrome pilots had to rely on theireyes. The Attarn ship got bigger andbigger as the range decreased.

“By the Margus.....thats aFurious Class Sir.”

“I know, I know....all craftprepare to attack.”

The massive Attarnbattleship was easily the largest shipGralth had ever seen in his life. Itslong, broad hull housed massiveturrets that were sending shellsscreaming into Grome and Hurrvessels, blasting them to pieces withease. Gralth could see the monstervessel’s secondary and tertiaryturrets tracking them, preparing tofire.

As if on cue the side of theFurious class was suddenly lit by thefire from half a dozen turrets as theship’s Chatter Cannons and LightBil-Pro cannons engaged theapproaching Relgas. There was abrief scream over the comm asanother craft was hit, then anothercry, a burst of static, and thensilence. Gralth looked at the sensorreturn to find his wingmates. Therewas nothing. No beacons, no commchatter, just silence. The gunners

on the Attarn battleship had killed hisentire squadron.

Howling a curse Gralthprepared to fire. So intent was he inat least damaging those who killedhis friends he didn’t even notice theAttarn fighter behind him until itopened fire.

The AttarnThe Attarn are a curious

looking species, a cross between alarge newt and a humanoid lizard,which grew to intelligence on a largemainly ocean-covered world. Like allraces they had their share of wars,conflicts and problems but due to thesize of their world’s oceans everywar that had been fought had beenat sea. This is reflected in Attarnstarships, which for all intents andpurpose look like naval vesselsequipped for space travel. The Attarnare the sole remaining users of Bil-Pro technology which has long beenconsidered to be obsolete by everother space faring race.

As the Attarn reached out tothe stars they encountered twoyoung races, the Skand and Anuba,both of which were hostile towardsthe Attarn. It was not until the Attarnencountered the Grome that theywere seriously challenged in space.Running low on Q40, the Attarndiscovered the Q40 rich system ofSigma Draconis, but both the Gromeand Hurr wanted a stake in thesystem and forced the Attarn out.Starved for Q40, the Attarn plannedan offensive against the Grome.

Attarn ShipDesigns

The Attarn ships are uniquein known space in both design andappearance. Attarn ships have a



long sweeping hull with a narrow bowand broad stern housing whichhouses the ship’s thrusters.Amidships is the ship’s superstructure which houses many vitalsystems such as the bridge andsensor array as well as much of thecrew’s accommodation. The hull ismainly given over to ammunitionstorage, crew accommodation andthe engines. Attarn ships are largeand impressive looking vessels witha high degree of structural integrity,allowing them to take heavy damage.The Attarn also are quite advancedin metallurgy and as thus Attarnships are well protected, althoughsecondary and tertiary weapons arefairly vulnerable.

A design quirk of the Attarn’sis in the protection of their capitalships. The side armour of theircapital ships is strong by anystandard and equal to that of theEarth Alliance in terms of protection.This lavish level of production doesnot extend to the central structure ofthe ship. Whilst important systemsare well armoured (in the case of thebridge even more so) the inner hullis only lightly protected. The armourof the bow and sternhull structure isalso weaker thanthat of the sides,although the mainturrets are very well

armoured. The Attarn destroyersare also rather lightly armoured (inpart to keep production costs down)but like their larger brothers their vitalcomponents and main guns are wellprotected. Attarn frigates are poorlyprotected mainly because they areviewed as being a non-military shipand more of an armed civilian ship.

Furious ClassBattleshipRestricted Deployment 10%Only 6 Exist

These massive ships are thelargest in Attarn service and dwarfmost vessels produced by otheryounger races. Although only sixwere built all saw extensive use asfleet flagships and ‘diplomatic’vessels. Each Furious is more thancapable of taking on ships moreadvanced than themselves and areequipped with a very powerful bil-proarmament. These ships were primetargets during the Resource War butwere able to defeat any Grome orHurr ship they encountered. Still, for

all their power, three of thisclass was lost during theWar. Enemy ships would

swarm around theFurious, but thebehemoths all

caused terrible

damage before being destroyed.

Warrior ClassHeavy Cruiser

The ship of the line for theAttarn fleet, the Warrior Class is asubiquitous in Attarn service as theOmega is in EA service. Well armedand respectably protected, theWarrior class was more thancapable of taking on Hurr and Gromeships even when outnumbered. Farsuperior in terms of firepowercompared to Grome and Hurrwarships, the Warrior class was aprimary target for Allied captains. Itsone failing is that the Warrior Classis vulnerable to fighter attacks andHurr fighters were able to destroyWarriors with massed missile strikeson several occasions.

Glory ClassDestroyer

The most common ship inthe Attarn fleet, the Glory is used inevery role imaginable and itsadaptable hull is used for two otherdestroyer sized ships. Whilst undergunned compared to other race’sheavy combat vessels, the Glory ismore than capable of fightingcomparable Hurr and Grome ships.During the War Grome and Hurrships were repeatedly flanked by

Glory Class ships and suffered



heavy damage from repeatedbroadsides.

