Page 1 of 4 123 ... LastLast
Results 1 to 15 of 55

Thread: [CODA] Modfied BOP for the Romulans

  1. #1

    [CODA] Modfied BOP for the Romulans

    I dont know..maybe its just me... but i have a hard time swallowing the modified BOP for the Romulans in the Starship sourcebook. Granted that its a fine supplement but one thing that bothers me is the stats for the modfied BOP. What exactly bothers me is the fact that it has to remove the plasma weapon and the cloaking device to make room for the warp drives. With that in mind it baffles me that this ship made it through the Tomed Incident. I mean without the cloaking the device and or maybe the plasma weapon how is the Romulans supposed to be a force to be reckon with in the pre-Warbird years? I was hoping that there might be some folks that might share the same sentiment or at least maybe some clarification on this.

  2. #2

    Re: [CODA] Modfied BOP for the Romulans

    Well, end of the day, the final version can be whatever you want ti to be, Give it warp, cloak and plasma weapon if you like, after all, its your game.

    However, I dont see the problem myself. If you consider that the Romulans did not have FTL drives, there must have been other factors at work. The Honour and Glory helps to keep the ships crew morale high, which would enable long-term missions, enabling them to patrol borders without the benefit of FTL travel

    Perhaps this explains why Federation Space is larger than Romulan Space? All those years without FTL propulsion meant that it took years just to complete a border patrol, however anyone straying into Romulan Space was at the mercy of their ships while there?

    Also remember that this is just for a short while, as the TOS Lore allows the Romulans to trade for Warp Drives from the Klingons.

    Lastly, why not do what LUG did, allow the Romulans limited Warp Drive. The ICON Romulans allowed for 'Warp Bottles' basically a small energy source able to provide the required power supply to achieve super-luminary speeds, placing the problem squarely withing their starship power generation systems rather than on a technological level... Trouble with these units is that they are 1-shot power supplies. So Romulans could Warp into battle and strike, but then return under Impulse speeds... And, no, there was not enough room to carry mutiple 'Warp Bottles'...
    DanG/Darth Gurden
    The Voice of Reason and Sith Lord

    “Putting the FUNK! back into Dysfunctional!”

    Coming soon. The USS Ganymede NCC-80107
    "Ad astrae per scientia" (To the stars through knowledge)

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Feb 2001
    Location
    Brockville, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    4,394

    Re: Re: [CODA] Modfied BOP for the Romulans

    Originally posted by Dan Gurden
    Perhaps this explains why Federation Space is larger than Romulan Space?
    Speak for yourself. I prefer the using the map ICON supplied where the Empire spans both the Alpha and Beta Quads.

    Back to the point, yeah that is kind of silly. I don't have the book (and won't be getting it) what is the Rom BOP armed with then? Personally, I think it is just another oversight by our friends at Dec.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2002
    Location
    Salinas, Calif., USA (a Chiefs fan in an unholy land)
    Posts
    3,379
    Here's how I handled the problem. You can find my FASA Romulan designs here:

    "Prior to 2268, all Romulan ships used a "magnetic bottle" to power their warp drives. The fuel in the bottle is expended after every use of the drive. The Romulan ship is required to refuel, either at an installation or by collecting hydrogen particles in the outer atmosphere of a gas giant or within the innermost orbit of a star. Depending on the procedure, refueling requires 6-10 hours."

    This allows for a merging of the "limited" FTL capability idea from Icon and that the Romulans didn't have a true "warp drive" prior to the 2267 treaty with the Klingons.

    I never did an update of the TOS BoP, but you can easily tweak the ship to include a warp drive (I think I did one on paper that didn't cause problems). Regardless, it's your game, so you can tweak "canon" to fit your needs.
    Davy Jones

    "Frightened? My dear, you are looking at a man who has laughed in the face of death, sneered at doom, and chuckled at catastrophe! I was petrified."
    -- The Wizard of Oz

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2002
    Location
    Canada
    Posts
    31
    For me, i dont think that the romulans used that kind of technology(magnetic bottle), in fact its not canon, and its no used for an Empire to defend itself.

    More they indeed have warp drive in those time, but instead of using matter/antimatter they relied on Fusion Reactor as power source to feed they warp nacelle, while making research for the Singularity Warp Engine.

