 March 9, 2019 - 1:05pm | Here's a threat to try to flesh out the Sathar rocket sled mentioned in the module "Face of the Enemy." When discovered by the characters it was crashed with two dead worms inside along with two small robots (apparently the Spider I type that is described later). No picture was provided. Much of what follows are some of my extrapolations of the craft. Few details are provided about it, but it seems likely it can go underwater. That's because the Sathar scout ship could be found in the middle of a deep and wide river. Please share your thoughts. Addition: I'll also post some ideas -- originating from Tom V. -- for other Sathar vehicles. Joe Cabadas |
March 9, 2019 - 1:40pm | “Arrowworm” Rocket Sled Type:submersible/variable hovercraft Size: 2 ProtectionLevel: SP/STA: 150/300 Crew/Passengers: 2 + 2 robots Cargo: 20 kilograms, 5 cubic meters Power: Sathar 500 SEU powerpack, 5 kiloliters of chemical rocket fuel Max. Range: est. 500 kilometers Hover: Top/Cruise Speeds: 150kph/90 kph (250 meters per turn/150 meters per turn) Turn Speed: 80 meters per turn Accel./Decel.: 100/40 meters per turn Max. Altitude: est. 1,000 meters Submersible: Top/Cruise Speeds: 60kph/24 kph (100 meters per turn/40 meters per turn) Turn Speed: 40 meters per turn Accel./Decel.: 40/20 meters per turn Available Hardpoints: 1
Weapon: 1 forward, swivel-mounted Sathar heavy laser (a 45-degree arc of fire in front), powered off of the powerpack.
Equipment: 1 radiophone; toxyrad-like gauge, sensors include sonar (50 meters), and infrared (10 meters). Description: The Arrowworm is a rocket-powered variable hovercraft resembling a 4-by-4 meter metal platform with a transparent dome with a rear hatch. Of a modular construction, the rocket sled is built to allow for easy assembly/disassembly and compact storage. The front of the vehicle has a heavy laser in a swivel mount while a pair of mechanical arms are attached to the corners of the platform, just above the rocket motors. The arms allow the Sathar pilots to grab and hold onto objects or animals/characters outside of the craft. Inside, the pilots layside-by-side along two small robots. The robots – “Spider I” personal robots (to be detailed later) are mounted on the middle sides of the platform. The rocket sled’s steering controls attach to the Sathar’s tails. All security and computer locks on the vehicle are level three. Capabilities: The Arrowworm is airtight and waterproof. It cannot only fly but also operate submerged for short periods of time. It has an air supply for five hours. As a variable hovercraft, it can operate at low altitudes, but travels more at hover vehicle speeds. If flying,i t can become unstable and crash during stormy weather. Joe Cabadas |
March 9, 2019 - 1:10pm | Altitude Conventions Table[1] This table is given as a general guideline for the different ceiling heights for various Frontier aircraft. .
