			    TRAVELLER Digest 221

Topics covered in this issue include:

  1) Brave Hiver	by Hugh Foster <100326.446@compuserve.com>
  2) Battle Rider errata anyone?	by nicklaw@cix.compulink.co.uk (Nicholas Law)
  3) Re: Darrian Confederation	by Mark Hughes <hughe881@uidaho.edu>
  4) Re: Miscellaneous Topics	by "Harold D. Hale" <hdhale@smtpwpo.dayt.tasc.com>
  5) Re: Battledress	by mryan@foop.mit.edu (Michael Ryan)
  6) FF&S DESIGN ADD-ON	by Boris Zaidfeld <cs911408@red.ariel.cs.yorku.ca>

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Date: 12 Mar 95 12:45:12 EST
From: Hugh Foster <100326.446@compuserve.com>
To: <traveller@MPGN.COM>
Subject: Brave Hiver
Message-ID: <950312174511_100326.446_BHG19-3@CompuServe.COM>

>>  I got the impression that it isn't *courage* that 
Hivers lack, it's  that they really really don't like 
close-in violence. [...]   Hivers will use   nuclear 
warheads; they prefer to deal in violence at long ranges.    <<

Thank you, that's what I meant! I suppose we'll just have 
to read the book and find out! Question for Loren here 
(assuming he's still talking to me after my recent raves!); 
when's it out in the UK, and what publisher ? 

Hugh Foster [100326,446]

"Barbarism is the natural state of mankind ... Civilization 
is unnatural. It is a whim of circumstance. And barbarism 
must always ultimately triumph." (R.E. Howard 1906-1936)


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Date: Sun, 12 Mar 95 18:24 GMT
From: nicklaw@cix.compulink.co.uk (Nicholas Law)
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Cc: nicklaw@cix.compulink.co.uk
Subject: Battle Rider errata anyone?
Message-ID: <memo.993670@cix.compulink.co.uk>

Having bought a copy of Battle Rider at the weekend, I wondered 
whether anyone has come across any official errata for the game, 
as mine seems to be a first printing?

Initial impressions are that it's a nice and clean system which 
compares well with miniature rules like Full Thrust. Some more 
historical scenarios would be nice. (I wonder how many counter 
sheets you would need for a replay of the Battle of Rhylanor, 
1109?)

Nick Law


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Date: Sun, 12 Mar 95 13:30:02 PST
From: Mark Hughes <hughe881@uidaho.edu>
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Re: Darrian Confederation
Message-ID: <199503122130.NAA22348@goshawk.csrv.uidaho.edu>

Eric Smith spake:
> The last I saw on the Darrians was from MegaTraveller or before.  As I
recall,
> they were (before the Chaos) in possession of the highest tech level in
known 
> space (other than the Ancients -- and we know what happened to them).  They

> were also well known for the Star Trigger (once a bluff, but later very
real).

  One of my first thoughts on reading TNE was "Gosh, wouldn't it be fun to
let
Virus get the Star Trigger?"  Sure, it's a one-use effect (since all Virus in
the region would be destroyed on activation), but it would set the Darrians
back again (and all of the nearby empires), on top of Virus damage.

  I always liked the Darrians...  Plenty of enemies, which means plenty of
jobs
for non-Darrians to carry out for the Darrian gov't and citizens.  And plenty
of scientific and exploratory jobs (I also liked the Hivers quite a bit for
the
same reasons).  And they made good enemies as well as patrons, if you had
something they needed or that threatened them.

>What happened to them during and after the rebellion?
>I could see the Confederation fall, but that would lead to the question:
What 
>happened to the Spaceial Branch Fleet?
>If they survived, (They recovered after the first Star Trigger event), have 
>they recovered their earlier tech level?
><And about a bijillion other scenarios.>
>Has anyone else worked on the Darrians since 1120?  I'd like some input.

  They've had a lot of practice building back up from disasters, so they'd
probably be, like the Hivers, the "patrons" of their region of space.  I
doubt
their intentions are quite as benign, though - this would be a good
opportunity
to pacify their old enemies once and for all by taking control while they
can't
fight back...  The Sword Worlds should make a good addition to the
Confederation.  If not, they can make sure they never get off-planet again.

