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1THE GREAT MACHINEISSUE 13 February 2005 THE GREAT MACHINE

A Call to ArmsA Call to Arms

2 THE GREAT MACHINE ISSUE 13 February 2005THE GREAT MACHINE


ContentsContentsContentsContentsContents

Who dares summon me?What contrivance is this? Who dares

transport me across space against my will? If I wereas I once was, a pillar of fire smoldering acrossdimensions, I would smite this entire world without asecond thought.

It is as I feared. Even into this future whichyou have conveyed my shell humans still spread likea loath plague. You spread across entire worlds…how have you managed to not be destroyed? If whatthis whimpering wretch of a creature tells me is true,you have learned to break the barriers betweendimensions – and even time. Yet you have notawakened any of the sleeping beasts, nor found yourway into any of various hell dimensions – not eventhe shrimp dimension.

What is this? Your ancestors spent theirfrivolous years playing games?! I care not for thedifferences between these contemptuous humangames. Why should anyone care? Once again, youseek to close yourselves in, it is maddening!

This thing… this “Zathras” tells me that thereare aliens among the stars. I am not entirely convincedof this. Are these truly alien creatures, or just someform of demon or half-breed? I cannot tell. His talk ofthe Abbai and their “satellites” makes me ill. Do thesecreatures really think they can defend against thewrath of an Old One such as I was a million yearsago?

The Vidiians and Courata… these disgust meeven more! You let the weak survive? They exist onlyfor my pleasure, to be spent in the throws of anguishand ground into the dust for my amusement. Whywould anyone suffer their continued existence? Youare fools.

It seems that one named Draal can send meback to my reality. I only hope that the corruption thatis humanity can be erased from that timeline longbefore this era dawns. If only my army had survived…

Illyria,ANCIENT DEMON GODDESS, RETIRED

3 A Call to ArmsA look at several new toys introducedinto the Babylon 5 universe by way ofMongoose Publishing’s new role-playingand tabletop games!

4 White Star VariantsRich Bax invites us to shield the eyesof nearby innocents as he takes us ona journey into the twisted world ofMongoose White Star Variants.

5 Another InterestingChange for E-Minesin A Call to ArmsMongoose has jazzed up the Narn energymine, and Jeremy Ward is here to guideus through how to incorporate thesechanges into Babylon 5 Wars.

8 All My Satellites:Abbai OSATs ExpandedOur favorite aquatic pacifists are readyto “fight no more forever” with this newbatch of Abbai OSATs inspired by theMongoose RPG.

10 Custom Ships for All!Robert Green invites us back for anotherdouble dose of hilarity with these wildand crazy variants, inspired by thepersonalities of the b5wars.net forums.

12 The Vidiian Solidarity

16 The Suliban: WhereAre they Now?

18 Cathaara Dreadnought

19 The Stracynski Report

21 Next Issue

ContentsContentsContentsContentsContents



Mongoose’s Game:A Call to Arms

Introduction by Tyrel Lohr

A Call to Arms

IntroductionThis issue of The Great

Machine focuses on bringingsome of the elements ofMongoose Publishing’s Babylon5 games into the Babylon 5 Warsgames system. MongoosePublishing recently released theirown tabletop miniatures wargame, entitled A Call to Arms ofcourse, which has met with mixed

reviews. In developing theBabylon 5 license, Mongoose’swriters have added additionalcontent beyond that created byformer licensees (The BabylonProject, Agents of Gaming, andSierra), while retaining much ofthe pre-existing content createdby those licensees. Material wascollected from limited playersubmissions and postsgenerated on the b5wars.netweb forums.

The Great Machinereceived very little interest in thetopic, possibly because of aseeming animosity towards

Mongoose from among theBabylon 5 Wars audience.Because of the lack ofsubmissions, most of thethematic content in this issuecomes from postings by playerson the b5wars.net forums. So, forthose of you that follow theforums religiously, this materialwill seem like a rehash of pasttopics. We are sorry that this isthe case, but we would like tothank those unintentionalcontributors who spent theprevious month debating andcreating material related to theBabylon 5 role-playing game.

A Call to Arms



IntroductionThe Rangers book for the

Babylon 5 role-playing gameintroduced several new White Starvariants into their game system. Thisincluded such new ships as a WhiteStar carrier, gunship, and super-sized command ship. Rich Bax wasbrave enough to take on the job ofconverting Mongoose’s statistics forthese ships into the Babylon 5 Warsgame system. Rich did his best toreign in the designs, but with a strictcaveat: “these were never intendedto be designs I would consider.

New White StarsSCS by Rich Bax

Article by Tyrel Lohr

WHITE STAR VARIANTSThese are simply development (sic),based on the specs provided in theRangers Book by MongoosePublishing.”

Rich’s take on the horde ofnew White Stars is included in thisissue’s attachments. This includes:

Upgrade White StarA White Star equipped with

an improved energy mine.Otherwise, this White Star is muchthe same as the standard model.

