A Romulan Freighter

[SIR SIG]

re: Battletech Dropships

Specifically the Union class and the Overlord class.

Sphere and egg/sphere shaped respectively with thrusters at the base and docking ports on the ventral side.

[Dan Gurden]

You dont happen to know where there are any images of those dropships... Just to show what you mean???

oh yeah... and before I forget.

Here are the stats.



Class and Type: D'Vore Class Freighter
Commissioning Date: 2300's
Affiliation: Romulan

Hull Characteristics
Size: 4 (200 meters long, 6 Decks)
Resistance: 2
Structural Points: 80

Operational Characteristics
Crew/Passengers: 10/100 [4 pwr /round]
Computers: 2 [2 pwr /round]
Transporters: 1 personnel, 1 cargo, 1 emergency [2 pwr /round]
Tractor Beams: 1 fd, 1 fv [2 pwr /rating used]

Propulsion and Power Characteristics
Warp System: 4.0/6.0/7.0 (12 hours) [2 pwr /warp factor]
Impulse System: .6 c/.7 c [6/7 pwr/round]
Power: 100

Sensor Systems
Long-range Sensors: +1/15 light-years [6 pwr /round]
Lateral Sensors: +1/1 light-years [4 pwr /round]
Navigational Sensors: 0 [5 pwr /round]
Sensor Skill: 3

Weapons Systems
Type H Disruptor:
Range: 10/30,000/100,000/300,000
Arc: All (720 degrees)
Accuracy: 5/6/8/11
Damage: 12
Power: [12]
Weapons Skill: 3

Defensive Systems
Romulan Deflector Shield
Protection: 36/48
Power: [36]

Description and Notes
The D’Vore has been a stable workhorse of the Romulan Imperial Star Navy since the turn of the century. Originally designed as a Bulk Cargo vessel, with the capabilities to commit troops drop ships to a campaign, the vessel saw limited frontline service but was deemed to lightly armed for front line duties.

Relegated to support duties, the D’vore found its niche as a transport vessel, hauling cargo around the empire. Over time, advancements in ship design have overshadowed the D’vore class leaving the ship behind as a faithful workhorse. Many have since found themselves in Civilian service, where their low crew requirements and sturdy construction make them reliable vessels for long-haul cargo runs.

The vessel is quite long, approximately 200m, with a command Hull at the front, Attached via a long neck to the engineering hull, and nacelles at the rear. The origins in the old D7 cruisers traded with the Klingon Empire during the 2260’s is clear, with this vessel displaying a clear lineage, and offering a glimpse as to the reason behind its long-lived sturdiness. The command Hull displays a prominent ‘beak’, commonly associated with Romulan vessels. And within the ships computer, transporters, bridge, medical and senior officers and VIP quarters share space with a small shuttlebay suitable for only a couple of small shuttlepods.
The Long neck, houses docking ports for the containers, making the vessel highly modular, and able to pick up and drop cargo as required. The cargo pods are egg shaped, a strong design consideration, taking planetary re-entry into account, and these cargo pods can range between Bulk Cargo, Troop Dropships and even Colony Support, enabling entire colonial buildings to be dropped from orbit to form a core. This long neck also houses the troop bunk-rooms, often converted into secondary cargo holds.
At the rear of the vessel, an engineering hull mounting the older M/AM core and impulse systems, along with stubby wings for the nacelles.

The Starfleet Designation for the vessel is the ‘Frilly Lizard’, named after a striking similarity to the Australian Frilled Neck Lizard when the vessel is fully laden.

Note these stats represent the 'standard' version common in the military, however privately owned versions exist. Often with personnal upgrades and rebuilds that can drasticly alter the capabilities..

[SIR SIG]

Originally posted by Dan Gurden
You dont happen to know where there are any images of those dropships... Just to show what you mean???

The things I do for a fellow Moderator

Here is a jumpship in action dropping Union class Dropships.

[Dan Gurden]

mmmm... Interesting, and a not all too dis-similar design from my concept.... Just shows how difficult it is to be truely unique these days...

Well, now the history and stats are up, are there any comments and ideas from the rest of the target audience???

[Moriarti]

Ok, this is my first attempt at posting, So let's see how it goes.

Comments on the Romulan Civillian Cargo Ship.
I'm sort of assuming that you didn't intend on the ship having a cloaking device, which is all well and fine, I doubt that the Romulans want civilians wondering about in cloakable ships. However, I don't see why they would intrust ground combat troops to a non-cloaking cargo ship.
2) Is this supposed to be a landing-capapable craft? I'd think that it should, which suggests bringing the warp nacelles up, or at least having the "wings" be mobile, ala voyager, or the BoP's.
3) I really like the egg idea, It just flows very well into the whole romulan bird thing.

Just an Idea, Have you thought about something with the warp nacelles in front, and all the cargo containers connected to each other behind? Sorta like a space train?