  They'd also provide a good excuse for really high-tech stuff.  Hmn.  I just
finished reading "Eternity" (the sequel to "Eon"), and it would be
interesting
to have the Darrians move in that direction (an entire race of radical
Geshels
would be entertaining and as alien as you can get...)

 -Mark Hughes

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 12 Mar 1995 19:32:07 -0500
From: "Harold D. Hale" <hdhale@smtpwpo.dayt.tasc.com>
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Re: Miscellaneous Topics
Message-ID: <sf634bf4.046@smtpwpo.dayt.tasc.com>

Andrew Boulton writes:

Subject: Re: Battledress 

>But why would a civilian *need* BD?

   Well actually no one *needs* battledress, as all that anyone really
*needs*  is clothes, food, transportation, a safe place to live, and
medical treatment should they become ill.  As to *why* a civilian would
want battledress, the reasons vary.  Some people might collect it as a
hobby (like people collect suits of armor); some might be military
enthusiasts who always thought the Imperial Marines looked neat, and
wanted to look like them; others might be historical re-enactors who
want a suit so that they can go out with their buddies and recreate the
Second Battle of Akiikharii (or whatever); some people might be
concerned about threats they have been receiving and want the extra
protection (and have the money to buy it).  Battledress is not a practical
item, people want it because it is *battledress*, and it has a certain aura
about it.  The same type of people who buy it buy old Sherman tanks,
P-51 Mustangs, Springfield rifled muskets, or German Lugers.  If they
were being practical, they'd buy something else.


Hans Rancke writes about the Solomani occupation of Terra:
 
>   It is a bit of a dilemma - not recapturing Terra would have been
>political suicide, as would nuking it, butchering millions of pure Solomani
>(as pure as you can get!), etc. OTOH, once you've *got* Terra, what're
>you going to *do* with it?

   This relates to what I've been talking about--the only thing that all
Solomani could agree on was the recapture of Terra--once that was
accomplished, the various factions couldn't agree about what to do next.
It was almost as though it happened too easily.  The conservatives
had their way for a time directing war policy, but after several
disasters on the front, the conservatives lost the support of the
moderates, and the situation became increasing chaotic.

>> I doubt that any of the Imperial Marines were repatriated.  
> I said it was *offered*, not that it actually happened, although I think it
>probably did. POWs - particularly injured ones - take a lot of resources
>to look after. In addition, ISTR reading something about this somewhere,
>(although it may have been referring to mercs).

   I don't recall any such exchange of prisoners between the Solomani
and the Imperials.  It is good policy to take good care of POWs
(with the understanding your enemy will do the same), injured or
otherwise.  My presumption was that the Solomani took few Imperial
prisoners to start with on Terra, for the reasons I outlined.

> Wilderness? On Terra?

   Vast stretches of tropical rain forest still exist (or were recreated)
on Terra in the Amazon river valley and the Congo region.  Other
forested regions exist in North America and presumably elsewhere.
'Wilderness' can also refer to the desert as well.  No one said they all
had to hide out in Los Angeles (sorry, bad 'A-Team' reference), though
the cities too would have provided a place for them to disappear.

>   I always assumed that the Confederation military - and the Navy in
>particular - were more standardised than the Imperium. The Imperial
>Navy was about TL12-15, whereas I see the SCN as being 13-14.

   The Imperial and Solomani Navy were probably both equally
standardized.  First-line Imperial craft being TL 15, second line being
early TL 15 to late TL 14 (with TL 15 add-ons), and the reserve fleets
being TL 14.  System fleets would run the gambit from TL 9 to TL 16.
Solomani first-line would have been late TL 14 (with a few ships with
TL 15 add-ons), with the second line and reserves also being TL 14
with some TL 13 squadrons used in "quiet" areas.  System (and
member-state) fleets would vary from TL 9 to TL 15.

>One big advantage was that the Imperial forces were pretty confused
>and demoralised - Strephon was dead, the Imperium was ripping itself
>apart, and nobody really knew what the hell was going on. In addition,
>in the past, the Imperium could always rely on reinforcements - this
>time, there weren't any.

