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Thread: Romulan War Series

  1. #1
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    Romulan War Series

    I am moving my ICON post-Enterprise Series into the Earth-Romulan War phase next weekend. Before I do that, I would like to compile some resources to help me make better effective use of the Romulans as well as Starfleet during the Series.

    I have the Romulan Boxed Set. Indeed, I have ALL of the ICON Trek books (except the original Star Trek RPG book, much to my dismay). However, I am lacking some relevant ICON statistics for such things as mid-22nd century Romulan warships.

    There is a whole lot of stuff hereabouts regarding the whole "the Romulans had no warp drive until the mid-23rd century," but that is not the case in my Series. I wrote some stuff here YEARS ago regarding how the Romulan warp drive systems perform in this era in my Star Trek universe, but I am a lousy starship designer.

    I plan to operate as though the Romulans have only two or three different classes of starships at this point in their history. The first is the cloak-capable vessel we saw in "Minefield." The second is a smaller version of that ship, which is used for forward scouting and other stealthy operations. The final vessel is their troop carrier (which won't see much play in this Series as there are no ground battles between Starfleet and the Romulans). I realize that they probably have more types of starships, but this is what I'm going with.

    In my mind, the Romulans have pretty much overpowered their enemies with their warbirds (like the one from "Minefield"), so there is really no need to produce anything else. Certainly these vessels are periodically improved and upgraded, but they serve their purpose admirably otherwise, so why mess with [what they believe to be] perfection? Apart from their main combat vessel, they would likely have need of a sneaky ship (primarily because they are Romulans) as well as ships to carry their soldiers for the inevitable invasion and pacification.

    Oh... the holo-ships were prototypes. While one may show up during the war, I consider it likely that what the Senate considered a "failure" would surely cease production.

    Starfleet has produced several more of the NX-class (now Enterprise-class) vessels as well as the Intrepid- and Neptune-class ships. I've also considered the production of the Icarus-class, which combines human designs with aspects of Tellarite, Andorian and Vulcan engineering. It has improved phase cannons, photon torpedo launchers, and human-designed deflector shield systems.

    This class of starship is in the prototype stage as the war with Romulus heats up, and I am seriously considering having my PCs reassigned from their space station to crew the Icarus prototype. By this time (after several subjective years), they are all seasoned veterans and are certainly deserving of their places aboard the jewel of Starfleet.

    Now, I know that "history" indicates that the war was fought with nuclear missiles and so forth, but that just doesn't wash for me. The Romulans demonstrated pulse disruptors and cloaking technology, so I'm making the leap and assuming that they also have energy-based torpedoes and deflector shields as well. Indeed, the Romulans are certainly tactically superior to Starfleet, both in terms of combat experience and vessel design (they are warships, after all).

    While my players are all fans of ST:TNG and DS9, they are thankfully ignorant regarding early Starfleet history. This will most certainly allow me to keep the specter of defeat at the hands of the Romulan Space Navy a very real possibility. The only saving grace for mankind is that they have faster ships. That certainly changes as the war goes on. They would forge closer bonds with their allies, expand their resource base, produce more and better ships, and so on. However, at first the outcome will certainly seem dark.

    I anticipate that the NX-01 Enterprise will serve as Starfleet's flagship, and that Archer and crew will be around for the entire affair. (Incidentally, Trip dies on the way to the Federation founding ceremonies and the planned decomissioning of Enterprise, right?) That said, the PCs will certainly have ample opportunity to meet and interact with them, so I am spending plenty of time reviewing my collection of Enterprise episodes in order to get them right.

    I have several other ideas that I plan to interject into this Series, but the overarching theme is the war between Earth and Romulus. I plan to use elements of the Suliban Cabal, the Malurians, the Valakians, the Xyrillians, and the Vissians as well as the Klingons and [obviously] the Romulans. There will certainly be plenty of Vulcans, Andorians and Tellarites around, too, and the Xindi will probably be around as well.

    If you have anything to offer for my Series, please post your ideas here. If you have ICON ship statistics, characters, battle Episode ideas, and so on, please put them up. I've had a lot of fantastic stuff provided over the years by the men and [few] women that frequent the boards, so I'm hoping to renew that bond.

    Thanks in advance.

    mactavish out.
    Last edited by mactavish; 04-28-2008 at 04:42 PM.
    Our country's past progress has been the result, not of the mass mind applying average intelligence to the problems of the day, but of the brilliance and dedication of wise individuals who applied their wisdom to advance the freedom and the material well-being of all of our people.

