I have become intrigued by the SFB Andromedans and P81?s [TMP Cobra and Imposer] and Darkdrone?s reinterpretation of them [Kitbashes].
Aside from a handful of sites that make custom ships for SFB, I can no longer find SFB to SFC stats anywhere. I figured I?d try my hand at making stats for an Andromedan battleship. I started with Darkdrone?s four-engined, kitbash of P81?s Imposer and the auxiliary carrier ISC BB listed on FireSoul?s latest OP+ shiplist. ALL the opponents used in my experimenting came from FireSouls OP+ shiplist as well. This is what I came up with:
PA PANELS: No real way in SFC:OP to implement them. So I upped the hull points and armor to 50 points each using SHIP EDIT. I also upped the labs to 25 and upped the base repair parts. I also gave the three shields where the PA panels are supposed to be the highest shield strengths [150 points each]. In regards to marines being absorbed by the PA panels when attempting to board an Andromedan ship, I simply upped the security number to the maximum and maxed out the number of marine defenders on board the ship. As the emphasis was on defense, I left the number of transporters at 10. Against the AI this is fine; in single player games as I have yet to see the AI attempt to capture any ship I?ve played.
TRBs: we now have Tractor-Repulsor beams in heavy and light flavors in SFC: OP. They seem to work fine and I have found that 12 light TRBs and 6 heavy TRBs are more than enough to destroy a FCA in a couple of passes! I read somewhere that there is a custom Andromedan ship for SFB that could wipe out a starbase in a single pass using a mauler weapon! They sound pretty good to me too. There is something eerie about that blue energy beam?
SATELLITE SHIPS: In the past, I have used P81? Cobra as an Andromedan Frigate. Today I inserted it into the Fighter list, as an ISC shuttle, the ship materializes, like regular shuttles do, in the APPROXIMATE fashion SFB veterans have reported that satellite ships are supposed to appear. This works cosmetically but the satellite ships appear to be limited by what the Fighter list dictates for maximum speed, allowable shots fired, etc. I also changed the ISC BB base launch rate from 2 to 3 and removed all the fighters for this experiment. I do note that I?m not 100% sure how big a given satellite ship is supposed to be in relation to the mother ship carrying them; the pics I have here show them a good comparable size IMHO to what I have read on these forums about SFB Andromedans. One thing I did notice; the AI doesn't like to launch offensive shuttles
at least from what I've seen and I'd had to see a Satellite ship launched as a mere glorified Wild Weasel.
BALANCE ISSUES: I have played against a mixed group of drone armed and non-drone armed, Federation and Klingon ships. Against less than 6 ships I rarely took any internals; against 9 ships I got my arse kicked and I once went against two Klingon supercarriers and a B-10k and the skirmish was over very quickly as the Andromedan couldn't repell two carriers worth of fighter power and three capitol ships bearing down on it. From what I have read here on the forums this is what SFB players needed to do against the Andros; overwhelm their PA panels with too much energy coming at them!
Finally, as a non-SFB player I really would like to see somebody come up with stats or post links to stats already made for SFB to SFC Andromedans AND Tholians. I, myself, have no problem with the idea that these two extra-galactic races are cut off from their former home resources and have to make due with what is available to them in our galaxy. If I recall correctly there are SFB rules for doing things like adding non-Tholian weapons, such as photon torpedoes, to Tholian ships. I even use the Lyran slots for the Tholians and I pretend the ESG is a limited time Tholian Web, LOL. I suppose the Andromedan Invaders are not above cannibalizing the wreckage of those they fight looking for things they can use either given their own logistical concerns.