   Hey, someone stayed awake through my Naval History lecture.  You
get an 'A' for the class.   :-)

   F.Y.I. (no quiz this week, I have enough stuff to grade....):

   Gokhman, Boris (1056 - 1139).  Admiral, later Archduke of Sol (1121).
Commander of the Imperial Rim Fleet from 1115-1130.  Founder of the
Rim Concordat (q.v.).  First Regent of Dingir (1130 - 1139).  The
Archduke is most noted for his dramatic victory at the First Battle of
Dingir (q.v.) during the Second Solomani Rim War.  His decision to
pull together loyal forces from Terra and  Prometheus  and use them
to reinforce the 115th Fleet under Admiral Tania Yau led to the stunning
Imperial victory in that battle.  He went on to orchestrate the defense of
the Imperial stonghold surrounding the Vegan Autonomous District,
despite facing a superior foe and at times contradictory orders from
Capital.  Finally cut off from the Imperial core, he organized the region
under his direct command into a cantonment and began negotiating a
peace treaty with the Solomani Confederation.  These negotiations
were about to reach fruition when the Collapse occurred.  After the
Collapse, he served as provisional leader of the government of Dingir.
While in that post, he provided strong leadership and was able to keep
the various factions of that world from falling into civil war.  He was
succeeded by Tania Yau (q.v.), who also took the titles of Regent of
Dingir and  Archduke of Sol.


Harold




------------------------------

Date: Sun, 12 Mar 1995 20:01:22 -0500 (EST)
From: mryan@foop.mit.edu (Michael Ryan)
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Re: Battledress
Message-ID: <m0rnyVe-000A3YC@foop.mit.edu>

I'm taking this from Harold's reply since I just came in. :)
> 
> Andrew Boulton writes:
> 
> Subject: Re: Battledress 
> 
> >But why would a civilian *need* BD?
> 
[large quantities snipped]

I think the reasoning would depend on what you define as "battledress".
If you use a strict definition of it being a suit of heavy armor built
around a powered exoskeleton with other built-in enhancements, then
said civilian is going to need to do some fast talking to the local
authorities.
   However, if you use a somewhat broader definition that is alluded to
in some of the equipment info, then there are some valid reasons.  This
definition just uses the powered exoskeleton part.  An example of a
"plausible" situation might be a high grav world where the mechanical
assistance of the exoskeleton is a neccessity.  If the world also has a
corrosive or insidious atmosphere, you then need to plate it a bit with
some armor to keep the atmosphere out.  There are also examples of
powered exoskeletons being used as "cargo-handlers" (a la _Aliens_),
such as the "Baby Brute" Light BRT from the RC Equip. Guide.

Of course, coming in late, I could have missed the entire point of the
original question and be completely off base. :)

Michael Ryan


------------------------------

Date: Sun, 12 Mar 1995 22:49:13 -0500 (EST)
From: Boris Zaidfeld <cs911408@red.ariel.cs.yorku.ca>
To: TNE Mailing List <traveller@MPGN.COM>
Cc: GDW-Beta List <gdw-beta@quark.qrc.com>
Subject: FF&S DESIGN ADD-ON
Message-ID: <Pine.SUN.3.91.950312224540.14317A-100000@blue>


Hi,

I just got around to find out the MV of vehicles with rates less then 1 
displacment ton.  So if anyone wishs to design vehicles < 1 disp. ton, I 
think this list below would be helpful.


Rate    Vol     MV
======================
1       14      0.4
0.9     12.6    0.38
0.8     11.2    0.36
0.7     9.8     0.33
0.6     8.4     0.31
0.5     7       0.28
0.4     5.6     0.25
0.3     4.2     0.22
0.2     2.8     0.18
0.1     1.4     0.13

Enjoy,

                -Shalom Zaidfeld
----
Student, Newtonbrook Secondary School
Toronto, CANADA
Internet: cs911408@ariel.cs.yorku.ca



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End of TRAVELLER Digest 221
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