White Star CarrierA White Star lineage hull

(originally meant to be the same asa normal White Star, but altered forthe sake of sanity!) which has bothstrong offensive and defensiveweaponry and can carry 26 fighters.

White Star GunshipThis ferocious beast has the

firepower of a battleship on theframe of a large destroyer or lightcruiser, and it carries 12 fightersbesides! The Neshatan’s designersprobably feel pretty silly after seeingwhat the magical White StarGunship can do!

White Star FighterA super-heavy fighter, this is

Rich’s translation of Mongoose’sversion of the White Star fighter, firstintroduced in the Babylon 5 novels.Mongoose’s version, however, bearslittle resemblance to the fighter fromTo Dream in the City of Sorrows.

* * *



ALL MYSATELLITES:

Abbai OSATSExpanded

IntroductionOne of the elements of the

Mongoose League of the Non-Aligned Worlds supplement that Ifound interesting was the inclusionof several additional orbital defensesfor the Abbai Matriarchy. Of thedesigns that have manifested underthe guidance of Mongoose, these

advanced defenses at least madesome degree of sense based on theAbbai defensive mindset.

Iala Defense SatelliteThe Iala is a dedicated anti-

fighter satellite which called for theinclusion of three Quad Arrays. Now,this is a little silly unless the OSATis supposed to be much larger thanthe standard Alanti OSAT. So, withthe Iala, I decided that it would makemore sense to give the satellites justtwo Quad Arrays, but to leave themwith the 360° arc of fire possessedby the Alanti’s sole Quad Array.Doing so produces an OSAT withgood close-in firepower, excellentagainst fighters.

Binala Attack SatelliteAs with the Iala, the Binala

variant called for the inclusion ofthree weapons of a single type. Inthis case, that variation was threeCombat Lasers! Again, if we weredealing with a satellite several ordersof magnitude larger than the Alanti,there might just be a case for sucha weapons upgrade, but not in thiscase. So I removed one of theCombat Lasers from the design andeliminated the Quad Array, as perthe Binala’s original design. I left thesecond Combat Laser with the samearc as the first, though there is agood argument for expending thearcs of both in order to simulate the

coverage of a third Combat Laserto get a quasi-improved effect.

Does the Binala seemAbbai? In a way, yes. It reflects thedesperation of the Dilgar War periodand the realization that theirdefenses would have to become farmore lethal if they planned onsurviving past their currentgeneration.

Shyneth ImprovedSatellite

The Shyneth is the Abbaisatellite that caught my eye in theMongoose supplement. A HeavyCombat Laser? I was intrigued! Itmade some degree of sense that theAbbai would put their biggest gun ona fixed defense platform, using itsolely for defense. But putting it onan Alanti chassis? Well, we can’thave everything.

Unlike with the other satellitevariants, the Shyneth requires thecreation of a new weapon: the HeavyCombat Laser. Mongoose has setthe damage of the standard CombatLaser at 4d10+40 and the HeavyCombat Laser at 3d10+60. InBabylon 5 Wars, the Combat Laserdoes 3d10+20. So let’s get crackingon those conversion numbers, shallwe?

On the variable dice side ofthe damage, the Heavy CombatLaser actually does less damagethan a standard Combat Laser. Sowe are going to set that at 2d10 forthe B5W version. Now, what about

ALL MYSATELLITES:

Abbai OSATS Expanded

Mongoose’s NewAbbai Satellites

By Tyrel Lohr


A Call to ArmsA Call to Armsour fixed damage? A little quickcross-multiplication gives us 30 fixeddamage on the gun, for a finaldamage code of 2d10+30. The“Heavy” Combat Laser does nomore damage then than a normalCombat Laser! It is just a little moredependable, that’s all.

So what about the weapon’sother statistics? Let’s assume thatthis is the area in which the Abbaiengineers opted to specialize andadvance the system. I increased therange of the weapon by one bracketin addition to improving the anti-shipfire control. This produces a CombatLaser that is quite capable ofreaching out over long distances anddamaging inbound enemy warships.Sounds like something the Abbaiwould have wanted during the DilgarWar but not bothered much withafterwards, doesn’t it?

ConclusionThe Abbai satellites have a

place in the B5W game system,particularly in campaigns makinguse of Abbai units. These extrasatellite types can go a long waytowards creating a fully fleshed-outdefense perimeter around any Abbaicolony.

* * *

The Tal-kona’shaThe Tal-kona’sha

Have youseenthis

Cylon?

If so, call:

1-800-SAWCYLON

Last issue (Issue 12), we ran David Ainsworth’s Tal-kona-shaarticle along with several units detailed within the article.Unfortunately, time did not permit us to complete all of therequired ship control sheets before that issue was released.

Thanks to Geoffrey Stano, the remaining Tal-kona’sha shipcontrol sheets are included in the attachments of this issue.Geoffrey deserves a big pat on the back for helping us throughthis rough patch. Hip, hip, hurray!

Oops...