    Go and check this out!

    http://www.ex-astris-scientia.org/inconsistencies2a.htm

    nb: and dont forget to read it all.


    In the Preator Name!
    Romulans believe their way of life is best; their culture, they feel is superior to all others, and they seek to impose their culture on the rest of the galaxy, at the point of a disruptor if need be.


  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2002
    Location
    Salinas, Calif., USA (a Chiefs fan in an unholy land)
    Posts
    3,379
    To each his own, I suppose. With the "magnetic bottle" theory that I lifted from LUG Trek, I'm trying to bridge the idea that the Romulans didn't have a true warp drive until their 2268 treaty with the Klingons with the need for some type of FTL capability to forge an Empire that could fight a sustained war with Earth in the 2150s.

    The ex astra history is an interesting read, it's no more, or less, canon than my idea, and it's no more, or less, valid. Choose the idea you like best and run with it.
    Davy Jones

    "Frightened? My dear, you are looking at a man who has laughed in the face of death, sneered at doom, and chuckled at catastrophe! I was petrified."
    -- The Wizard of Oz

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Feb 2001
    Location
    Brockville, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    4,394
    Other then warp tech, what would be valuable enough for the Romulans to trade the cloaking device for?

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    Newcastle, England
    Posts
    3,462
    IMHO - the Magnetic bottle idea fits very neatly into the mythos. As a drive technology it is a precursor to the later used Quantum singularity. The Canon goes that they did not have warp drive. That does not mean they could not travel at super luminal velocities, it simply means they did not have a CDP engine which could warp space on demand. I also would imagine it would require a 'recharge' period, with refuling neccessary, rather than a complete resupply. This would account for the Canon TOS episodes where they were in deep space, unable to easily resupply it and therefore jump to warp, but the fact they were so far from home means realistically they needed one! Also once the empire conquored a system, with a fleet of warbirds, they could easily send a construction crew to build a syphoning plant for a gas giant, for their ships, so they could safelly 'jump' from one of their systems to the next.. only patrolls would have to be limited to impulse speeds.

    I also have to agree on the point about Cloaking technology. It would have been extremelly unlikelly for them to have traded it for anything less. Their weapons technology was already (arguably) superior!
    Ta Muchly

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Mar 2002
    Location
    Canada
    Posts
    31
    Originally posted by Sea Tyger
    To each his own, I suppose. With the "magnetic bottle" theory that I lifted from LUG Trek, I'm trying to bridge the idea that the Romulans didn't have a true warp drive until their 2268 treaty with the Klingons with the need for some type of FTL capability to forge an Empire that could fight a sustained war with Earth in the 2150s.

    The ex astra history is an interesting read, it's no more, or less, canon than my idea, and it's no more, or less, valid. Choose the idea you like best and run with it.
    but you Forget that this site Ex Astris Scientia is well known as an accurate source of information regardless Star Trek.
    Romulans believe their way of life is best; their culture, they feel is superior to all others, and they seek to impose their culture on the rest of the galaxy, at the point of a disruptor if need be.


  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    Newcastle, England
    Posts
    3,462
    How do you mean 'accurate'? Yes his evidence is well compiled, his arguments are very well thought out and I would personally rate his site extremelly high on accuracy, but his work is just THEORY as it states very clearly in the article.

    As Sea tyger said - run with whatever you feel you want too because it's a grey area that won't be settled untill we do or do not see Romulans traveling at warp in the no doubt up and coming Romulan war which will no doubt be appearing in a few seasons on Enterprise.

    Star trek is full of contradictions and inconsistencies and several people including Extremelly well researched fans and even Technical specialists from the show have tried to write arround, but at the end of the day it's up to you what you beleive in. There's no law against that (Ok in some countries their is, but then you just have to keep your mouth shut!) At the end of the day a theory is just a well informed guess untill it is backed up with evidence; which in this case points to them not having warp drive. Most Startrek technical sites state that any non canon material is such, for example the excelent www.ditl.org site which even colour codes Cannon, back stage info and fact accordingly, because there is no fussier thing than a Startrek fan!