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March 9, 2019 - 1:49pm | “Hookworm” Hoverbike Type: Variable hovercycle Size: 1 Protection Level: SP/STA: 100/200 Crew/Passengers: 1 + 1 Cargo: 100 kg, 1 cubic meter Power: Sathar 800 SEU powerpack Max. Range: est. 1,000 kilometers maximum Variable Hover: Top/Cruise Speeds: 150kph/90 kph (250 meters per turn/150 meters per turn) Turn Speed: 80 meters per turn Accel./Decel.: 100/40 meters per turn Max. Altitude: est. 1,000meters Available Hardpoints: 0.5 Weapons: 1 swivel mount forforward-facing Sathar rifle (45-degree arc) Equipment: 1 Sathar chronocom, searchlight. Description: The Hookworm hoverbike is a sleek oval shape with a bowl depression for 1-2 Sathar to ride it (only 1 rider if a member of the Core Four).Joe Cabadas |
March 9, 2019 - 2:11pm | “Ringworm” Staff Car Type: Variable hovercar Size: 3 Protection Level: SP/STA: 225/450 Crew/Passengers: 6 Cargo: 150 kilograms, 1 cubic meter Power: Sathar 1,000 SEU powerpack Max.Range: est. 1,000 kilometers maximum VariableHover: Top/Cruise Speeds: 150kph/90 kph (250 meters per turn/150 meters per turn) Turn Speed: 80 meters per turn Accel./Decel.: 100/40 meters per turn Max. Altitude: est. 1,000 meters Available Hardpoints: 6 Weapons: 2 medium turrets with 360-degree field of fire. Each turret is operated by 1 passenger. The front turret mounts a searchlight and 2 small heavy weapons of the same type (i.e. Advanced Game heavy lasers, sonic devastators, rocket launchers, machine guns, recoilless rifles, etc.). Beam weapons would use a dedicated 200 SEU powerpack while other weapons would have enough ammunition for 10 combat turns. The rear turret has similar capabilities as the front one. Defenses: 50 points of armor (must be burned through before vehicle takes any kind of damage); 1 AlbedoS creen, 1 Inertia Screen (both screens cannot be activated at the same time, but they run off of the same 200 SEU powerpack); provides protection up to 50 rads of radiation per hour. Equipment: 1 Sathar radiophone (500 km range), searchlight, Sathar vehicle computer with several bodycomp-like progits; sensors include radar (2 km range), infrared/ultraviolet (100 meter range), anti-tampering device (electric shock, 4d10 + stun); Level 4 security locks; deluxe cabin air filtration system with life support for 10 hours; airtight. Description: The Ringworm is a saucer-shaped variable hovercar with four side hatches. It is used by Middle Caste to Upper Caste Sathar. It can transport six worms, two of whom are gunners. If it is commandeered by members of the Core Four, it will only fit four characters. Joe Cabadas |
March 11, 2019 - 3:57pm | Another Jedion aka Tom V. inspired vehicle: “Heartworm” CS-1 Command Saucer Type: Variable hovertruck Size: 4 Protection Level: SP/STA: 300/600 Crew/Passengers: 9 + 9 Cargo: 5,000 kg, 15 cubic meters Power: 2 Sathar batteries, type 4 (8,000 SEU total); 1 Sathar type 1 generator (500 SEU/hour) with fuel to generate up to 5,000 SEU (10 hours of running full tilt) Max. Range: est. 1,000 kilometers maximum Variable Hover: Top/Cruise Speeds: 150kph/90 kph (250 meters per turn/150 meter sper turn) Turn Speed: 80 meters per turn Accel./Decel.: 100/40 meters per turn Max. Altitude: est. 1,000 meters Available Hardpoints: 12 Weapons: · Upper deck, right side cupola (180 degree fire right side): 2 Machine Guns, 20 bursts of ammo each. · Upper deck, left side cupola (180 degree fire left side): 2 Machine Guns, 20 bursts of ammo each. · Lower deck, right side cupola (180 degree fire right side): 2 Heavy Lasers, set at 10d10 each (10+10 SEU), powered off of 1,000 SEU power drum. · Lower deck, left side cupola (180 degree fire left side): 2 Heavy Lasers, set at 10d10 each (10+10 SEU), powered off of 1,000 SEU power drum. · 4 Rocket Launchers on swivel mounts, facing forward (45-degree fire), with auto loader, ROF: 1 per turn, 40 small rockets. Defenses: · EMP shielding, protects against electronic discharge warhead attacks (70%), while allowing the craft to “reboot” if it goes down; · Vehicle can operate in total vacuum of space and in very extreme temperatures. Up to 50 rad/hour protection; · 100 points of armor, which must be burned through before the vehicle takes damage; · Vehicle Ultra Shield, a defensive energy screen will protect against most energy attacks (laser, electrical, sonic, rafflur, maser, and bolt weapons). For every 1 point of damage absorbed, it drains 5 SEU. Operates off of a dedicated 500 SEU powerpack. Equipment: Deluxe Cabin Filtration System, filters out most toxins and radioactive particles; Can run off of internal life support system for ten beings only for 20 hours; Capabilities: The “Heartworm” command saucer is a headquarters truck where at least one upper caste Sathar