X-SECTOR SSD REVISIONS
As I designed the Stormbringer Plus Heavy Cruiser for the Y-Sector, it became necessary to compare it against the existing Plus starships from the X-Sector. It was then that I realized that there was something fundamentally wrong with the three existing X-Sector SSD’s, something that I managed to miss when I first created them.
The X-Sector began with the Protectorate Plus Heavy Cruiser, which was capable of generating a maximum Alpha Strike of roughly 130-140 points of damage. So when I created the Reaper Plus Battlecruiser and the Shadow Legion Plus Lord Manta, in order to maintain balance, I made sure both of their maximum Alpha Strikes were roughly 130-140 points of damage as well. This seemed correct and fine at the time.
However, after coming back to them while creating the Stormbringer Plus Heavy Cruiser, I saw the errors clearly. The issue is one that is not immediately apparent, because it does not manifest itself on the SSD’s in any way. That issue is one of Arming Length.
The Protectorate Plus Heavy Cruiser takes two turns to arm its Plus Photon Torpedoes (like the Federation). The Reaper Plus Battlecruiser takes one turn to arm its Plus Disruptors (like the Klingons). The Shadow Legion Plus Lord Manta takes three turns to arm its Plus Plasma Torpedoes (like the Romulans). This was all done on purpose in order to maintain the Tactical Framework of the Basic Set.
But herein lies the problem. The Protectorate Plus Heavy Cruiser is taking two turns to deliver 130-140 points of damage. The Reaper Plus Battlecruiser is taking one turn to deliver 130-140 points of damage. The Shadow Legion Plus Lord Manta is taking three turns to deliver 130-140 points of damage. One can immediately see that, over the course of many turns, the Reaper Plus Battlecruiser will deliver far more total damage than the other two simply because it fires more frequently. Because the Plus Photon Torpedoes and the Plus Plasma Torpedoes take longer to arm, the maximum Alpha Strike for the starships that carry them must have Higher Alpha Strikes. This only makes sense and matches what the Basic Set establishes.
To correct this issue, the Protectorate Plus Heavy Cruiser received two more Plus Photon Torpedoes, increasing its maximum Alpha Strike potential. The Shadow Legion Plus Lord Manta received two additional PL-S Torpedoes and the two PL-F’s were upgraded to PL-G’s. The result was that the Reaper Plus Battlecruiser had the lowest maximum Alpha Strike (because it can fire every turn), the Protectorate Plus Heavy Cruiser had the second highest maximum Alpha Strike (because it can fire every two turns), and the Shadow Legion Plus Lord Manta had the highest maximum Alpha Strike (because it can launch every three turns). Now all of this matched the Design Framework established in the Basic Set.
Each of the X-Sector SSD’s has been updated and labeled Version 2.0. Each R-Section Description has been updated to match the revised SSD’s as well.
