THE MITRAX GALAXY
ATREAN SHIPS
(MXR5.1) ATREAN HEAVY CRUISER (CA):
The Atrean Heavy Cruiser was a revolutionary and innovative starship in the Mitrax Galaxy. Armed with Five Medium Pulse Phasers, Three Light Pulse Phasers, and a Solid Layer of Neutronium Armor, the Atrean Heavy Cruiser favored the Battle Run in combat. Six Hardened Plasma Torpedoes formed the core firepower for the vessel. A Singularity Dome protected the starship’s aft section after it launched its Hardened Plasma Torpedoes. However, it was the Atrean’s unique Support Chamber that allowed the transformation of Hardened Plasma Torpedoes into Ten Different Types of Plasmas, including Piercing Plasmas, Warding Plasmas, Splinter Plasmas, Collector Plasmas, and others. The Support Chamber shifted the function of the Atrean Heavy Cruiser from a standard combat vessel into a flexible, multi-roled vessel capable of performing a variety of fleet oriented tasks.
DESIGNER NOTES:
The Atrean Heavy Cruiser was originally designed by Francois Angers for the Triangulum Galaxy. However, I am going to transplant the Atrean Directorate into the Mitrax Galaxy. As you will see, I instituted major changes in order to make the Atrean Heavy Cruiser balanced against the Alpha Sector and to give it a type of flexibility far beyond its original design.
The first thing to be done was to rename the Atrean’s Heavy Weapon and its Warheads. The original name for the Heavy Weapon was the Plasma-X Torpedo or PL-X. However, I immediately saw the potential for confusion with an X-Technology Plasma-X. So Plasma-X Torpedoes were renamed as Plasma-H Torpedoes. The H stands for Hardened, which I think better describes the Torpedo. The original Warheads were designated Small, Medium, Large, and Huge. To me, it sounds more professional to call the Warheads Light, Medium, Heavy, and Superheavy.
Other than the naming, I had to make other changes to the Plasma-H (originally called the Plasma-X). In particular, the Warhead Strength and the Arming Cost came under intense scrutiny.
The Warhead Strength became an issue when I realized that the Atrean Heavy Cruiser could launch six PL-H’s at once. With the ability to choose between combining plasmas to form a larger PL-H (like a Medium, Heavy, or Super Heavy), there must be a reason for the owning player to choose to combine plasmas to form a larger plasma instead of just launching many Light PL-H’s.
Francois originally had a Warhead Strength of 20 for the Light Plasma-H. This caused some issues. Six Light Plasma-H’s therefore, could score 120 points of damage. But if you combined plasmas, one Medium Plasma-H scored 30 points of damage and the remaining four Light Plasma-H’s scored 80 points of damage. That yielded a total of 110 points of damage. Why would you combine your plasmas into a Medium Plasma-H when you actually get 10 more points of damage by simply launching six Light Plasma-H’s? You could answer for the higher ECM and Phaser Resistance, but that answer is not sufficient justification (because ech of the Light PL-H has both qualities as well). If you follow this train of thought for the larger Plasma-H’s (Heavy, Super Heavy), the same logic applies. It is preferable to launch six Light Plasma-H’s rather than to combine and launch a larger Plasma-H.
The solution was to lower the Warhead Strength of the Light Plasma-H. It was brought down from 20 to 15. This lower damage amount provided the reason and justification for choosing to combine plasmas into something larger. Now, it was more tactically advantageous to always combine plasmas into a larger Plasma-H whenever possible. This made much more sense.
Next came the Arming Cost. This came up during my comparison of the Arming Costs for the Plasma-H versus the Arming Costs for Standard Plasma Torpedoes. Francois’ Original Arming Costs were very close to Arming Cost for the Standard Plasma Torpedoes. However, I quickly realized that the Plasma-H’s were actually better than Standard Plasma Torpedoes. They possessed ECCM along with Phaser Resistance. But they also traveled farther, making them more effective. I had to compare the Maximum Range for Standard Plasma Torpedoes versus the Maximum Range for Plasma-H’s to come to this conclusion.
To correct this, the Arming Cost of the Plasma-H’s had to be increased across the board. The Arming Costs could not be the same (or very close to being the same) if the Plasma-H was actually a more efficient and deadly weapon compared to Standard Plasma Torpedoes. Adjustments were made and now the Core Weapon of the Atrean was much more balanced.
On Francois’ original SSD, he had Twin Pulse Phasers (TPPs) and Dual Pulse Phasers (DPP’s). As these border on the rapid firing abilities of X-Phasers, I previously decided on other Mitrax Empires to remove them for now. So the TPPs were converted to LPPs and the DPPs were converted to MPPs.
Francois’ original SSD only had 3 Batteries. This would not due for balance reasons in combat. So I increased the Batteries to 4 like other Heavy Cruisers.