can be encountered. The command saucer is 10 meters in diameter and 4.5 meters tall, with two decks. It is also a variable hovercraft, so it can fly up to 1,000 meters off the ground. The upper deck is for the leader, along with any command and control equipment, a small rest cubicle, upper caste weapons locker, and side cupolas for Mid-Caste warriors to man heavy weapons. Top emergency hatch and a rear “landing deck” for a “Hookworm” Hoverbike. The lower deck’s crew compliment would normally be six: 1 driver, 2 additional gunners, 1 Mid-Caste Technician, 1 Mid-Caste Medic, 1 lower caste body guard (the equivalent of a NCO). This deck would have a standard weapons locker, sanitation facilities, 4 “hot bunks,” more communications and computer equipment, repair kit, medical kit, life support, 2 security/combat robots, 1 maintenance robot. There is a bottom emergency hatch and three normal exit hatches for the landing legs. Up to nine others can be crammed into the vehicle, but as noted earlier its life support system can only support 10 beings. On planets with a breathable atmosphere -- or even ones with a bit of a taint -- its air filtration system will allow it to use the outside air rather than the life support system. Joe Cabadas |
March 11, 2019 - 3:04pm | Does anyone know of any other Sathar vehicles that have been published or proposed? Joe Cabadas |
March 11, 2019 - 4:01pm | Vehicles that the Sathar could use: Armored personnel carriers: a large, dedicated troop transport as opposed to the supply trucks. They would need hover and track versions. They would use the variable hover-type. Huge Air Transport Troop/Supply carriers: I'm thinking something like a Soviet helicopter such as: The Mil Mi-26 is the world's largest production helicopter. It is known in the West as Halo. Currently this heavy-lift machine is in service with nearly 20 countries, including Russia and India. Its development began in the early 1970s. Designers had a goal to produce a helicopter with a load capacity twice that of any contemporary machine. It became operational in 1983. The Mi-26 has the load-carrying capability of a C-130 transport plane. Its cargo area, with the rear ramp closed, is 12 m long, and 3.2 m wide, with a minimum ceiling height of 2.9 m. The interior can be configured to seat 80 combat-equipped troops or 60 stretchers. However there were cases when it flew with 150 troops. Alternatively this cargo helicopter can carry two combat vehicles weighting 10 000 kg each. The Mi-26 can also carry various loads externally. Latest model, the Mi-26M can lift even more. It has a payload capacity of 25 000 kg. Source: http://www.military-today.com/helicopters/top_10_transport_helicopters.htmJoe Cabadas |
March 11, 2019 - 4:06pm | The huge Sathar troop transport could also carry cybodragons and the like. Aircar or jetcopter like gunships: something for close-in air support. Warbot tenders -- perhaps just the ground transport used to repair and resupply warbots. So, maybe have a warbot missile carrier? Armed with long range missiles? And so, they would also need, radar trucks... or shall we say, specialized electronic warfare vehicles with accompanying sensor/jamming robots and drones. Though, a lot of this would be more suited to some kind of large scale ground combat system rather than an RPG scenario... Joe Cabadas |
June 20, 2019 - 2:17pm | “Screwworm” VTOL Troop Transport Type: VTOL Size: 5 Protection Level: SP/STA: 325/650 Crew/Passengers: 6+ 80/150* Cargo: 25,000 kilograms* Power: 4 Sathar type 4 parabatteries, 1 generator type 2 Max. Range: est. 2,000 kilometers maximum VTOL: Top/Cruise Speeds: 300 kph/250 kph Turn Speed: -- Accel./Decel.: 75/150 meters per turn Max. Altitude: est. 25-30 kilometers Available Hardpoints: 4 Weapons: Forward nose turret (180 degree front), 2 Heavy Lasers, set at 5d10, powered by 1,000 SEU pack Right side cupolas (180 degree coverage), 1 Machine Gun, 20 bursts Left side cupolas (180 degree coverage), 1 Machine Gun, 20 bursts Defenses: Albedo Screen and Inertia Screen, both screens cannot be up at the same time, they share the same 500 SEU powerpack. Equipment: Radiophone, 2 chaff pods, 3 searchlights (1 forward, 1 right side, 1 left side), Medical gear, Security locks, level 1. Sensors: Radar, 5 km; IR/UV sensors, 100 meters Capabilities: The Screwworm is the largest known Sathar transport VTOL. This heavy-lift machine has a cargo area that is 12 meters long, 3.2 meters wide, and 3 meters tall. It can carry a payload of up to 25,000 kilograms. The payload can include cargo, or up to two 10-metric-ton vehicles, or can be configured to carry combinations of 80 combat-equipped troops and standard robots. Alternatively, it can transport up to 150 very lightly armed Sathar and robots.
