Topic: Babylon 5 ACTA Conversion

Been trying to convert ships from A Call to Arms to Starmada. Was hoping for some input on what I've gotten so far.

Weapons:
Range: use 3/4 ACTA
Arcs: AB for Fore, C for Port, D for Starboard, EF for Aft, G for Boresight
AD: use 1/2 for number of Starmada batteries
All weapons start with ROF 1, ACC 5+, IMP 1, DMG 1

Weapon Traits:
Accurate: Anti-Fighter
Precise: +1 ACC, +1 DMG
Energy Mine: Area Effect, Non-Piercing -1
Mass Driver: Ignores Shields
Slow Loading: Slow Firing
Twin Linked: ROF +1

Armor Piercing - +1 IMP
Super Armor Piercing - +2 IMP
Weak: Non-Piercing -1

Beam: +1 ACC, +1 IMP, +1 DMG, Piercing +1, Increased Hits
Mini-Beam: +1 ACC, Piercing +1

Double Damage: +1 DMG
Triple Damage: +2 DMG
Quad Damage: +2 DMG, Extra Hull Hit

Ships:
Hull: to fit all items
Engines: 3/4 Speed
Shields: Hull -1

Ship Traits:
Adaptive Armor: Armor Plating
Command: Fire Control
Flight Computer: Fire Control
Gravitic Energy Grid: Countermeasures
Interceptors: Countermeasures
Self Repairing: Regeneration
Shields: Countermeasures
Stealth: Stealth

Anti-Fighter: Equal amount of Anti-Fighter Batteries
Advanced Anti-Fighter: As above plus Point Defense

Jump Engine: No effect (not combat effective)
Advanced Jump Engine: Hyperdrive

Items I'm having trouble with:
Agile, Afterburner, Escort, Lumbering; Gravitic Shifter
Fighters I'm still trying to work out.

Sample Ships:
(426) Earth Alliance Hyperion
Hull: 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1                
Engines: [TL0] 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1 1                                 
Shields: [TL0] 4 4 4 3 3 3 2 2 2 1 1 1                                 
Weapons: [TL1] 1:[WX] 2:[WX] 3:[XY] 4:[X] 5:[X] 6:[X]               
Battery W: Heavy Laser Cannon, 5/10/15, 1/4+/2/3, Increased Hits; Piercing +1               
[G] [G] [L]                
Battery X: Medium Pulse Cannon, 3/6/9, 1/5+/1/1,                
[AB] [AB] [C] [C] [C] [C] [D] [D] [D] [D] [EF]                
Battery Y: Plasma Cannon, 2/4/6, 2/5+/2/1,                
[AB] [AB]                
Special: [TL1] Anti-Fighter Batteries (2); Carrier (65); Countermeasures               
Fighters: [TL1] 1xStarfury, 6/11/0, (Fighter/4+)               

(100) Centauri Vorchan
Hull: 4 3 2 1                
Engines: [TL1] 10 8 5 3                                         
Shields: [TL1] 4 3 2 1                                         
Weapons: [TL1] 1:[WX] 2:[WX] 3:[WX] 4:[X] 5:[X] 6:[X]               
Battery W: Plasma Accelerator, 3/6/9, 1/5+/3/2,                
[AB] [AB]                
Battery X: Ion Cannon, 3/6/9, 2/5+/1/2,                
[AB] [AB] [AB] [AB]                

Comments?

Re: Babylon 5 ACTA Conversion

Look here: http://www.mj12games.com/forum/viewtopi … amp;t=1912
A lot has been done for B5. Not necessarily ACTA ships, but as those has evolved from edition to revision...
You can design new ships, or discuss created ones, I suppose.

Marc

Re: Babylon 5 ACTA Conversion

Any chance of having an official release of BAB 5 ships (Babylon Armada)?

Marc

Re: Babylon 5 ACTA Conversion

Official B5 Starmada stuff? 

It would be the fifth version by my counting (AoG's B5 Wars and Fleet Action, Mongoose's ACTA, and the Earthforce Sourcebook for the old B5 RPG, which used the Full Thrust rules to model B5 space combat)

Dunno, Ive always heard (secondhand) that Warner Bros are pretty stingy with that liscense, but then again, I dont think Mongoose was a "rich" company when they got it.

Re: Babylon 5 ACTA Conversion

But Mongoose seem to have been in much better shape when it came up for renewal.

I do get the impression that Warner think they should get more for the license that it is worth given the time that has elapsed since the were even partially serious about putting new material out there.  It is like they think it is worth as much as StarWars or Star Trek yet they have let the franchise die while trying to milk every last cent out of it.

Re: Babylon 5 ACTA Conversion

It's Warner. They did it to AOG and tried it again with MGP. I'm not sure that due to the costs we'll see an official book or something. Until JMS puts out something new for B5 and not only a "lost tales" DVD-release the license will die.

Re: Babylon 5 ACTA Conversion

Lone Gunman wrote:

... the license will die.

Is that good or bad news?
BTW, a question to mj12games/D. Kast, aside the SFU, what are the official projects for Starmada?

Marc

Re: Babylon 5 ACTA Conversion

As someone who has seen the show more than once it would be sad, but who knows what Warner thinks.

Re: Babylon 5 ACTA Conversion

Oddly enough I am in the process of re-watching the series as we speak.  Or to be more accurate, watching the episodes I liked Season 1 through 5, skipping the 'filler'. 

I would love to see a good new series.  Crusade and the ranger thing just weren't very good.   Some good ideas, but on the whole, not.

Re: Babylon 5 ACTA Conversion

That FIRST season of Crusade wasnt good.  JMS said he had planned a five year arc for it, just like with B5.  So who knows how it would have turned out if TNT hadnt pulled the plug on it.

Re: Babylon 5 ACTA Conversion

I saw the pilot (I think) of one of the spinoffs, the one with the most idiotic weapon control system ever dreamed up by man/minbari. Who makes a weapons control system that physically exhausts the operator and where the performance of the system is suddenly dependent on the physical fitness/speed of the weapons officer? Pretty dumb IMO. There was just too much stuff that didn't make sense in that show. I didn't watch any more episodes despite REALLY liking the original 5 seasons of Bab5.

Re: Babylon 5 ACTA Conversion

IIRC, you're talking about the Legend of the Rangers. The weapon control system wasn't only idiotic, but it was also ridiculous...

Marc

Re: Babylon 5 ACTA Conversion

Actually, the kungfu weapons system was in The Legend of the Rangers. That was ... different... And painful.