We inadvertently forgot toinclude the ship control sheet forthe Urutha Tal Battleship fromthe last issue’s Twelve Variantsof Christmas article. It isincluded in the attachments ofthis issue instead.



Introduction Robert Green (ducttapeherald)has put together a series of uniqueship variants based on thepersonalities that frequent theb5wars.net. We will be featuring oneor more of these special variants ineach issue.

Haven Party BoatRace: CentauriForum Member: Reid HupachOriginal Hull: Haven Patrol Boat

Centauri are known for theirdrink ... and their partying. And onecentauri Commander took this togreat extreme once he discoveredjust how much space the mattercannon took inside his ship.Beleiving that space could be betterutilized for Brevari storage and a nicedisco dance floor, he requested thatthe cannon be removed, and thearea sealed for eventualdevelopment into such.

Initially laughed out of theroom, some higher ranked Admiralstook thought into the needs of theircrews, and this "morale boosting"measure was put into place.

When this ship is involved ina scenerio, it has several effects.First of all, all Centauri receive a +1morale bonus to their initiative. Theship also has an ExpertRequisitionist (Scavenger) included

in its cost, and is the only non-capitalship allowed to have an ExpertPolitical Officer, who will locatehimself in the Party House. (ThePolitical Officer is not included, butthe option is available, and ifincluded, he must be located in theParty House)

Naturally, the crews on theship, although not the best in therepublic, due to the nature of thecargo, may not be at stations fullysober. As such, this ship Alwaysoperates under Low Crew Training,in addition to any special effects.

Lypo CastrationCruiserRace: AbbaiForum Member: SmootOriginal Hull: Miliani Carrier

The Abbai are ones to keepsecrets. Showing a face of pacifismand calmness, nearly every Abbaifeels the same way. Nearly...

For some of the more ..aggressive (most races wouldn't callthese folk aggressive, but they douse physical force a lot more oftenthen most of their race) Abbai, theyare given roles in raider hunting.However, one of them managed toconvince the Matriarchy to have aship built. A ship specifically for thetotal evisceration of whatever enemyit needed to do this task to. Assigning

Custom ShipsFor All...

Custom ShipsFor All...

By Robert Green

all your "basket cases" to a coupleof ships made them much easier tokeep under control.

Believeing this to be a soundidea, the Abbai attempted the designof a ship that could fit the bill, andwhat you see, is what they created.

This ship is piloted byCombat Abbai, and as such, havemore of a belief to destroy thineenemy before thine enemy destroysyou, but even so, not even to theextent of most races.

Jihad "Support"CruiserRace: MarkabForum Member: JBWOriginal Hull: Makfa

"Find the biggest gun around, and thenlets find a ship to mount it to! We mustshow the heathen that we are not tobe denied our holy retribution"

"Yes, High Priest"

"We know of this weapon those Draziguys use, a bigger version of our ownParticle Cannon. I don't know how bigit is, but surely the Makfa could handleit, at least, structurally."

"Ah, yes, I am aware of such a device.When would one be made available."

"By Droth's will."



BABYLON 5 WARS ON THE WEB

For those of you who have been living underneath a very large,comfortable rock for the past year or more, Mr. Punch’s website ishome to an extensive collection of Babylon 5 Wars ship control sheets.Of particular interest are the Venerable Hyach upgrades he has madeavailable, upgrading the Hyach fleet in an attempt to better reflecttheir technological age and sophistication.

http://www.netsoc.tcd.ie/~mrpunch/Babylon5/B5W/

And so, the idea that wouldbecome the Jihad was born. It tooksome time, but Markab scientists(working at a feverish pace),managed to get a working prototypeHeavy Particle Cannon done, andmounted through the forwardweapon and cargo bay of a MakfaCruiser. Then the scientistsdiscovered that the weapon was sopower draining, they diverted powerfrom the other 2 Plasma Cannons(later replacing them withScatterguns, to keep the powercurve at a norm). Once launched,this ship then rampaged its way tothe Markab fleet, only to discoverthat by the time it arrived, the Battleof Omelos was over and won.Distraught, the ship then saught its

attention to send ANY naysayer orwrongdoer to the great beyond...

Achoo Anit-BallisticCruiserRace: YoluForum Member: StarfuryOriginal Hull: Aluin

Some Yolu genuinely fearedthe Ballistic weapons brought by theKor-Lyans. However, these Yolu alsoknew that the weapons, althoughcapable of dealing a lot of damage,are easily intercepted. Most of theYolu ships lacked enoughinterception ability to handle a

dedicated Kor-Lyan barrage.That, with the added proof

that the need for a larger protectivenet from the Dilgar War, gave someyolu engineers a chance to developwhat would be called a SmallWeapons Defence Cruiser (SWD).This ship would mount largenumbers of fusion cannons in anattempt to be able to destroyincoming fighters or missiles beforethey can deal damage to the rest ofthe fleet.

The Idea for this capital shipversion was scrapped in favor of asmaller, quicker ship, but this oneremains.