Joe Cabadas |
 March 12, 2019 - 5:35am | I like the assigned names: screw worm, tapeworm etc. nice touch. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
March 12, 2019 - 1:09pm | I like the assigned names: screw worm, tapeworm etc. nice touch. All Frontier nicknames for the nasty worm vehicles. Joe Cabadas |
March 13, 2019 - 3:16pm | “Lugworm” Hover Transport Type: Hover Size: 6 Displaces 340 metric tons empty, 800+ metric tons fully loaded Protection Level: SP/STA: 400/800 Crew: 31 (4 Middle Caste, 27 Lower Caste) Robots: est. 20 work robots, 10 combat robots, 1 robot brain Passengers/Cargo: up to 500 troops/450+ metric tons Power: 2 Sathar type 3 generators Max. Range: fuel for an est. 1,400 kilometers maximum Hover: Top/Cruise Speeds: 90/75 kph (150/125 meters per turn) Turn Speed: 70 m/t Accel./Decel.:40/80 m/t Available Hardpoints: 18 Weapons: 4 Kavacha Anti-Missile System Turrets with 360-degree fire. The Kavacha is a defensive/offensive weapon system. Each turret has two large, Gatling-style medium vehicle machine guns with explosive ammunition. The guns in both turrets must fire in the same general direction and elevation but have separate chances to hit. This defensive weapon sacrifices long-range for a greater rate of fire and the ability to shoot down rockets and missiles and even artillery shells and dropped bombs. It can fire at other aerial and ground targets during the same turn. It relies on its own radar sensors in addition to the vehicle it’s mounted on. It has a 70 percent chance to hit and destroy an incoming flight of rockets or missiles – a “flight” in this case is defined as a grouping of rockets fired from the same source during the same turn. It has a 60 percent chance to destroy a bomb or cluster of bombs (a bunch of bombs dropped at the same time, from the same enemy vehicle), or a 60 percent chance to destroy an incoming artillery shell. It has a base chance of 70 to hit aerial or ground targets and ignores movement rate modifiers.
The Lugworm’s armaments can be supplemented by crewmembers armed with man-portable rocket launchers, heavy lasers, or sonic devastators that can be setup on pintle mounts located at strategic points along the outside, upper deck of the hover vehicle. Defenses: Albedo Screen and Inertia Screen, both screens cannot be up at the same time. They share the same 1,000 SEU powerpack. The screens use 6 SEU per turn of operation. Jammers: Radio, IR/UV, White Noise Generator (50 km range) Equipment: Radiophone, 6 searchlights (2 forward, 2 right side, 2 left side, 2 rear), Infirmary for 20, Weapons lockers, Machine shop, Security locks, level 3. Sensors: Radar, 25 km; IR/UV sensors, 500 meters Capabilities: The Lugworm is the largest known Sathar hover transport at 57 meters long, 26 meters wide and 16 meters high. It has a central landing deck that can handle two Screwworm VTOLS. It is deployed from space via a special assault shuttle with a mostly disposable outer shell. It will come in fully loaded and pressurized. It’s job is to quickly transport hordes of troops, combat robots, warbots, and attack monsters to the front lines. With a cargo area of 400 square meters, it can carry the equivalent of three main battle tanks (up to 150 tons total), or ten armored vehicles with 140 troops/combat robots (a total of 131 tons), or eight armored personnel carriers with 140 troops/combat robots (total mass of 115 tons), or up to 500 troops, with 360 troops in the cargo compartment. In some cases, the Lugworm has been known to carry 140 troops and combat robots along with two Screwworm VTOLs. It