Starfire: Reworked Tech Level Timeline & Ship Building

   Turning Starfire Upside-Down [a bit]



OK, taking the plunge and going for sharing this draft. A number of goals were set:
- Engine Movement was converted into Thrust / Newton's First Law. Ergo, Thrust is more important and priced higher.
- Ships with large mass are now a bit more ponderous, with low acceleration [Thrust] and turn modes.
- I got rid of most 1/2 space use - it's just a pain.
- The Tech Levels are quite different. They represent a more typical, "weapon development history as we know it" approach that pendulum swings from offense to defense a bit. So Ships have armor, guns and missiles at first. Then the Energy Beam shows up that penetrates armor [distance, evasion and overload dampener are your counter tactics to this]. Then Shields are invented to protect you from Energy Beams. Then the Laser Beam shows up that penetrates Shields, etc etc. You can at least understand why each Gadget is getting invented at the next tech level - some Admiral went into the R&D lab and said, "Dammit! We need something that can do _______ better!"

- I plan to slow down the chronology of tech advance a lot, more like 20-30 years per tech level. This will mean that ship development will advance at a more realistic pace, sort of like from 1850-1950, instead of jamming all 100 years into a 5-year war with the Khanate. Sure, that may be what the future will be like, but...money and resources still talk, and your naval budget has to justify the expenditure!

The Notes show thoughts I want to try out. Some of pretty certain, others are pretty speculative and may go nowhere. But the overarching vision of naval architecture, weapons and tech advancement is pretty set. TLI is a clash between systems as we know them, mostly; it may be compared to modern naval warfare in space [without the fighters yet]. The main tension will be distant missile shooting and Point Defenses v. Close-Range Gunnery, and I'm sure both schools of thought will have their advocates!

I am particularly excited by the advance to TLII! The Energy Beam will be a significant tactical menace, making Armor useless and the answer will be distance, evasion and the Overload Dampener. I think that the Guns and Missiles will still be viable, just less decisive than capital ships with E-beams flying around! I may need to lower the hit chances a bit [due to attenuation] or enhance the ability to maneuver unpredictably to the gunnery computers.

I welcome constructive criticism, just comment or email me at my gmail. That is brasidas19004 at the usual ending.

NOTE: all data is Intellectual Property [IP] of Starfire Design Studio here [CLICK] and no infringement on their rights is intended. All information is for fan use by people who have acquired the Starfire 2nd Edition Rules [and hey, won't be any use if you don't have them, actually!]. These rules are available for a VERY reasonable price [HERE].

Starfire Ship Construction

Hull costs in MegaCredits [M¢] and their Characteristics

Hull Size	Cost	Spaces	Turn Mode	Max Thrust	Thrust Cost	Space / Thrust
Escort – ES	33	10	2	8	5	0.5
Corvette – CV	60	13	2	6	6	0.5
Frigate – FG	72	18	2	6	7	1.0
Destroyer – DD	130	25	2	5	8	1.0
Lt. Cruiser – CL	185	35	3	5	9	1.0
Cruiser – CA	300	50	3	5	10	2.0
Battlecruiser – BC	480	70	3	5	14	3.0
Battleship – BB	650	100	4	4	14	3.0
Dreadnought – SD	900	135	5	4	16	4.0
Freighter 1 – F1	60	20	2	4	4	1.0
Freighter 2 – F2	100	35	3	3	4	1.0
Freighter 3 – F3	150	55	3	2	3	1.0
Freighter 4 – F4	250	90	4	1	2	2.0
Base 1 – B1	100	20	-	-	-	-
Base 2 – B2	250	40	-	-	-	-
Base 3 – B3	500	75	-	-	-	-
Base 4 – B4	750	100	-	-	-	-

Ion Engine units have been renamed Thrust. Adding Newtown’s First Law to ship movement makes relative acceleration the most important movement aspect. Smaller ships may now escape the clutches of larger vessels which are usually slower off the mark but way more heavily armed – but they need to have a quick-witted commander!

Thrust cost has been increased a bit. The ability to outrace a superior ship is almost always a matter of life or death for the weaker ship, so one might say that speed is the single most important factor in positioning, and positioning the most important factor for weapon range friction zones and therefore combat.

The BC has been repriced to be what is was in WWI – a fast, heavily armed, lightly armored, but expensive patrol vessel.