Hmmm.. that idea seemed a lot cooler in my head.... guess I shouda left it there...

[Dan Gurden]

Originally posted by Moriarti

1)I'm sort of assuming that you didn't intend on the ship having a cloaking device, which is all well and fine, I doubt that the Romulans want civilians wondering about in cloakable ships. However, I don't see why they would intrust ground combat troops to a non-cloaking cargo ship.
2) Is this supposed to be a landing-capapable craft? I'd think that it should, which suggests bringing the warp nacelles up, or at least having the "wings" be mobile, ala voyager, or the BoP's.
3) I really like the egg idea, It just flows very well into the whole romulan bird thing.
4) Just an Idea, Have you thought about something with the warp nacelles in front, and all the cargo containers connected to each other behind? Sorta like a space train?

Welcome aboard Moriarti. Glad you like the idea enough to comment... Well, here's the answers...

1 - You're right, I hadn't intended this ship to have a cloaking device, although it wasn't a concious decision, to be brutally honest I hadn't even thought twice about the cloak. The 'history' of the vessel in my mind (from the perspective of the TNG era) was that it is a civilian and military freighter, but it is an older design, nearly 80 years now. I guess the key is that it would be unusual to find a cloaking device on the frieghter, but not impossible.
During its military hey-day it would have been supported by Warbirgs and Birds of Prey for an invasion, and likely to be entering planetary orbit after the bombardment... But I see no problem with early cloaking devices on the odd model... Simply give it a lower maximum cloak rating...

2 - Again, I han't really thought too much about making it landing capable, the mental picture I had was that it wasn't and that it could drop the cargo containers from orbit, the cargo protected by inertial dampers, automatic landing thrusters, anti-gravs and lots of foam padding ... I suppose it could easily be landing capable, which would enhance its abilities as a freighter, in which case you are quite correct and the nacelles would need to move like the Klingon BoP's... Something to think about for a Spacedock version perhaps...

3 - Glad you like it. Blame it on SIR SIG... All I knew was that I wanted somthing different from the rhomboid used by the DY's and Fortunate Son... And your quite right it does go with the 'bird' concept, I hadn't even noticed Oops.

4 - Front Nacelles... hmmmI saw a concept for the Nova class in the TNG tech manual... and wasn't really too keen... But it would certainly be a sure-fire way to seperate a design fro the Federation standard... I may file that away for another Alien design. Speaking of which, my flatmate suggested that as a Romulan design this ship requires a huge gaping hole in the middle...


Last call for any artists/talented people to take a stab at a decent pic of this ship? Owen? Anton214? Anyone?

[Thorn]

Being that it is a civilian freighter and an older model and the fact that the Romulans probably didn't invest much in the design I sort of invision the ship as long and tri-angular with 3 nacells, non atmosphereic, and holding 6 block type drop pods with a slanted front, able to make land fall under there own power. It has sort of a Vulcanish apearance reminiscent of the origional ships they left Vulcan in. Add in the bird like front and you have a ship that looks a lot like the construction ships seen in Armada.




When all is lost, buy some more.

[Dan Gurden]

Initial doodles for a proposed third nacelle were dropped today when the designer realised that the dorsal mounted nacelle and fin made the Starship look too much like the Babylon 5 'Excalibur'...

A Tal'Shair spokeswoman today said.

"Normally we would use assasination and covert operations to rectify this problem, but they got Hollywood lawyers out there... If we're not careful, they could sue us, and end up owning the Empire. Discression is the better part of Valour!"

[Phoenix]

Bringing back the dead here.

But, I was thinking about the egg shaped drop ship concept and the old Icon linked Vel'Tar class, and was wondering what other people thought of the 'egg' shaped idea, or should the design retain a more traditional Romulan look?

I've gotten my self into a slight image design mode (Sorry, I'm not doing requests at this time) and have come to the proverbal fork in the road, so a little help please.

Many Thanks,

[Antonsb214]

I'll give this ship a shot, give me a day or two to draw, finish up and at least get a side view done, so... you got a D7 front end and a long neck, how many decks in the neck, and is the tail end D7ish or more like an old warbird or something more neo-Romulan?

[Antonsb214]

Ok, so it took me ten minutes... I was never good at figuring out deadlines any ways, it's at my web page.
http://bellsouthpwp.net/A/n/AntonSpl...rek%20Page.htm
everything should look fine, as long as your resolution is over 800X600.

And remember it's a prototype, a really rough draft.

[Phoenix]

Originally posted by Antonsb214
I'll give this ship a shot, give me a day or two to draw, finish up and at least get a side view done, so... you got a D7 front end and a long neck, how many decks in the neck, and is the tail end D7ish or more like an old warbird or something more neo-Romulan?

I've sent you an E-mail on this. let me know your thoughts in relpy.