    One case in point, however, is that that specific ship had no warp drive. Did they ever state the Romulans as a society didn't? If the Romulans encountered a shuttlepod they might assume the Federation was a primitive culture only capable of making slow fusion engines with limited range
    Ta Muchly

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Mar 2002
    Location
    Canada
    Posts
    31
    Originally posted by Phantom
    Other then warp tech, what would be valuable enough for the Romulans to trade the cloaking device for?
    D7 Klingon Battle Cruiser ships and D7 Warp Engine(Matter/Anitmatter)


    Its too obvious that 2 cylinders on the TOS Warbird are warp nacelles. Since they relied in that time on fusion reactor as power source , that can explain why it cant cloak and go to warp at the same time, considering it consume to much power. When an alliance came between Romulan and Klingon, Power source was no more a problem with Matter/Antimatter, But that didnt make them stop there, they even developed a bettter power source for their need, the QSD.

    nb: In the Series Enterprise: Minefield you can see clearly the Early Bird of Prey Warp Nacelles. It should be clear now that Romulans were supposed to have warp drive and cloaking Device ever since they encountered humans.

    In the Preator Name!
    Romulans believe their way of life is best; their culture, they feel is superior to all others, and they seek to impose their culture on the rest of the galaxy, at the point of a disruptor if need be.


  12. #12
    Join Date
    Mar 2002
    Location
    Canada
    Posts
    31
    Originally posted by Tobian
    IMHO - the Magnetic bottle idea fits very neatly into the mythos. As a drive technology it is a precursor to the later used Quantum singularity. The Canon goes that they did not have warp drive. That does not mean they could not travel at super luminal velocities, it simply means they did not have a CDP engine which could warp space on demand. I also would imagine it would require a 'recharge' period, with refuling neccessary, rather than a complete resupply. This would account for the Canon TOS episodes where they were in deep space, unable to easily resupply it and therefore jump to warp, but the fact they were so far from home means realistically they needed one! Also once the empire conquored a system, with a fleet of warbirds, they could easily send a construction crew to build a syphoning plant for a gas giant, for their ships, so they could safelly 'jump' from one of their systems to the next.. only patrolls would have to be limited to impulse speeds.


    a good theory, but its yours.


    I also have to agree on the point about Cloaking technology. It would have been extremelly unlikelly for them to have traded it for anything less. Their weapons technology was already (arguably) superior!
    for anything less than Matter/antimatter power source and D7 Klingon Ships... et voila!

    In the Preator Name!
    Romulans believe their way of life is best; their culture, they feel is superior to all others, and they seek to impose their culture on the rest of the galaxy, at the point of a disruptor if need be.


  13. #13
    Join Date
    Jul 2003
    Location
    Newcastle, England
    Posts
    3,462
    Apparently it wasn't obvious to Scotty The idea that Scotty couldn't determine that a ship was warp powered because it only used fusion power is rediculous. Early earth vessels (such as the Pheonix herself) only used fusion power. The only reason the BOP had warp nacelles was because it was just a bad kitbash of the enterprise

    it is a common misunderstanding that the 'warp core' has anything to do with warp other than to provide power to the nacelles, which generate the warp field. A Quantum Singularity power core does not drive the ship, it simply powers it. Not being able to cloak and fire are not mutually exclusive based on power. As you say a Cloaked vesel still has enough power to fire, it simply can't because of the cloaking device. Only 2 vesels, one klingon and one Reman have been shown as capable of doing this because of a redesign of the cloak and not the power systems (because you see the section in question uncloaking)
    Ta Muchly

  14. #14
    I don't follow Enterprise.. but recently i have been watching episodes to keep up to date (and starting to somewhat appreciaate it). But i heard when they showed the Romulans in one of the episodes they had warp capablitlies and cloaking too.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Feb 2001
    Location
    Brockville, Ontario, Canada
    Posts
    4,394
    Originally posted by Tomalak
    Its too obvious that 2 cylinders on the TOS Warbird are warp nacelles.
    Then why did it's Commander not Warp accross the NZ to safety instead of the liesurely pace of impulse that was used in the ep? Even Romulan Commanders are not that cocky to play cat and mouse with a Connie.

    Also, in the ep "Minefield" I don't recall any of the Romulan ships travelling at warp.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •