I have decided to post my conversion of the Vrapkenchkinj under this Topic before the Topic: Langston Field gets too far buried. People viewing this site would probably appreciate a more handy explanation of how these conversions work.
I am using consumable fuel for the Engines. Think of it as being like Ammo for a Weapon Battery. Fire an Engine, mark off a point of fuel. While a heedless player could run himself out of fuel, he could double an Engine's Thrust just by paying double the fuel and not (if you will let your House Rules be this generous) have to roll dice to see if he has destroyed an Engine by Overload.
I am using the Kinetic/Energy/Ballistic Shields from the VBAM/Starmada books. If rolling for Impact of a Kinetic Weapon against the Shields, use the first figure in brackets. If rolling for Impact of an Energy Weapon against the Shields, use the second figure in brackets. If rolling for Impact of a Ballistic (or Guided, if you prefer the term) Weapon, use the third figure in brackets. The Roman numerals at the right end of the brackets tell you at what Level your Black Globe is.
Black Globes take Damage on the Shield Track. When the Black Globe drops to a lower level, roll any Damage still absorbed above that level against the ship. The asterisks on the Black Globe Track mark the points where Damage is considered to leak. When a Black Globe swallows Damage at these points, mark the Damage against both the ship and the Black Globe. The Black Globe has three settings. Fully on, it absorbs all Damage scored against the ship (including Extra Hull Damage, Double Damage, and Continuing Damage) until it is full (it's Track has been marked off completely). It radiates away no Damage. No Engine Thrust may be used. No Weapon may be fired, nor may anything be launched or recovered. Half on, it absorbs half of the Damage (Rounded Up) scored against the ship. It dumps (removes from the Black Globe Track) an amount of Damage (Rounded Up) dependent on the ship's Hull Size before the beginning of the next turn. Only half (Rounded Up) of the ship's Engine Thrust may be used. The Rate of Fire of Weapon's is halved (Rounding Up) and so are Launch and Recovery rates. Turned Off, it absorbs no Damage and radiates it away at the maximum rate. Engine Thrust is normal. Weapon's fire is normal. Launch and recovery operations proceed as normal.
The rate at which a Black Globe dissipates Damage is determined by the Hull size. Hulls between Size 1 and Size 3 dump 1 Damage per Turn. Hulls between Size 4 and Size 8 dump 2 Damage per Turn. Hulls between Size 9 and Size 15 dump 3 Damage per Turn. Hulls between Size 16 and Size 24 dump 4 Damage per Turn. Hulls of Size 25 or greater dump 5 Damage per Turn.
The amount of Damage that can be swallowed by a Black Globe is equal to the square of it's Level. A given Level of Black Globe costs the same in Space Units as that Level of Shields. It should be treated the same as a Shield for purposes of calculating Defensive Rating. It should be calculated seperately from the shields and then be added to the Defense Rating. Adding the Black Globe rating to the Shield rating before calculating, gives a spuriously high Defense Rating.
The Nuclear Missles are slightly re-worked Plasma S Torpedoes from Romulan Armada. I simply increased the Range; removed the Trait Slow-Firing; and made it an Ammunition-Limited Weapon. This is close enough to work for the purpose. It may be used as a Direct-Fire Weapon or as a Drone Flight. You will need to read the Rules from Romulan Armada to properly use these.
Energy Blasters represent the Short-Ranged Fusion and Plasma Weapons from this background.
Sandcasters are Expendable Directional Counter-Measures. A Directional Counter-Measure is one that gives a -1 to any To-Hit roll made against its ship from a single bearing (as opposed to conventional Counter-Measures that give this protection from any direction). A Directional Counter-Measure should cost about 1% of the Hull Space Units. An expendable Counter-Measure is one that lasts only a single Turn. Knowing the Space unit cost of a Directional Counter-Measure, I can apply the procedure used for Ammunition-Limited weapons to determine the cost in Space Units of a single Sandcaster. The only important thing to know about Sandcasters is that each one defends your ship (by reducing your enemy's chance To-Hit for only a single Turn and only from fire from a single direction. It is also probably a good House Rule to apply the -1 to any To-Hit Roll penalty to your own Fire directed through bearings protected by Expendable CounterMeasures ( this compensates for the fact that they are cheaper than full CounterMeasures).
Hyperdrive Ratings are determined by the square root of the number of Hyperdrives. Each Hyperdrive is fueled seperately each Strategic Turn. Hyper Range is the distance that can be travelled in one Strategic Turn.
Black Globes are considered rare Strategic resources in this background. Therefore, I would probably choose no more than one or two ships with Black Globes for any Fleet.