* * *

Did You Know?“White Star” is spelled as twoseparate words. “Whitestar” isan incorrect spelling oftenused by fans. So the next timeyou go to create a ship controlsheet or talk about thissignature Babylon 5 ship,remember that it is “WhiteStar,” not “Whitestar.” Got it?

This message brought to you by TyrelLohr. Because I am a jerk, obviously.



IntroductionThe balance of power in the

Delta Quadrant has long beenprecarious, with many minor powersspread throughout known spacehoping to avoid the juggernaut thatis the Borg Collective. Unlike theAlpha Quadrant, the Delta Quadrantlacks the stabilizing presence of abeneficent society such as theFederation, one that can turn foe intoally and offer the hope for a bettertomorrow for all those that accept itspeace. Those societies that couldhave perhaps arisen to suchaspirations in the looming shadowof the hive mind have failed in theirpromise, as the dissolution of theTrabe society into the warring sectsof the Kazon, the temporalmalfeasance of the once proudKrenim Imperium, and thepersecution of their own geneticpotential by the Devore Imperiumhas evidenced.

In this chaotic maelstrom ofDarwinism writ large, a race arosethat had a chance to become thatstabilizing influence in the DeltaQuadrant. The Vidiian Sodalityevolved into a highly cultured race,renowned for their artistry, andlauded as educators andphilanthropists. They explored thelimits of medical science, culturalphilosophy, and then took theiridealism to the stars. Theyrepresented a shining example ofwhat other species in the regioncould aspire.

Then, over two millenniaago, their reality became unhinged,as infection spread throughout theirbodies with unheard of virulence.Then came the Phage.

In the species first andgreatest test, they failed. Strickenby a disease of horrific proportions,immune to the vaccines and curesof their finest physicians, the Phagedestroyed living tissues, leaving atfirst putrefaction then liquefication inits wake. Millions were struck down,as their organs withered andbetrayed them. The Phage itselfadapted and mutated withfrightening regularity, and whensome brilliant mind created a few

brief moments of promise for asolution to the plague of their era, itonly worked to crush the Vidiianpeople when hopes for a cureinevitably evaporated before theireyes. There was no resisting, nohope of restraining the Phage. Thisdespair was made even moreunbearable when they realized thatyoung Vidiians were being infectedeven in the womb. The nextgeneration of Vidiian offspring wereborn knowing the touch of thePhage.

Vidiian society, already at theforefront of medical knowledge,staggered under the proposition thatthere was none more advanced thentheir own physicians to offer themrespite from the deadly disease.Originally they found that organsculled quickly from the dead couldoffer temporary succor to thoseafflicted, but soon even that resourceproved inadequate to provide for astar-spanning race whose everycolony was contaminated Theirmedical technology turned to adarker purpose, and the VidiianSodality as it now exists came to theforefront: members of an organstealing race that lived only tocontinue their own wretched

Protect Your InternalOrgans, it’s the Vidiians!

By Christian Meador


A Call to ArmsA Call to Armsexistence, their genius turned to adark purpose by animating putridflesh with the essence of others. Itremains an unbearable strain ontheir racial conscience that they canjustify only in the hopes thatsomeday the secret of the Phage willbe unlocked and their cultureredeemed.

Until then, a race that couldhave been among the mostenlightened and beneficent in thegalaxy have become dark parasites,and are feared by their neighborswith an intensity that is usuallyreserved only for the Borg. TheCollective may assimilate entireraces, but the Vidiians will take yourinternal organs and leave the restas so much detritus, the discardedbody a grim reminder of thedesperation of an advanced culturethat became bereft of their ethics forone last chance at continuedexistence.

Vidiian Technologyand Design

The Vidiians show superiortechnology to the Federation onseveral levels. The first and mostimpressive advantage they have isin their medical technology, and areshown to be able to deal withmedical ailments beyond that of thecurrent state of affairs in the AlphaQuadrant, and even separatedifferent genetic inheritances intounique beings. While this should beworked into any campaign theVidiians are involved in, as a matterof course for Bablyon 5 Wars spacecombat this acts only as anequalizing factor, allowing theirmarines and crew personnel toignore the deleterious effects of thePhage for limited period duringcombat. Vidiian boardingcontingents and crew quality does

not suffer any penalties in battle,though they are forced to use slavesfor manual labor intensive projectsin day to day life.

The Phage has had manyeffects on Vidiian society, and oneof the more noticeable ones in B5Wars is their inability to use theirtransporter technology with anyreliability. As the mutating virus isinterwoven into their geneticstructure, it makes it impossible toget an efficient lock-on with combattransporter technology, a limitationthe Vidiians have yet to overcome.The ever-practical organ harvesters

have adapted to this problem byinstalling grappling claw technologyamongst their ships. Standardgrappling claw rules for boardingapply, with one added feature. Onthe turn the grappling claw attaches,extremely powerful graviticenumerators help the claw punchthrough the ship’s hull, causingconsiderable matter class damageto the target in question.

