THE CORE WORLDS
ZA’CAHRI SHIPS
(CWR2.1) MANTIS CRUISER (MT):
The Za’cahri Mantis Cruiser was a formidable starship in the Core Worlds. The vessel was equipped with Four Ionic Accelerators, Two Offensive Phasers, Four Offensive-Defensive Phasers, Four Point Defense Phasers, and Two Drone Racks. The Za’cahri Mantis Cruiser could deploy a total of Four Satellite Pods, which it would strategically place to best support its tactical battle plan. The starship was not as structurally sound as other enemy vessels and it lacked immense single instant Alpha Strike capability, but it did possess a substantial amount of Reserve Power.
ORIGINAL TEXT BY SEAN YOUNG:
A significant improvement over the Cicada design, the Mantis hull was the favored cruiser class of the Za’Cahri fleet after its introduction in Y123 into the mid to late Y160’s. Four D-Pods are included in the MT’s BPV.
DESIGNER NOTES:
Sean Young has crafted an interesting empire with the Za’cahri. Their Ionic Accelerators are like Disruptors whose damage increases with range up to a certain point. They employ a mixture of PH-1’s, PH-2’s, and PH-3’s, resulting in a range of tactical possibilities. They employ standard Drones, allowing for the use of Scatterpacks in combat.
But what is exclusive to the Za’cahri are their Satellite Pods. Once launched, they move to a predetermined location. After arriving, they no longer move and their weapons activate. In this way, tactically, the Za’cahri can control the board and limit or discourage enemy movement. They can also hit the opponent from unorthodox angles due to the Satellite Pod placement on the board. Of course, there are different types of Satellite Pods and each Za’cahri starship can only carry so many of them.
Sean Young originally used a Y designation for Year (like the Alpha Sector) but this will be changed to C for Core Worlds.
I was surprised to find that the Za’cahri Mantis Cruiser had 5 Batteries, which I almost changed to 4 for balance. But Sean Young designed the starship this way, so I decided to leave it as is.
IONIC ACCELERATOR (INAC):
Ionic Accelerator
The Ionic Accelerator is used by the Za’Cahri as their heavy weapon. It operates by compacting ionic energy into bolts that increase in strength by distance up to a point before losing energy.
DESIGNATION Each “INAC” box on the SSD represent one Ionic bolt. Each is recorded and fired separately.
PROCEDURES: Ionic Accelerator fire is identical in all respects to Disruptor fire (including Andro PA panel leaks) with the following exceptions:
ARMING: Arming cost for a standard Ionic Accelerator is 2 points of energy from any source. Arming cost for an Overloaded Ionic Accelerator is 4 points of energy from any source.
HOLDING: Ionic Accelerators can be held. Cost for standard loads is 1 point of energy from any source. Holding overloads is 2 points of energy from any source.
OVERLOAD RANGE: Note that the overload range of a Ionic Accelerator is extended beyond the normal 8 hex limit.
REPAIR: The repair cost of a Ionic Accelerator is 8.
SATELLITE PODS
Satellite Pods and Pod Launcher
POD LAUNCHER
The Za’Cahri Pod Launchers are mounted on the exterior hulls of many Za’Cahri ships. Each “SATPOD” (sometimes labled just “POD”) box on the SSD represents one 2-space launcher. The SATPOD box is destroyed on “Shuttle”
hits on the DAC, any pods within the launcher are destroyed on such hits. The repair cost of a Launcher is 12.
RATE: Each launcher is able to deploy one pod per turn but not within 12 impulses of a previous launch. Pods are launched during Launch Shuttles segment of the Impulse Activity Phase.
RECOVERY: Each launcher is capable of recovering one pod at a time in combination with a tractor beam as per Fighter/Shuttle Recovery Rules. Special stabilizers built into the Pod Launchers allow recovered pods to be placed directly into the launcher.
RECHARGING POD WEAPONS: Each un-crippled pod is capable of recharging its own weapons.