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  2. #2
    The Earth-Romulan War

    The Andorians might loan Starfleet some ships. The designs of the Arkonian destroyers and Xindi-Arboreal ships imply that the Tellarites build warships for other species, as well (or at least, sell the designs).

    Manny Coto said that, had Enterprise continued, he would not use the cloaking devices on the Romulan Warbirds again, as he felt their appearance was a mistake. If you want, you could explain it as being part of a complex holographic projection system not unlike the one used on the drone-ship, a localized net centred around the system they claimed and utilizing the minefield as a net of projectors, hiding themselves and any ship within them. The difference between that an a true cloaking device is that, while a true cloaking device bends light and sensor signals around the target, this projection system attempts to replicate impressions of empty space.

    What this means is that in systems the Romulans can establish this network in, they have an obvious tactical advantage, but outside their ships are a match for Vulcan or Andorian ships of the same fighting weight. This gives them a tactical reason for goading their enemies into attacking first, as the Romulans appear to prefer to control the circumstances of a confrontation.

    Given that they apparently controlled Vulcan for years, their infiltration and subtle control of other alien species would be one of the recurring themes. The Vulcans' 'assistance' of Agaron might have been a cover for planting Romulan agents throughout their society. The Nausicaans and certain Klingon factions might also be brought to bear as forces manipulating the larger battlefield, which humans might only be dimly aware of.
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  3. #3
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    I'm affraid I have regretfully never been able to find people to actually play a star trek rpg, so in terms of stats I probably wont be much of a help, but I have read some things about the romulan earth war that may be helpfull.

    First of there is a great fan fiction continuation that deals with the romulan earth war with enterprise in mind. It is called Endeavour and can be found here: <a href="http://trekonline.org/endeavour/">http://trekonline.org/endeavour/</a>. It uses the Daedalus class as an earth ship developed mostly for its very modular design, which comes in very handy during wartime. In these stories the use of atomic weapons is also explained namely by stating that the romulans bombed entire colonies from orbit and that starfleet at a certain point started using nukes for more firepower (more explaining is probably easier to read the stories). The problem of seeing a romulan is solved by stating that the romulan soldiers wear suits with assid in it that is released upon death. This to make sure the advantage of posing as Vulcan is not lost. Also Romulan ships are ordered to self destruct rather than let themselves be captured.

    Second I read on the memory beta a way to ratify the cloaking bird of preys with established history: this was actually a prototype which exploded shortly afterwards due to a fatal design flow that was only solved by the time of kirks encounter. The mines seen in this episode use stealth technology much as the suliban use and which the enterprise could penetrate with its special cloacked ship gadget (from Daniels if I remember correctly). The design of the bird of prey can still be used but than without the cloak.

    If I find anything else I will post it here. Hopefully this was already helpfull.

  4. #4
    Just a note about the ICON TOS book. I have seen it many times online. Abebooks and e-bay have had it from time to time and most of the time it hasn't been that expensive either. I picked mine up for like $17 with shipping.

    My take on the early Romulan War was that the Romulans did not have warp technology. This probably comes from my watching of TOS: Balance of Terror and unofficial info found in Star Fleet Battles/Star Trek Technical Manual. I'm sure Enterprise blew all of that to hell, their inattention to continuity and all of that.
    Last edited by PaladinCA; 01-31-2008 at 04:14 PM. Reason: more info

  5. #5
    Quote Originally Posted by PaladinCA View Post
    I'm sure Enterprise blew all of that to hell, their inattention to continuity and all of that.
    You know, while seasons 1-3 of Ent didn't follow a lot of fanon assumptions, only the cloaking devices from 'minefield' seem to be an actual mistake.
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  6. #6
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    My belief is simple: it was on screen (i.e. Romulan cloaking technology) in Enterprise, and it was never contradicted on screen, so it stands as it is.

    I realize that the producers/writers/whomever stated that it was a mistake and would not have been repeated [had Enterprise continued], but the fact is (and I'm standing firm on this) that we saw a cloaked Romulan vessel (and a field of cloaked mines) in "Minefield," so that's what I'm working with.

    I love the look of the Romulan ships... what some have called the Ket-Cheleb-class... and think that they serve as a worthy precursor to the vessels we see in TNG and DS9. Just because the canonites feel like they shouldn't violate the precedent established in TOS's "Balance of Terror" doesn't mean it doesn't (or shouldn't) happen. Personally, I love having cloaked vessels in an Enterprise-era Series, whether Suliban, Romulan or Xyrilian; the ability to sneak up on the Crew is an awesome special effect, and doubly so when they're not expecting it.

    Anyway, I've written repeatedly about my disdain for the obsessive desire to stick solely to canon (specifically that seen on-screen), but now I find myself in the prickly position of sticking to that very thing by having cloak-capable 22nd-century Romulans. Shame on me I guess!