The RationaleThe Attarn Union has been in

the back of my mind since 2001 andthey were the first race that I everthought about working on for the B5Wars game. Unfortunately, I can notmake ship control sheets so I couldonly do the fluff. Now thanks to theSCS making skills of Renaud Gagne(the man who made ALL the SCS’sfor the Modern Orieni and the FHU),we proudly present the Attarn Union.

I was originally inspired tomake the Attarn Union by BenRubery’s Bil-Pro series of weapons.I wanted to make a race whose entirespace warfare philosophy is basedon their experience with a wet navy.I imagined the Attarn warships to lookmuch like WW2 cruisers andBattleships, only in space. Furtherinspired by the classic Anime seriesStarblazers, I knew what kind of lookI was after.

But I couldn’t make SCS’s (Iwouldn’t even know where to start)so the Attarn Union was left to gather

dust, hidden but not forgotten. Justover a year ago I helped a man calledRenaud Gagne complete a projecthe was working on. The Free HumanUnion was a breakaway group ofhumans, companies andcorporations. Whilst Renaudcompleted the SCS’s I did thebackground information. It was thebeginning of a beautiful friendship.We then moved onto the Orieni withthe goal of representing the Orieniin the modern IA period. Once againI did the background details and fluffwhilst Renaud did the SCS’s. Withthe Showdowns-11 companion toThe Great Crusade due to bereleased we moved onto a differentproject. The Attarn Union was dustedoff, looked at, revised, altered, andfinally finished so that we couldpresent it to you now. We hope youlike them as much as we enjoyedputting them together.

* * *

News fromthe FrontJMS comments onTMoS ProjectFebruary 26, 2004

(The following is an excerpt of anewsgroup posting from JMS torec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated)

Y'know, if there's anything moreannoying than having to sit ongood news, I can't think of what itmight be. (Well, okay, beingstaked to an ant hill at high noonis a pretty obvious one, but youget the idea.)

The only things I can say rightnow about B5:TMoS is that nowthat all the correct agreementshave been signed, sealed anddelivered, the draft has gone in,met with great enthusiasm allaround, notes have beenreceived, and the next draft is inprocess and has to be delieveredwithin two weeks so that certainother steps can be set intomotion.

I still can't tell you what it *is*because that has to come fromthe proper people through theproper channels at the propertime...but I can tell you a fewcases of what it *isn't*...it isn't anovel, or a short story, a comic,an animated series, a radiodrama or a stage play. Beyondthat, deponent sayeth not.

Except to say that it's pretty cool.

jms



Coming Next Issue...Coming Next Issue...CreditsCreditsCreditsCreditsCreditsEditorsPaul BrownTyrel Lohr

LayoutTyrel Lohr

ProofreadingPaul BrownTyrel Lohr

Submission [email protected]

Distribution Pointplanetside.firenebula.com

The GREAT MACHINE is anunofficial, fan-basedelectronic publication

dedicated to the Babylon 5Wars game system.

BABYLON 5, BABYLON 5WARS, the B5W Core Rules,

FLEET ACTION, GROPOS andall related material are copyright 2002 by Warner Bros. The

contents of this unofficialpublication are for personal, non-commercial use only. Any use of

these product identities,copyrighted material or

trademarks anywhere in thisdocument and its associated files

should not be viewed as achallenge to those copyrights or

trademarks.Original concepts and mechanicsremain the intellectual property of

their respective authors.

Distant WorldsNext issue we will be running a “Theme Without a Theme”

issue filled with a melange of interesting new content for theBabylon 5 Wars game system. We have a strong content line upincluding:

DuneChristian Meador showcases his Dune conversion, bringinganother beloved science fiction setting into the B5W milieu.Ships, technologies, and background on the Dune universe willbe provided to get you ready to join the battle for the Spice.

Vree Pulsar UpgradeDanny Keith invites us to takea look a a series of pulsar

upgrades to the venerableVree fleet. (Are not! Aretoo!)

The TholianAssembly

Tyrel Lohr and PatrickParkhurst take a look at

the Tholian fleet and fleshout this most mysterious of

Star Trek adversaries.

Send all submissions to [email protected] with your submission your name, an article or other textrelating to your project, and any ship control sheets or notes thatyou would like run with the article. They might appear in the nextissue!

ATTENTION FLEET ACTION AND GROPOS PLAYERS: Don’t forget thatALL submissions are welcome.

Submission Deadline: March 30, 2003

Documents

Unfinished Business - smikesworld.dksmikesworld.dk/smworld/magazines/gm_issue05.pdf · Unfinished Business ... 35 Alternity: The Vition 37 Babylon 4: The Lost Babylon Station 39 Stargate