Weaponry amongst theSodality is limited, but effective. Inthe episode Coda we learn thatVidiians use phaser technology very

similar to the Federations own. Theversatility and adaptability of theweapon suits their nature, and theyuse phaser banks with almostsurgical skill. However, they havenot yet refined the process to a highdegree, and the Medium PhaserBank is the current height of theirtechnical achievement.

Vidiian shield technologiesare more impressive, and theadvance of a Vidiian ship due to thissuperior defensive ability is oftendescribed as inexorable. Vidiianships can withstand surprisingamounts of damage, and while their

ability to regenerate their failingbodily systems is lacking the shieldrecharge rate that their generatorsproject is admirable.

When the Vidiians need toforego subtlety for raw strength theirtechnological prowess is not foundwanting. The HyperthermicCharges fired from torpedoprojectors on their ships carry thepunch of a heavy photon torpedo,at the cost of accuracy and range.However the wave front of aHyperthermic explosion isconsiderable, in the Episode


A Call to ArmsA Call to ArmsDeadlock knocking out all of anIntrepid class starships weaponsarray.

EM Blast Beams are anotherunique weapon to the Sodality. Inlarge part inspired by their hand heldHarvester weapons, the BlastBeams fire two arcing EM streams,similar in appearance to a lightningdischarge. The carrier beam is apowerful EM burst, causing systemshortages and power black outs,similar to the more conventional EMBurst Beam. However, thesecondary beam riding on the carrierbeam at a slight phase variance is amore traditional energy transferenceweapon, causing damage similar inorder to a light phaser. Indeed, theEM Blast Beam has taken over theplace of the light phaser in modernships in the Vidiian fleet, and hasproven to be quite adept atneutralizing fleeing shuttles with itsdrop out effect while still being ableto punch through a victim’s shieldswith the Phaser penetration.

Finally, the social pressuresthat individual Vidiians findthemselves in are considerable.Once a gregarious a race, theVidiians have retreated into their ownpersonal space, as they avoidreminders of their conditions that aremirrored in the grotesquedeformities they see in othermembers of the Sodality. Even inthe confines of a starship they areunlikely to congregate in any largenumbers for anything less thandirect harvesting. The Commandand Control facilities are therefore

small, as often only two individualsare on the Bridge at any given time.This has occasionally proven adangerous practice during combat,and is reflected in a lesser numberof damage boxes for their C&Cs.

Ship Classes

Vidiian Cruiser A large capital class ship, the

Vidiian Cruiser differs in designphilosophy from the other ships inthe Vidiian fleet. While theInterceptor is designed for the hunt,and the Scout seeks out new donorsfor the honattas and their wards, theCruiser is equipped for warfare.There have been those in the pastthat have attempted to organize theirgovernments in armed resistance tothe Harvesting, but few havesurvived their encounters with themassive cruisers.

With an armamentconsisting of two hyperthermiccharges, combined with powerfulsuite of medium phasers and EMBlast Beams, the Vidiian Cruiser isa formidable advisary. Thecombination of relative agility for avessel of its size with massivelyreinforced shielding allows theCruiser to throw off the worst anenemy has while closing to captureopponents vessels with an immensegrappling claw. Once in the gripsof the Vidiian predator few shipscarry the troops to fight off its twelvemarine contingents.

Vidiian Interceptor A heavy combat vessel, the

Interceptor is designed to chasedown fleeing opponents, and collectthe ship in its grappling claw to beginthe harvest. Agile and responsive,the Interceptor is a lighter vessel forits class than the Cruiser, but no lesseffective in its chosen task. Unlikethe Cruiser, the Interceptor bears ahyperthermic charge in its aftsection, however it often leaves theweapon unpowered in order toincrease the strength of the shipstwin tractor beams in order to closewith its victims.

Vidiian ScoutA favorite among

independent medical researchersand the ever more frequent class ofVidiians known as Honattas, thosededicated to find replacementorgans for members of the Sodalitywho are close to ending theirexistence, the Scout is a commonsight near Vidiian borders. Acompetent EW vessel, it’s oftenused in a supporting role in largercombats, though the Sodalitydoesn’t have many neighbors leftthat can offer true resistance to theharvest. The Scout is unusualamong Sodality vessels, in that itincorporates forward mounted EMBlast Beams to incapacitate its prey,while still utilizing Light phaser banksin a point defense role. However,for all its capability the Scout wasn’tdesigned as a combat vessel, as its


A Call to ArmsA Call to Armsunusual design of having the C&Cin the forward structure shows.

Final ThoughtsThe Vidiians are not without

traces of the society they one were,but its difficult to find nobility in themon any but an individual level. Theirterritory of space is reduced sincethe beginnings of the Phage twomillennia ago, and they are forcedto send ships ever farther afield inorder to gain access to the organsthat allows the continuation of theirrace. They also are known to havelarge deployments, with ships ofthirty ships and diverse convoys acommon occurrence. Otherpossible ship types include theirdreaded Medical Research vesselsand a whole range of escorts andharvesting ships. They have alsobeen known to use prepared traps,by faking sensor reading for dilithiumdeposits, utilizing holographic forcefields to hide emplacements andtrapped areas, and prepositioninghollow asteroid with reflective innersurfaces to help avoid detection.