    Regardless, I think that the Romulans that my PCs encounter [in ships in space] will be cloaked (or some of them, at least). I'm also tossing some cloaked mines in their path, too (and not the kind that DON'T explode when you hit them).

    So - as I've written earlier - I don't want to have the Romulan Space Navy fielding 47 different classes of ships. I think that they will make use of small combat vessels (like the aforementioned Ket-Cheleb-class) and possibly a handful of larger capitol ships (perhaps a D'era-class Combat Cruiser). Otherwise, I think that I may have the PCs encounter some dropships filled with soldiers (without actually seeing any Romulans) and perhaps some aerospace fighters (like one- or two-man Size 1 combat vessels carried aboard the D'era-class ships). What do you think?

    Oh, and I really want the MACOs to have somebody to fight on the ground or on ship-boarding missions. Maybe mercenaries or fully-combat clothed Romulans (with opaque helmets) that explode if disabled or killed. (I think I may have mentioned that already.) It'd be kind of cool if the mercenaries were Breen, and part of the misunderstanding regarding who the Romulans are comes from the fact that Starfleet thought that the Breen mercenaries were them!

    Or perhaps not.

    Anyway, how exactly did the war between humanity and the Romulans actually begin? Clearly the interaction in "Minefield" was less than positive, but not really a prelude to war. The episodes with the chameleon ship offered more opportunity for warmongering, but it didn't seem like anyone knew who was actually pulling the strings.

    My plan is to have the Romulan Space Navy destroy several human colonies within and along what will eventually become the Romulan Neutral Zone, then to engage (and destroy) several of the tactically-weaker Starfleet vessels that show up to determine what's going on. The ensuing "hot war" takes place primarily in space and lasts only a short time (well, four years I suppose)...

    mactavish out.
    Last edited by mactavish; 02-06-2008 at 05:46 PM.
    Our country's past progress has been the result, not of the mass mind applying average intelligence to the problems of the day, but of the brilliance and dedication of wise individuals who applied their wisdom to advance the freedom and the material well-being of all of our people.

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  7. #7
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    Okay, now that I've posted about cloaking devices and starships, what do you suppose a Romulan combat cruiser [c.2156] would look like in ICON terms?

    I am going to guess that it's nowhere near as advanced as a Vulcan combat cruiser, but more along the same lines as an Andorian warship.

    The Ket-Cheleb-class warbird is a Size 4 vessel, so I'm saying that my D'era-class combat cruiser would be more like a Size 6 warship, and I'm also thinking that it would be a little less like the "sweeping wing" configuration of its smaller counterpart (though I'm struggling with specifics).

    Such a massive vessel of war would have energy weapons (i.e. disruptors or some sort of particle beam) and torpedoes (i.e. plasma-based energy torpedoes). They also have deflector shields and tractor beam emitters. These massive machines of war have a top warp factor of about 2.5 (or maybe 3.0 since they are state-of-the-art).

    Despite their high-end firepower, shields, and cloaking devices, these vessels are rare as they are labor- and resource-intensive construction projects (and the Ket-Cheleb-class is smaller, simpler, and easier to produce). Consequently, the number of encounters involving the D'era-class ships is mercifully limited.

    As for the fighters, I'm saying that they are NOT cloak-capable as they are too small [and cloaking technology is thankfully limited at this point in time]. These are essentially armed shuttles with low-powered beam weapons, micro-torpedo launchers, and a few points of shielding... but no warp capabilities. They have to be carried into battle by a larger ship.

    I'll try to work up some statistics for these two ships (as well as the dropships) later today or at some point during the weekend.

    mactavish out.
    Our country's past progress has been the result, not of the mass mind applying average intelligence to the problems of the day, but of the brilliance and dedication of wise individuals who applied their wisdom to advance the freedom and the material well-being of all of our people.

    -Conscience of a Conservative, Barry Goldwater

  8. #8
    You wanted ground troops? You could have the Romulans use Reman shock troops as ground forces or for boarding actions. Any bodies could be mistaken as
    Romulan.

    If your crew discovers the Romulan's true origins, perhaps that is covered up by Starfleet or Section 31 to preserve the fledgling Human-Vulcan-Andorian alliance.

  9. #9
    The Canon only states no Romulan was ever see, before Balance of Terror. And Nemeis state that the Remons was the backbone of the Romulan Shock Troops.

    So, Starfleet my know alot about Remons but not Romulans. It in danger of get caught one quick blast from a hidden explosive with a DNA sensor, and no prisoners of war.

