And so it begins...
It was the Earth year 2156. With the creation of the first crewed planetary survey vessels, it was the beginning of a new age for humanity. One where we could finally reach for the stars and discover what wonders and dangers they might hold. Under the leadership of the President of EarthGov, Earthforce has been commissioned and ordered to explore. This is our story.
Rules
4 major alien powers (NPRs) have been created: Minbari, Narn, Centauri, and Dilgar
The Minbari are significantly ahead of the others
Each race should have approximately the weaponry expected, except the Dilgar who were already wiped out in the show so we have no idea (I set them to random!). Shields are used to represent defense grids from the show.
Humans start with virtually no tech (20,000 instant tech points) but 2000% of the minerals normally generated. I have never done a near zero tech start, so I am counter balancing it with extra minerals.
All post-start NPRs will be minors. Both major NPRs and players have a chance to create these minors. Minor races will be generated using images from the show (I have 13 images for these). I will SM them to their proper names when discovered. Unfortunately, flag selection is random and most of the members of the League of Non-Aligned Worlds have no flags from the show. I will do my best with these. Potential minors include: Abbai, Brakiri, Drazi, Gaim, Grome, Hurr, Hyach, Llort, Markab, Onteen, Pak'ma'ra, Yolu, and Vree.
The Vorlons, Shadows, and other First Ones are replaced by Precursors. The standard Precursor image has been replaced by the Walkers of Sigma 957 image from the "Zog" scene.
Raiders will affect everyone as everyone experiences piracy. The standard raider image has been replaced by a Zephyr fighter (the triangular ones). They will begin to appear at the usual 10 discovered systems moment.
50% research speed
30% survey speed
NB: For story purposes, I will be replacing the name Sorium with Quantium-40 or Q-40 as that is what jump fuel was called in Babylon 5.
Ship design rules:
* Warships will use lasers and particle beams (eventually particle lances) as their primary weapons.
* Warships will be equipped with some level of troop transport capability to represent security forces stationed aboard
* Warships will have fighter bays
* Fighters will have rail guns to represent plasma bolts.
* Defensively, shields will be allowed but renamed to Defense Grid which will also be combined with gauss cannons for anti-missile defense.
* Other ships can have almost anything
* As soon as possible, Interplanetary Expeditions (IPX) survey ships will be fitted with ground forces storage for survey, xeno, and construction teams. This is to represent how IPX ships would land on planets and deploy teams.
* There must be at least starliner operating between all colony worlds and stations. Most likely, it will not even be moving people. This is just for RP reasons because starliners arrived all the time on the show.
At the start, there is only one ship design, the Sagan class survey vessel. 5 have been instant built. These are the only instant ships I will create.
Carl Edward Sagan class Survey Vessel 3,000 tons 61 Crew 357.4 BP TCS 60 TH 63 EM 0
1041 km/s Armour 1-18 Shields 0-0 HTK 20 Sensors 0/0/1/1 DCR 4-13 PPV 0
Maint Life 12.05 Years MSP 335 AFR 16% IFR 0.2% 1YR 4 5YR 64 Max Repair 100 MSP
Commander Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 60 months Morale Check Required
Mitchell-Hyundyne NRE Type C (EP62.5 25/50%/1.0L) (1) Power 62.5 Fuel Use 11.18% Signature 62.5 Explosion 5%
Fuel Capacity 503,000 Litres Range 269.8 billion km (2999 days at full power)
Geological Survey Sensors (1) 1 Survey Points Per Hour
Gravitational Survey Sensors (1) 1 Survey Points Per Hour
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
This design is classed as a Survey Ship for auto-assignment purposes
These have been commissioned as the EAS Alíz Derekas, EAS Caroline Herschel, EAS William Wilson Morgan, EAS Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar, and the EAS Vesto Melvin Slipher.
EDIT: Adjusted fighters to have rail guns instead of gauss, as per recommendations. Also adjusted warships to
not have rail guns, since no Earthforce ships had rail guns in the show's timeline.
EDIT2: Added a requirement of having starliners running between colonies (with or without moving passengers).