will then have a combination of 200 warbotsand attack monsters in the cargo area. Also aboard would be several dozen attendants, spare parts, ammunition, plus food and veterinary facilities for the attack monsters. This craft is capable of crossing rough seas and is fully protected in NBC (nuclear, biological and chemical) warfare environments. It will protect its occupants upto 50 rad of radiation per hour while all air is specially filtered. However,t he Lugworm is completely dependent on operating in some sort of atmosphere that can be filtered. Other Considerations: Typically a Lugworm is not going to be sent into a dangerous location by itself. It will probably go in a grouping of at least two, protected by flying or ground or sea-based warbots and/or light tanks. While it can handle rough seas, anything greater than a category 3 hurricane may cause it to capsize and sink. The vehicle is not waterproof and must operate in an area with some kind of atmosphere. Joe Cabadas |
March 14, 2019 - 7:40pm | “Tapeworm” Sathar Armored Personnel Carrier SAPC-1H, SAPC-2W, SAPC-3T Type: Armored vehicle Size: 4 Damage Modifier: -11 SP/STA: 275/550 Crew: 4 Passengers: 12 troops and combat robots Cargo: 2,500 kg, 7.5 cubic meters Power: 1 Sathar battery, type 4 (4,000 SEU total) Max. Range: est. 1,000 kilometers
SAPC-1H Hover: Top/Cruise Speeds: 150/105 kph (250/175 meters per turn) Turn Speed: 70 m/t Accel./Decel.: 60/40 m/t SAPC-2W Top/Cruise Speeds: 105/75 (175/125 meters per turn) Turn Speed: 70 m/t Accel./Decel.: 60/40 m/t SAPC-3T Top/Cruise Speeds: 105/75 (175/125 meters per turn) Turn Speed: 70 m/t Accel./Decel.: 60/40 m/t Available Hardpoints: 4 Weapons: 1 Heavy Laser, 250 SEU pack, 1 Searchlight (forward turret) 1 Machine Gun, 20 bursts, 1 Searchlight (rear turret) Defenses: Albedo Screen, Inertia Screen, both screens cannot be up at the same time. They use 5 SEU per turn and operate off of the same 1,000 SEU powerpack. Vehicle provides up to 10 rad/hour protection from radiation. 25 points of armor, which must be burned through before the vehicle takes damage. Equipment: Deluxe Cabin Filtration System, filters out most toxins and radioactive particles; 5 Sathar medkits; spare ammunition and powerpacks. Capabilities: The “Tapeworm” is the name for three related armored personnel carriers that share much of the same architecture, but have different propulsion systems. The SAPC-2H is a normal hovercraft. The SAPC-2W is a wheeled version of the Tapeworm, while the SAPC-3T is a treadmobile. Sathar Clan Y has variants that the Landfleet have nicknamed the “Roach Motels.” Known as the SAPC-2HY, SAPC-2WY, and the SAPC-2TY, these armored personnel carriers can transport up to 12 Sathar soldiers but also transport 12 Cockroach Combat Robots. Joe Cabadas |
March 14, 2019 - 8:03pm | I think I've come up with enough variety of Sathar vehicles here. I'll try to turn it into an article next. I'm still open to any other feedback and suggestions. Joe Cabadas |
March 15, 2019 - 5:10am | I think I've come up with enough variety of Sathar vehicles here. I'll try to turn it into an article next. I'm still open to any other feedback and suggestions. Have at, I'm about to start school on monday and will be slightly MIA for 5 weeks. dues to 40 hours of shcool and 32 of work. But that was why I've been hitting magazine stuff so hard these previous weeks. issue 24 isn't out yet and we have issue 25 70% there so I'm not worried about it and I'll likely still get magazine stuff done. I might not be a dralasite, vrusk or yazirian but I do play one in Star Frontiers! |