The Sodality is a fearsomeopponent, and one of the deadliestthreats the Delta Quadrant has tooffer. The day is coming when thePhage will be expunged from theirsystem, but until that day the Harvestcontinues, and should you lose anencounter with them ask whateverdeities you believe in their need thatday is not of an organ that youcannot afford to lose.

* * *

Letters from Mr. GornDear Flesh Monkeys,

It is I, the most reptilian Mr. Gorn! I am so happy to be writingyou from this Middle American smorgasbord that you Humansso quaintly call a beach. The warm sun and sand seem to attractscrumptious little snacks that make me one happy Gorn.

Despite retiring from the Gorn Space Armada, I feel compelledto remind you that several new Gorn ships were made availableon the Planetside site this past month. Of course I hate thatwebsite immensely because it doesn’t have enough focus onthe only world that matters: Gornar. Really, what is up with that,anyway? If you are going to create disgusting, filthy unofficialunits for this “Boring Long Fight Wars” game (or whatever),they might as well all be Gorn. At least that is what I think!

But I am having a wonderful vacation and hope to be homesoon. I might have to convince a few of these Humans to comeback with me. I could use a snack on my way home!

Love, Always,

Mr. Gorn



BackgroundThe master villains of

Enterprise’s first two seasons, theSuliban are shapeshifting,chameleon temporal thugs,genetically modified by a futureinterloper to promote their ownagenda in the past. They a completedeus ex machina wrapped in a verybad skin condition.

I can sometimes be too hardon Enterprise (okay, that isn’tpossible), but the Suliban havealways struck me as being one ofthe poorest racial foils to pop out ofthe Star Trek franchise. This opinionis probably mired in my vehementdislike of the entire temporal coldwar plot line, so I will be the first totell you that I am overwhelmingbiased against the Suliban.

That bias is part of thereason that I have waited so long toturn the Suliban loose on the generalpublic. These ships have been

completed since April of this yearbut, like the Son’a before them, I didnot feel that they were ready yet. Istill don’t think the Suliban are reallyready, either, but at this point I needoutside opinion to determine whatcan be done to “fix” them, or if it isnecessary.

Suliban ShipsThe Suliban have been seen

to rely on their stealthy fighter-sizepod ships, referred to often as ‘cellships’, more than anything else.Unfortunately for continuity, thatstealth factor is provided by a systemthat operates too much like acloaking device for my tastes. Youknow, one of those cloaking screensthat caught Kirk and crew off guardwhen the Romulans fielded it overone hundred years down thetimeline? Yes, one of those cloakingdevices. The rules for the stealthcloak found later in this articleattempts to tackle that particularsystem.

So we know that the Sulibanoperate large numbers of smallattack craft, coming in two distinctvarieties. What about larger ships?Only on one occasion (possibly two)did we get to see a larger Sulibanship, classified as a stealth cruiser.This ship was not all that muchlarger, however, so it should providean idea of the upward size limit ofSuliban ships.

Beyond these classes ofstarships, we were also introducedto one of the Suliban helices, large

bases that the smaller pod shipscongregate at, joining to the base ina hive-like cluster.

Suliban TechnologyThe weapons that the

Suliban have been noted as usingall appear to be little more than basicparticle weaponry. The cell-mountedweapons were able to harm the NX-01 on occasion, so I provided it withfairly heavy firepower for a Star Trekfighter unit. After all, it is reallysupposed to be a very small shipdespite is miniature size.

The Suliban arsenal is thebiggest reason why I have notpublished them until now. They tendto be extremely weak when put upagainst other units, but then thatseems to be representative of whatwe saw on the show.

Stealth CloakThe stealth cloak is a very

primitive version of the later cloakingdevice. It provides limited protectionfrom enemy sensors by way of activemasking techniques. The stealthcloak is generally only effectivewhen an enemy does not know yourlocation.

In play, treat the stealth cloaklike a cloaking device, with theexception that the stealth cloak hasa base cloak rating of 0 regardlessof the sensor rating of the operatingunit. Although the sensor rating nolonger is a determinant of the cloakrating, as it is with a standard

The Suliban:The Suliban:The Suliban:The Suliban:The Suliban:Where Are they Now?Where Are they Now?Where Are they Now?Where Are they Now?Where Are they Now?

Oh My! It is the Minionsof Future Guy! Gasp!

By Tyrel Lohr

The Suliban:The Suliban:The Suliban:The Suliban:The Suliban:Where Are they Now?Where Are they Now?Where Are they Now?Where Are they Now?Where Are they Now?



cloaking device, the sensors are stillintegral to sustaining the deception.For each point of EW lost, reducethe cloak rating of the unit by 1. Thiswill reduce the cloak rating into anegative rating, making enemydetection easier or, in the case ofunits within the negative detectionrange, instantaneous! The vesselremains cloaked, with all thepenalties that entails, despite thenegative cloak rating.

