And a hello to all of you out there from a first-time poster on this board (though certainly not a first-time reader...).
Just want to start off with saying I love wargaming. I've gotten quite a few role-playing systems just to see what their capabilities are, and then later on decided that it would be kind of cool to play them. The LUG ST stuff I have I wouldn't sell for anything. Love it. And when I first discovered Spacedock, well...I haven't stopped designing ships yet.
When the ICON system closure was announced, it was a dark day. However, this new CODA system is pretty good, and I've got other RPGs to work on as well.
I love writing, and more than once I've written out one of the 'episodes' that was played in story form. Lots of fun there.
But I digress from the main subject. With regard to Starships...has anybody tried to come up with their own components? I'm trying to run an Enterprise era series for writing purposes, and some of the troubles I've come up with have been:
a) Lack of Starfleet vessels. While one possible solution is an officer exchange with the Vulcans, it could get too complex, and the CO of the vessel wouldn't be a human (so I'm prejudiced...but hey, I've played aliens before...)
b) Travel distances and trying not to interfere/tangent with the Enterprise plotline. Talk about tough.
So, to try to solve both at once, I've come up with the following, and it's got some nice benefits.
Solution: I've got to design a new starship, maybe an interim class while the NX-class ships are still getting spun up. With the rest of the human vessels in Sol System being capable of (I think) around warp 1.8, it's a LONG trip for any vessel except Big E to venture beyond one or two light years, at least until NX-02 (which I believe is to be named Columbia) is commissioned. So I'm designing a new ship, smaller than the NX class, with basically the mission being to follow up on some of the first contacts that Archer and his crew have made, and to help safeguard some of those Earth Cargo Ships out there. I'm looking for a maximum warp speed of about 3.5 to warp 3.8, but because the Warp 5 engines take so long to construct, I've got to come up with an alternate engine. The WE-2c components are to slow, even with engine upgrades such as prototype and enhanced system. So what I was thinking was, due to the time gap between the production of the WE-2c component (2133) and the WE-5 (2151), maybe there's an interim design, or enhancements that can be made to the WE-2c component using data gathered by Enterprise. Kind of like a retrofitting for a modern-day warship. I was thinking the following:
System: WE-2c Mod II
Space: Size x 2.5
Standard/Sustainable/Maximum Speed: 1.5/2.2/3.5 (OCU)
Reliability: A
Maximum Size: 5
Availability: 2151
Okay. That's the first one. Here's the second one:
System: WE-2c Mod III
Space: Size x 2.75
Standard/Sustainable/Maximum Speed: 1.5/2.2/3.8 (OCU)
Reliability: A
Maximum Size: 5
Availability: 2152
I figured that with Archer's data from NX-01 coming in, Starfleet would be refining its warp drives, both in the production stages, and those out in the field, using the information and available resources, especially in light of the fact that it's not a happy universe out there. Now, the reason for the additional space when compared to a WE-5 is that, remember, this is based on an older system, using modern data to upgrade its capabilities. I'm thinking that Starfleet would probably drop the Mod III, due to the fact that it takes up too much space to be viable, but it could work on probably the test-bed ship for the modifications.
Any ideas?
Oh, one more question for Don (if it's been addressed before, sorry...) In the Starships book, it says that photon torpedo launchers don't become available until...2161. Is it just a slip due to the constantly-changing nature of canon Trek? Because Enterprise is packing photon torpedoes and it's only 2153 (or is it '54?)
Thanks for listening, and I look forward to your comments.