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by Tanty View Post
    The Canon only states no Romulan was ever see, before Balance of Terror. And Nemeis state that the Remons was the backbone of the Romulan Shock Troops.
    Or no one survived after seeing them. Romulans have an odd habit of blowing stuff up rather than letting other people have it; POWs might be no exception.
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  11. #11
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    I ran across something - a piece from The Good That Men Do - that tries to rectify (or at least ameliorate) the whole "Romulan cloaking devices in Star Trek Enterprise" debacle.

    The statement was something along the lines that the Romulans' cloaking devices were imperfect and could only maintain a cloak on a warp-capable vessel for a short time. Too long, and the system would overload and then it would explode.

    Okay, now I can see this working out. The devices - though experimental - are installed on all Romulan Star Empire front-line vessels. They are good for running silent while stalking an enemy, but not for long-term use. I think that maybe I'll place a limit of 10 minutes out of every hour or so, meaning that the device can run for a total of 10 minutes, but that it then requires a "cool down period" of 50 minutes. That way, the Romulan ship can skulk around unseen for a little bit, reappear just long enough to fire a volley, then recloak. This tactic would work for a little while, but then they'd either have to fight or run away.

    Of course, they could also call for reinforcements...

    In addition, I was thinking that Romulan vessels would be built with additional sensor-defeating technologies as well. That way - even if the cloak is off - they are very difficult to detect at long range, and their hulls are constructed in such a way as to foil sensors (or perhaps they use an internal sensor-dampening field, which would allow their ships to be scanned when that system is damaged).

    This concept also works for explaining why the mines could stay cloaked indefinitely: they are low-powered so they won't short out the cloak system. Further, the cloaking systems are archaic compared to the ship-based units; Enterprise managed to detect them by shifting their sensor spectrum.

    Finally, these things can be explained away as the technologies to detect them evolve, too. Starfleet comes up with a cloak-penetrating sensor array and suddenly the Romulan cloaks are useless. This leads to something of an arms race as the Romulans work to make their ships stealthier and their cloaks more advanced so as to avoid detection by their nemesis, Earth Starfleet.

    This problem is compounded by the fact that Earth would certainly share this information with its allies, so the Romulans would suddenly be ganged up on by Andorians, Tellarites, Vulcans (and possibly even the Klingons... at least initially) and so on, leading them to retreat into their own space for a hundred years or so.

    Or maybe not.

    I guess we'll have to see what happens.

    As always, comments are welcome.

    mactavish out.
    Last edited by mactavish; 05-15-2008 at 08:51 AM.
    Our country's past progress has been the result, not of the mass mind applying average intelligence to the problems of the day, but of the brilliance and dedication of wise individuals who applied their wisdom to advance the freedom and the material well-being of all of our people.

    -Conscience of a Conservative, Barry Goldwater

  12. #12
    Quote Originally Posted by mactavish View Post
    Starfleet comes up with a cloak-penetrating sensor array and suddenly the Romulan cloaks are useless.
    This should probably be an episode. Starfleet is installing a prototype on a scoutship and the crew is assigned to pilot it behind enemy lines to see if it works.

    What other episodes do you have planned?
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  13. #13
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    So what do you all think about ground forces made up of Reman foot soldiers alongside Nausicaan and Breen mercenaries?

    I've given this a lot of thought, and here's what I've come up with:

    1. Remans are an obvious choice. By the 22nd century, they've been subjugated for hundreds of years, so they would definitely be a part of the Romulan culture at this point.

    2. I believe that the Nausicaans are referred to as a "former client race" of the Romulans in one of the ICON books (Planets of the UFP, maybe?). Even if they weren't still under direct Romulan control at this point, they are brutal warriors who would certainly make effective (if hard-to-control) ground combatants.

    3. The DS9 quip, "Never turn your back on a Breen" makes me think that the Romulan Star Empire has had contact with the Breen for some time. Were they a Romulan client state, too? One never can tell. I am going to have Breen mercs serving alongside the Reman shock troops during the Earth-Romulan War, refrigeration suits and all.

    I really like the idea of having the Breen be a race that was conquered by the Romulans, but they proved not only too difficult to govern, but they were so sneaky and underhanded that they stole Romulan warp technologies and made a run of it on their own. Perhaps the Romulans laid waste to the Breen homeworld, leaving it uninhabitable, so they Breen spread like a virus to neighboring systems, keeping one step ahead of their former masters. Or maybe they simply proved too much a pain to the Senate and they were consequently released from subjugation.

    I prefer to think that the Breen played the part of loyal Romulan subjects for some time, then stabbed their masters in the back, leaving their fleet in shambles and forcing the Romulans to change the way they dealt with client species. Never turn your back on a Breen, indeed!