Example: A Suliban stealthcruiser has taken a sensor critical,reducing its sensor rating to 2 from4. The ship decides to cloak. Thebase cloak rating of its stealth cloakwas 0, but the reduction in EWreduces it to –2. The vessel is stillcloaked, however any enemy shipthat closes within two hexes of theship will detect it, even if it does nothave EW allocated towards cloakdetection. Otherwise, all enemycloak detection ranges will beconsidered 2 hexes longer as aresult of the diminished cloak rating.

Suliban UnitsWe met only a limited

number of Suliban units during theirtenure on Enterprise. Of these, mostwere highly advanced units thatbenefited from future technologies.

Cell FighterThis ubiquitous Suliban craft

is their primary warship. Armed witha single particle beam, Suliban cellfighters are capable of taking downships several times their sizethrough the use of swarm tactics.

Large Cell FighterThis larger, coffin-shaped

cell fighter was more powerful thanthe more common Cell Fighter, butwas still not the match of a truewarship.

Stealth CruiserOne of the largest ships

operated by the Suliban, the stealthcruiser was poorly armed. It reliedon stealth for survival. The SulibanStealth Cruiser is equipped with aStealth Cloak, similar to thatoperated by the Romulan StarEmpire during the period.

Salvage ShipThe Suliban Salvage Ship

was only seen once. It is a mid-size(for the period) freighter capable ofperforming recovery missions. It isonly lightly armed and easilydisabled.

Helix BaseThe Suliban Helices served

as core defense stations throughoutthe Cabal. Each Helix could dockcountless cell ships, making theexterior of the base look like ahoneycombed debris field obscuringthe true shape of the base. Onlylightly armed for its own defense,Helices relied on their docked cellships for protection.

* * *



IntroductionAs visitors to the Planetside

website (planetside.firenebula.com)have probably noticed by now, Iposted several Courata ships to thesite last month. This included a fewnever before seen ship classes.

Continuing that trend,Escalation Wars fans can lookforward to seeing several moreteaser classes and their historiesposted throughout the month ofMarch. Most will be previews of unitsand races that will make their debutin the Silhouettes in the ShadowsVictory by Any Means supplement.

Class HistoryThe first Cathaara

Dreadnought entered Courataservice in 1710 after three years ofdevelopment. The Cathaara

Dreadnoughts were intended asreplacements for the olderTharnathas currently in the employof the great houses of Kourat.Whereas the TharnathaDreadnought relied on connectionstruts to tie together the disparateelements of the ship’s hull, advancesin space construction technologyallowed the Cathaara to be built asa single integrated hull. Thepiecemeal construction used in theconstruction of older Couratastarships limited their capabilities.The Cathaara would not have thisproblem.

The Cathaara’s spaceframewas stronger than that of previousdreadnoughts, giving it extraresilience in combat. The ship wasalso more voluminous, allowinggreater numbers of systems to beinstalled. Much of this extra spacewas taken up by the Cathaara’s eightspinally-mounted HET lasers. Eightdistinct detonation chambers wereinstalled in the mid-section of theship with four amplification stagesrunning fore and another four aft,

each terminating in a single largeemitter/lens assemblage. No otherCourata warship had ever beenequipped with so much firepower!There was some worry that havingeight detonation chambers onboardthe dreadnought was extremelyrisky, but special precautions weretaken to ensure that the weaponcould quickly eject the detonationcore – along with excess munitions– into space in the event of a HETlaser overload.

In addition to the ship’s eightHET lasers, the CathaaraDreadnoughts were equipped withfour primitive internal missilelaunchers; six second-generation,side-mounted box launchers; and amix of short-range kinetic launchersand neutral particle beam weaponsfor point defense. In practice, theCathaara Dreadnought relied on itsmissiles for defense from those swiftopponents that could avoid theCathaara’s HET laser arcs.

Despite their venerable trackrecord in the Courata fleet, theadmiralty never truly accepted theCathaara Dreadnought as anentirely positive progression indreadnought development. Theship’s lasers had too narrow of firingarcs to be entirely useful, andsmaller cruisers were beginning tobe fielded that had significantfirepower for a much lower cost inresources and personnel. TheCathaara’s perceived problemsprovided an impetus for Courataengineers to continue to refine thedreadnought concept. The lessonslearned on the Cathaara would beput to good use on futuredreadnoughts, notably theKeskmaada class.

* * *

Yet Another BoringCourata Dreadnought

By Tyrel Lohr

THE CATHAARA DREADNOUGHT

THE ESCALATION WARS



THE STRACYNSKI REPORT - FEBRUARY 28, 2005

The Memory ofShadows Is No

MoreReposted from the

rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderatedNewsgroup

The rule of thumb in Hollywood isthat for every thousand scripts thatget written, only a few dozen get intodevelopment, and out of those, onlyone will ever get made...if that.