RECHARGING MOVEMENT: A deployed POD is unable to recharge its own movement power. Each SATPOD box on the ship however has the built in capability to charge one pod’s movement per turn as long as the pod has been recovered and the Launcher is otherwise inactive for a full 32 impulses [aside from repair]. This process begins immediately after recovery at no cost to the ship.
POD OPERATION
Every Za’Cahri pod shares these attributes unless otherwise noted.
LAUNCH: Upon launch, each pod moves at any speed between 0-20 that is determined at the time of launch. It cannot make mid-turn speed changes. The pod counts towards seeking weapon control limits at the time of launch.
Upon launch each pod is given a target hex, recorded in secret, and will move towards that hex as a seeking unit.
After reaching the target hex the pod is no longer able to move under it’s own power – even if it has moved less than 20 hexes, and changes to speed 0. Any remaining movement is lost.
ACTIVATION: Upon reaching its destination hex, the POD will become active (during the Launch Shuttles segment of the Impulse Activity Phase). Once activated, the pod is able to utilize any or all of it’s weapons.
Note: The standard 8-impulse delay for shuttle and fighter weapon fire applies to Za’Cahri pod activation. If the POD reaches its target hex before the minimum 8 impulses has transpired, the POD must still change to speed 0 and wait to activate. Unless otherwise noted, all pods take 10 points of damage to destroy. Pods are considered crippled after taking 7 points of damage. Crippled pods may not fire any weapons, launch drones, or move (if they were moving at the time of crippling).
The maximum range of all direct fire weapons mounted on Satellite Pods is 15.
POD TYPES:
Defensive Pod (PPod) :Carries three Phaser-2’s that can fire every turn in a 360 degree arc. Cost: 0 (the base cost of this pod is included in the BPV of the ship).
Offensive Pod (IPod): Fitted with one Ionic Accelerator and 2 Phaser-3’s that can fire every turn in a 360 degree arc. Cannot fire Overloaded. Cost: 2.
Deterrent Pod (DPod): Holds 4 spaces of drones and two Phaser-3. Can fire 2 drones per turn. Both drones can launch on the same impulse if desired. The Phaser-3 can fire every turn. Cost: 3 (includes the cost of four Type-I slow drones, upgrades are available as per drone upgrade rules).
Note: The DPod can only control 2 drones at any given time.
Substituting Pod Types: Each ship that has Pod Launchers on its SSD comes equipped with P-Pods. These pods are included in the BPV of the ship. A player may substitute other pod types using Commanders Options – within the limits of
The cost of the new pods is an “exchange” cost (swapping P-Pods for the new type). A player may never purchase “extra” pods, as no Za’Cahri ships have the necessary space to store additional pods.
Tractor Interactions: Za’Cahri pods cannot be “Death Dragged”. Pods can be tractored at any speed.
If a pod happens to be moving while it is tractored it causes no change in the speed of the tractoring ship (i.e. – no psuedo-speeds are calculated. The effect is the same as tractoring a drone.)
Pods placed under tractor by friendly units become inert and are unable to fire weapons for 8 impulses after being released from tractor. Pods tractored by enemy vessels are not affected in any way, unless the pod is recovered by the enemy ship (and into it’s shuttle bay) in which case the pod becomes inert.
LIMITED AVAILABILITY: No Za’Cahri vessel may have more than two of any one pod type – with the exception of the Ph-Pod.
REPAIR: Damaged Pods are repaired as per damaged shuttles, although this done while a pod is in its launcher rather than in a shuttle bay. Ships with pod launchers are assumed to have to proper crew to perform this function.
DRONES (DRN):
* These function exactly as described in the Basic Set.
PHASER-1 (PH-1):
* Works exactly as described in the Basic Set.
PHASER-2 (PH-2):
* Works exactly as described in the Basic Set.
PHASER-3 (PH-3):
* Works exactly as described in the Basic Set.