Which brings up the Atrean’s Support Chamber. My first reaction was that this was extremely similar to the Worlds of Union’s Hellfire Torpedoes. Too much in fact. So I was about to delete almost all of the Support Chamber’s functions. But upon closer inspection, I realized that the abilities provided by the Atrean’s Support Chamber were, in fact, different from the Worlds of Union abilities. They simply needed careful review and modification.
Francois originally had one main ability to turn a Plasma-H into an Imploding Torpedo like a Hellbore. But I have already reserved this ability for another empire in a different Genesis Galaxy. So the Implosion Enhancement was deleted from the Support Chamber.
Francois also had an Overload Ability that increased the Plasma-H Warhead by 50%. This was simply too much. Imagine if a Light Plasma-H could score 30 points (originally), a Medium Plasma-H could score 45 points, a Heavy Plasma-H could score 60 points (more than a Plasma-R), and a Super Heavy Plasma could score 75 points. Clearly, all of this would be unbalancing to the game and to the Atrean as an empire, so this function of the Support Chamber was deleted.
Francois’ other Support Chamber abilities were fine except for the Speed Boost, which was too similar to the Worlds of Union Hellfire Torpedo abilities. So the Speed Boost was deleted as well.
This left too few functions for the Support Chamber, so I was free to develop my own. I came up with many new abilities, all of which had tactical advantages to their use. Some of these are standard Plasma Torpedo functions, so they might not look new to you, but remember that the Atrean originally did not have access to these functions for their Plasma-Hs. Now, through the Support Chamber, they do (at a higher cost). One of the primary attack functions for the Plasma-H (with the Support Chamber) is now the Piercing Plasma, which works like a Qari Kinetic Cannon Penetrating Round.
I also came up with other useful functions, like gathering Lab Data and acting as a Wild Weasel. The Support Chamber can also generate Pseudo Plasmas without limit, except only every three turns and at a high energy cost. I have other Support Chamber functions in mind to be introduced as the Mitrax Timeline progresses, when the Atrean to develop new technology.
As the original Atrean Heavy Cruiser (designed by Francois) stood, it was lacking in my opinion (similar to the original Worlds of Union CA). It was simply a Plasma ship, and even with its advanced Support Chamber features, it would still fly like other Plasma ships. So it needed something more, something different.
That something became the Singularity Dome. This powerful defensive device is unique to the Atrean. It protects the aft section of the ship after the Atrean starship has launched its Plasma-H’s during a Battle Run. The Singularity Dome reduces all damage received through those arcs. But it must be tactically implemented to be correctly used.
In summary, the Atrean Heavy Cruiser has been heavily modified from Francois’ original design. It has been brought into balance with the Alpha Sector as much as possible. The Support Chamber’s new functions make the Atrean Heavy Cruiser much more flexible and versatile, even outside of combat. It is a starship with many tactical implications.
But there are still many questions remaining to be addressed for the Atrean. Where on the Mitrax Map will the Atrean DIrectorate be placed? Its neighbors must provide tactical challenges for the Atrean’s unique weaponry and devices. What type of government will it have? What is the biology of the Atreans themselves? What are the goals (in the Mitrax Galaxy) of the Atrean Directorate? What wars have they fought? Who are their allies? Who are their enemies? All of these questions will be answered in the future.
PLASMA-H (HARDENED) TORPEDOES (PL-H):
* Plasma-H Torpedoes are armed over three turns.
* Each Plasma-H box on the SSD can generate a Light PL-H Torpedo.
* Two Connected Plasma-H boxes on the SSD can be used to generate a Medium PL-H Torpedo.
* Three Connected Plasma-H boxes on the SSD can be used to generate a Heavy PL-H Torpedo.
* Four Connected Plasma-H boxes on the SSD can be used to generate a Super Heavy PL-H Torpedo.
* In order to arm a Light PL-H Torpedo, one point of energy must be paid on the first turn, one point of energy on the second turn, and four points of energy on the third turn.
* In order to arm a Medium PL-H Torpedo, two points of energy must be paid on the first turn, two points of energy on the second turn, and five points of energy on the third turn.
* In order to arm a Heavy PL-H Torpedo, three points of energy must be paid on the first turn, three points of energy on the second turn, and five points of energy on the third turn.
* In order to arm a Super Heavy PL-H Torpedo, three points of energy must be paid on the first turn, three points of energy on the second turn, and six points of energy on the third turn.
* Light PL-H Torpedoes may be held for one point of energy per turn.
* Medium PL-H Torpedoes may be held for two points of energy per turn.
* Heavy PL-H Torpedoes may be held for three points of energy per turn.
* Super Heavy PL-H Torpedoes may be held for four points of energy per turn.
* Light PL-H Torpedoes possess one point of ECCM.
* Medium PL-H Torpedoes possess two points of ECCM.
* Heavy PL-H Torpedoes possess three points of ECCM.
* Super Heavy PL-H Torpedoes possess four points of ECCM.
* Phaser Resistance (standard 2:1 rate) must be completely destroyed before Phaser Damage begins to reduce the PL-H Warhead Strength at a 1:1 rate.
* Light PL-H Torpedoes possess five points of Phaser Resistance.