A little over a year ago, I wasapproached by a company thatwanted to make a Babylon 5 movie.They optioned the rights, andcommissioned a script. (It’s worthmentioning that I, not WB, own therights to a B5 movie. When we werenegotiating the original B5 deal —by whose termsI will never see a dime in profit —the one thing they did let me havewere the movie rights, figuring they’dnever be worth anything in the longrun.)

Anyway...on December 27th of2003, the script for “The Memory ofShadows” was turned in, and theprocess began of trying to make thedeal work with all the various forcesinvolved. It is, to say the least, avery difficult process on any moviewhere the studio does not directlytake the financial reins. In terms ofB5, Warner ’s position wasesssentially, “We only do big-budgetmovies with big names, so you’re onyour own.” If there were big-namemovie actors in the film,they’d get behind it; without that,things become very problematic,

especially as far as the financingwas concerned. You much have toput together a consortium ofinternational interests and businessplans rivaled in complexity only bythe Allied invasion of NormandyBeach.

Nonetheless, every attempt wasmade by the people involved to getthis deal in place. This was not beingdone by Doug or myself, but ratherby the company/individuals whoapproached us and optioned therights. At times, it seemed we wereinches away from a deal...stageswere reserved at Elstree, actorswere contacted, a director was inplace, the script went through manyrevisions, a few key staff were hired,again not by me...it was really a year-long roller coaster ride. During thattime, the people involved, with everygood intention, tried very hard to pullthe necessary pieces together onthe deal. The option expired in lateDecember 2004, but I renewed itwithout cost, to give those involvedmore time to try and make thingswork.

In the end, however, the deal couldbe put together, and it did not lookas if that was going to change at anypoint in the foreseeable future. Sothe option has reverted, and to allintents and purposes, the project hasdead ended. Nor do I think thisparticular incarnation will arise againat any point in the future, thoughprognostication has always been atricky art, especially if you have todo it without the benefit of hindsight.

This was not the first time someone’staken a run at a B5 feature film, andit will not be the last. Eventually itwill happen, because such things aresimply inevitable. If they can do aBrady Bunch movie, you can be surethat sooner or later, somebody’sgoing to do a B5 movie.The only thing I can say withoutequivocation is that when that daycomes, as the rights-holder, I willmake darned sure that it’s doneright, because I’d rather have no B5movie than one that doesn’t live upto what fans and I myself would wantto see.

To that end...I can wait.

Anyway, just thought you shouldknow the story.

jms

Editor’s Note: This was an additionalJMS reply posted to Usenet soon afterThe Memory of Shadows post:

No wonder WB likes B5 — they don’thave to pay you anything for it.


A Call to ArmsA Call to ArmsKind of puts a different light onbuying the DVDs and stuff, knowingwe’re just supporting some fat-assstudio execs and not the actualtalent.

That’s the great irony of the situation.The criteria told to us right up frontwhile we were producing B5 was thateach of the series on PTEN had toshow a profit *in that year* in orderto stay on the air and be renewed.So we’d have these meetings withstudio heads who werecongratulating us on how muchmoney the show was making forthem (again, while we were stillmaking for it), and then look at me,realize what they’d said, andhurriedly add, “Though technicallywe’re still in the red.”

The show, all in, cost about $110million to make. Each year of itsoriginal run, we know it showed aprofit because they TOLD us so.And in one case, they actuallyshowed us the figures. It’s now beenon the air worldwide for ten years.There’s been merchandise,syndication, cable, books, you nameit. The DVDs grossed roughly halfa BILLION dollars (and that was justafter they put out S5, without all ofthe S5 sales in).

So what does my last profitstatement say? We’re $80 millionin the red.

Basically, by the terms of mycontract, if a set on a WB movie

burns down in Botswana, they cancharge it against B5’s profits.

But then again, I knew that was thesituation going in...I saw the writingon the wall (and the contract) fromthe git-go. I didn’t do this to build anempire, I wanted to tell thisstory...and that’s worth more thananything else.

Doesn’t mean I can’t tweak ‘emabout it, though.

jms

* * *

Wanted:One Ur-QuanSlave ShieldNew or used conditionNo price too high

Contact:Captain Fwiffo c/o ZathrasThe Great MachineEpsilon 3

“We here at Babylon 5 and the Voice of theResistance would like to remind everyone thatabsolutely nothing happened at richbax.com thismonth. Absolutely nothing. We haven’t heard apeep! Now, in other news...”

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Coming next issue, The Great Machine will be providing a smatteringof new campaign-oriented units. Campaign play can be a lot of fun,but what about those factions that don’t have all of the units theyneed to be used effectively in a campaign? This next issue will nothelp out every empire that is experiencing a distinct lack of vessels,but it should provide quite a few new units for races from Babylon 5,Star Trek, the Escalation Wars, and more!

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