System	Code	Cost M¢	Space	Tech Level	Special Rules
Armor	A	2	1	I	Max 20% of hull spaces; ignored by E
Cargo Hold	H	1	1	I	Max 10% of hull spaces on warships, but all must have 1+ [SD 2+]
Bulkhead	B	2	1	I	Max of 1B for every group of 4 H
Gun	G	5	3	I	*bang!*
Missile Launcher	M	10	3	I	Fired at +10 Thrust? Volley marker movement?
Ion Engine [Thrust]	I	*	*	I	Cost & Thrust on hull chart, above
Science Instruments	X	10	1	I	Per scenario victory conditions – scanners?
Multiplex Tracking	Mx	*	1	I	M2/30, M3/45, M4/65, +30 M¢ thereafter
Point Defense	D	25	2	I	°
Tech Level I = pre-all Beam technology
Gun/Missile Launcher	GM	20	3	II
Energy Beam	E	35	4	II	Ignores A and H – makes A obsolete?
Overload Dampener	O	20	1	II	Cancels 1 E hit per volley; may cancel 4, but then burns out
Transverse Thrusters	Tt	*	0	II	10% of hull cost – reduces TM by 1, allows Evasive Action
Tech Level II = Energy Beam breakthru; bypasses A, countered by O, Tt only; results in total redesign of ships with much less A and >ECM
Shields	S	4	0.5?	III	Ignored by Lasers; could take up 0 space – added to all ships
Datalink	Dl	40	1	III	Too cheap? Tech Level II?
Particle Thruster	Pt	*	0	III	Decrease Max Thrust ratings by “1” [min 1]. *Pt is 10% of Hull Cost
Tech Level III = Shield breakthru; results in ship refits to
Laser Beam	L	25	4	IV	Ignores Shields
Tractor Beam	T	10	2	IV	Shorten to 1 Hex & 1pwr/tech level; voluntary tug mainly
TL IV = L breakthru cancels S; S now leveled with A, each needed as have a weapon that ignores.
Shearing Plane	Sp	15	2	V	Cancels T
Force Beam	F	25	4	V
TL V = Sp breakthru cancels T use as major tactic, so probably boarding actions, also. F is logical extension of T and Sp development
Primary Beam	P	50	4	VI	Ignores S, A, H, hits d6th system – can miss. Shoots e/o turn
TL V & VI = P/P2 breakthru makes S and A of dubious value; Defense returns to TLII response to Energy Beams
Primary Beam 2	P2	100?	4	VII	As above, but shoots EVERY turn

Notes on variations and rule changes.

• Warp Point transit exit velocity should be 1 hex/turn. This represents the momentum supplied by the transit itself, all other ship velocity was lost in the immaterium of the warp. This also makes strikes thru a warp point slower and gives the inhabitants more warning!
• Unnecessary to differentiate port/starboard guns or shields; ships can rotate in reality, there’s no up or down!
• BFG Command Rolls: evasive Action [-1 H# penalty for you and your targets,
• Advanced Maneuvering: better at Evasive Action?

New Ship Stats

These are what the two ships from scenario #1 look like now, using my modified point values and [significantly] altered Tech Level timline.

Alkzar – TL1. ES, (2) A A A A I G I I I I I (6)                                                 

[Spaces/4      +0.5+3 +2.5  =10]

[Cost/33+8       +5 +5  +25   =76]

Alkzar has a bit more Thrust than Discovery. While about half the size, she has identical Armor [4] and one weapon squeezed in, a Gun that is best at short range. As a system defense boat and revenue cutter, about all she may need instead would be one less A and two less I for another Gun; that would also be worth trying out.

Discovery – TL1.  FG, (2) A A A A X H H H H I M X I I I I  (5)

                      [Spaces=18/4            +1    +4    +1+3+1  +4    =18]

                      [Cost/72      +8         +10    +4   +7+10+10+28=149]

Discovery has solid Armor in case she bumps into something while advancing the frontiers of science [or science fiction]. Her 4 Holds and 2 Scientific Instrument clusters [X] aid in her collection of data. She has one "weapon", a Missile Launcher that is normally used to launch data drones and scientific rockets around a solar system to explore faster. There are a few military grade missiles around, and a few other rockets that a talented science officer could jury rig into something that goes "BOOM!". But why would we need that...?

So we have a classic encounter shaping up. A smaller, faster ship that likes to fight close up, v. a larger ship that fights at a distance, but feels morally obligated not to shoot first! Both have their essential combat power at the end of their system line, 7 systems for moving, fighting, and [for Discovery] the needed instruments to fulfill the victory conditions.

Next up: Scenario #1 "First Contact 03MAR2205" at an unimportant star, VX134!