* Medium PL-H Torpedoes possess ten points of Phaser Resistance.
* Heavy PL-H Torpedoes possess fifteen points of Phaser Resistance.
* Super Heavy PL-H Torpedoes possess twenty points of Phaser Resistance.
* All PL-H Torpedoes lose one Warhead Strength per Hex they travel.
* All PL-H Torpedoes move at Speed 32.
* Plasma-H Torpedoes may be distracted by Wild Weasels like Plasma Torpedoes.
* Plasma-H Torpedoes (one box on the SSD) are destroyed on TORP Hits on the DAC.
Treat Plasma-H Torpedoes as Plasma Torpedoes in all other respects not noted above.
SUPPORT CHAMBER (SUP):
* It costs four points of energy to use the Support Chamber (for all ten types of Plasmas). This energy must be paid (either during Energy Allocation or with Reserve Power) on the turn when the PL-H Torpedo (any type) is launched.
* The Support Chamber can only be used with Plasma-H Boxes (on the SSD) in the same boom.
* The Support Chamber provides Ten Different Enhancements to the PL-H. They are:
* PIERCING PLASMA: Functions as a Qari Kinetic Cannon. Upon impact, halve the damage (rounding up) scored by the PL-H. Then follow the procedure under (E53.332) for determining shield damage and internal damage.
* WARDING PLASMA: Double the amount of Phaser Resistance on the PL-H.
* DEEP PLASMA: No Warhead Reduction for the first ten hexes for the PL-H.
* SMART PLASMA: +2 ECCM for the PL-H and it can switch targets once. Follow the procedures under (OFP2.331, OFP2.332, OFP2.333).
* CRACKER PLASMA: Functions as an Enveloping Plasma. Follow the procedures under (FP5.21, FP5.31). Note the Warhead Strength of the PL-H is doubled as per (FP5.21).
* SPLINTER PLASMA: Functions as a Shotgun Plasma. A Super Heavy PL-H produces 5 Light PL-H’s. A Heavy PL-H produces produces 4 Light PL-H’s. A Medium PL-H produces 3 Light PL-H’s. Follow the procedures under (FP7.21, FP7.22). Note that the launching ship is still under the same Restrictions described under (J3.13).
* CANNON PLASMA: Functions as a Plasma Bolt. Follow the procedures under (FP8.41, FP8.42). Use the To-Hit and Ranges for a Plasma Bolt, but halve the Warhead Strength of the PL-H to determine Damage.
* FACADE PLASMA: Functions as a Pseudo Plasma. The Arming Cost is as a Light Plasma-H (1+1+4 + 4 for the Support Chamber). Follow the procedure under (FP6.0). The Facade Plasma can be made to simulate all four types of PL-H (Light, Medium, Heavy, Super Heavy) as predetermined (secretly written down) by the owning player at the time of launch.
* COLLECTOR PLASMA: Functions as a Probe. Follow the procedures under (FD6.31, FD6.32, FD6.33). The Arming Cost is as a Light Plasma-H (1+1+4 + 4 for the Support Chamber. Collector Plasmas move at Speed 32, score no damage, have no ECM, no Phaser Resistance, and are destroyed by three points of damage. Use the original Warhead Strength and Loss of Warhead Strength per Hex to determine how far the Collector Plasma can travel.
* HERRING PLASMA: Functions as a Wild Weasel. Follow the procedure under (J3.0) except that the PL-H functions as a Shuttle. The Arming Cost is as a Light Plasma-H (1+1+4 + 4 for the Support Chamber. Note that the PL-H retains the same Speed, Warhead Strength, Loss of Warhead Strength per Hex, ECM, Phaser Resistance, etc. It can be programmed with a pre-set course as in (J3.111).
* The Support Chamber is destroyed (one box) by Drone hits on the DAC. Note that it takes two internal damage points to completely destroy the Support Chamber.
SINGULARITY DOME (DOME):
* The Singularity Dome requires six points of energy (either through Energy Allocation, Reserve Power, or both) at the moment of activation.
* Once activated, the Singularity Dome remains in effect for 32 impulses.
* After being activated for 32 impulses, the Singularity Dome must Cool Down for 32 impulses.
* When activated, the Singularity Dome protects the arcs for Shield #3, Shield #4, and Shield #5. The Singularity Dome functions whether a Shield is active or not.
* Once activated, the Singularity Dome halves all incoming damage (whether shield damage or internal damage).
* The Singularity Dome is destroyed on FLAG Hits on the DAC.
NEUTRONIUM ARMOR: Functions exactly as described under (DN102.0) in Module E2 except that Neutronium Armor in the Mitrax Galaxy is 360 degrees and not FH and RH.
MEDIUM PULSE PHASER (MPP):
* Costs 1 Point of Energy to Fire.
Treat as Phasers in all other respects not noted above.
LIGHT PULSE PHASER (LPP):
* Costs 0.50 Points of Energy to Fire.
Treat as Phasers in all other respects not noted above.