    So anyway, the Breen - using stolen Romulan technologies - built their own empire or union, conquered neighboring worlds, and actually built themselves into something of minor power. This could also explain why the Breen were so eager to jump into bed with the Dominion: revenge for some perceived slight (real or otherwise) on the part of the Romulans. That they got to attack Earth and blow up Klingons was merely an added bonus!

    So anyway, the Reman, Nausicaan and Breen foot soldiers serve as a follow-up to the orbital bombardment of various planets and colony worlds. Even though Earth Starfleet and MACO ground forces manage to beat them back, they're still no closer to figuring out who the puppeteers are for these monstrosities.

    Except... Section 31.

    Come on. The premier terran intelligence agency isn't going to figure out who the Romulans are over the course of a five-year war? Give me a break. I assume that - as mentioned in a previous post - it was covered up that Romulans originally came from Vulcan in an effort to preserve a century-old alliance between Earth and Vulcan.

    So where am I going with this? Oh yeah, I remember. Romulan War ground troops.

    Could the Romulans conduct a ground war without being there? That is, if the Reman commanders directed the action on the dirt, could they run things being directed by ships in orbit? I don't see why not.

    My PCs are going to find themselves in the midst of a battle for control of a human colony, and the enemies they face will be Remans, Nausicaans and Breen.

    What do you think?

    mactavish out.
    Our country's past progress has been the result, not of the mass mind applying average intelligence to the problems of the day, but of the brilliance and dedication of wise individuals who applied their wisdom to advance the freedom and the material well-being of all of our people.

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  14. #14
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    I want to design a Romulan capital ship, as described in an earlier post. However, I honestly cannot formulate a concept as to what this vessel should look like. I keep coming back to the 22nd-century Vulcan cruisers.

    So, having said that, what do you suppose a big Romulan battle cruiser would look like?

    I imagine that it would be green (since those ships seen in Enterprise, TNG and DS9 have all been made of a green alloy). I also imagine that it would have some sort of open hull configuration (as the Enterprise-era Vulcan ships and modern Romulan warbirds like the D'deridex-class).

    How big do you suppose the Romulan Space Navy could practically build a starship in the mid-22nd century? I imagine that they have centuries of experience building spacefaring vessels, and that necessarily suggests spacedock construction areas. Unlike humanity, who'd been building starships in orbital facilities for less that 100 years (probably more like 20-30 years at the most), the Romulans at this point are old pros at such practices.

    Now I imagine that they would have taken a more martial stance on starship design than the Vulcans (given their warrior past), but their design roots would still be along Vulcan lines, don't you think? Remember the TNG episodes where Spock is on Romulus and the Senate tries to invade Vulcan with Vulcan ships? The Vulcan vessels looked remarkably like Romulan vessels. That's kind of telling.

    So anyway, I'd like to put together stats for a Size 6 combat cruiser that houses the Romulan military machine. From these large ships, they direct starship combat as well as ground action logistics. Figure one of these vessels is escorted by five or six Ket-Cheleb-class ships and a small groups of fighters (for which it serves as a carrier), perhaps something similar to the Scorpion-class fighters we saw in Nemesis.

    This D'era-class combat cruiser is certainly bigger and more powerful than any Starfleet vessel of the era, and perhaps about the same size as a Vulcan Surak-class ship, but with better tactical systems and less-advanced warp engines and sensors. I'd have a cloaking device on this ship, too, but not use it except to gain the element of surprise (and to escape when the tide turns in favor of their enemies).

    Finally, I think the Romulans would be followed by troop-filled dropships filled to the brim with soldiers ready to take the planet by force once the skies above are under their control. Again, dropping 25,000 Remans, Nausicaans and Breen equipped with disruptor rifles on a planet just smashed with orbital weapons is pretty intimidating to a populace, and would probably make even the toughest Klingons wince.

    Okay, now that I've talked about this for several weeks (or months), I think I'll try to actually design the ICON stats for these ships and post them.

    Famous last words, eh?

    mactavish out.
    Our country's past progress has been the result, not of the mass mind applying average intelligence to the problems of the day, but of the brilliance and dedication of wise individuals who applied their wisdom to advance the freedom and the material well-being of all of our people.

    -Conscience of a Conservative, Barry Goldwater

  15. #15
    You could probably justify something like size 7 or 8 for a large Romulan vessel of that era. Romulans build these things big, after all, and 2000 years of intersteller flight would give them lots of experience to develop the advanced SIF these things would need.

    The fighters could be automated defense drones a la the 'Babel' trilogy.
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