The thought occurred to me that this might be a useable way to represent the Black Globe in Traveller/Starmada AE Conversions. I spent a fair chunk of Memorial Day trying to convert a cruiser without doing too much violence to the Rules and Spirit of Starmada.
While this ship does not usually have a Black Globe, I gave it one fit to its size (and it much needs it as this ship is somewhat weak in defenses for a cruiser in this background).
Zhodani Consulate Vrapkenchkinj Light Battlecruiser (704 CR). All systems are TL +4 (*.50 SU in the house rules that I am using for this conversion).This has been corrected to the Strategic version.
Hull (1, 3, 5); 9 8 7* 6 5 4* 3 2 1.
Engines (1, 2): 5 5 4 4 3 3 2 2 1. ( 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 careless player might run himself out of fuel, he could double an Engine's Thrust just by paying 2 fuel and not (if your House Rules are generous) have to roll dice to see if he has destroyed an Engine by Overload).
Black Globe ( it takes damage on the Shield Track): 9 8 7* 6 5 4* 3 2 1. (The asterisks mark the points where Damage is considered to leak. When the Black Globe Track absorbs Damage at 7 or 4, mark the Damage against the ship as well.)
Shields (3, 4): [2/1/2/III] [2/1/2/III] [2/1/2/III] [2/1/2/II] [2/1/2/II] [1/1/1/II] [1/1/1/I] [1/1/1/I] [1/1/1/I].(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 end tell you what Level your Black Globe is at.)
Weapons (5, 6): 1: WY, 2: XY, 3: XZ, 4: XZ, 5: XZ, 6: Y.
Battery W: Spinal Meson Gun (Kinetic): 1-8/9-16/---, 4/3+/2/1, Slow-Firing; Carronade; Variable Damage.
[G]
Battery X: Nuclear Missles (Ballistic): 1-6/7-12/13-18, 1/3+/2/3.
Alternate Mode: Nuclear Missles (Ballistic): Size: 5, Speed: 10, Attack: 4+/5+/6+, Defense: 0.
[ABCDEF] [ABCDEF] [ABCDEF] [ABCDEF] [ABCDEF] [ABCDEF]
Ammo: 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1.
This is a slightly reworked Plasma S Torpedo from Romulan Armada. I simply increased the Range; removed the Trait Slow-Firing; and made it an Ammunition- Limited Weapon. This should be close enough to work for the purpose. It may be used as a Direct-Fire Weapon or as a Drone Flight. You will probably need to read the Rules from Romulan Armada to properly use these.
Battery Y: Lasers (Energy): 1-6/7-12/---, 1/4+/1/1, Carronade; Increased Hits.
[GHJ] [GHI] [GIK] [JKL]
Battery Z: Energy Blasters (Energy): 1-2/3-4/5-6, 1/2+/1/1, Increased Hits.
[GHI] [GHI] [JKL] [JKL]
These represent the Short-Range Fusion and Plasma Weapons in this background.
Before I proceed to the Special Equipment, I need to explain a few House Rules. The Black Globe has three settings. Fully on, it absorbs all damage until it is full. It radiates away no Damage, when it is fully on. No Engine Thrust may be used, when it is fully on. No Weapons may be fired, nor may anything be launched, when the Black Globe is fully on. Half on (50% Blink Rate), it absorbs half of the Damage (rounded up) scored against the ship. It radiates away a amount of Damage dependent on the ship's Hull Size (square root of 9 is 3), halved (rounding up or, in this case, 2) at the end of the Turn. Only half (rounded up) of the ship's Engine Thrust may be used, when the Black Globe is half on. Weapons fire at half (rounded up) of their normal rate when a Black Globe is half on. Launches and recoveries take place at half the normal rate *rounded up) when the Black Globe is half on.Turned off, it absorbs no Damage and radiates it away at the maximum rate (3 in this instance). Thrust may be applied normally, when the Black Globe is off. Damage against the Black Globe proceeds as in the previous post.
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.
Hyperdrive Ratings are determined by the square root of the number of Hyperdrives (this ship would travel 3 Strategic Hexes in 1 Strategic Turn). Each Hyperdrive is fueled separately each Strategic Turn. That would limit this ship to, at most, 4 Strategic Turns of Hyperspace travel before it needed to re-fuel.
Special Equipment: Boarding Pods (1: 13 Capacity; Launch: 2, Recover: 2); Cargo (200); Critical Hit Save (4+); Damage Control (3 dice); Fuel (36 35 34 33 32 31 30 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1); Hyperdrive (9: Hyper Range: 3); Marines (6); Sandcasters (10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1). This has 30 Space Units to use for auxilliary services.
VBAM Statistics;
Cost: 33, Maintenance: 14/3 ~ 5, Defensive Value: 9, Anti-Ship: 17, Anti-Fighter: 3, Command Rating: 6, Command Cost: 3, Basing: 1; Gunship; Hyperdrive.
Since the Black Globe is a rare technical resource in this background (with a substantial Strategic Cost), most ships of this class do not carry one. This leaves an extra 207 Space Units for auxilliary systems and reduces the Combat Rating to 469 CR. The VBAM Cost would drop to 30, and the VBAM Defensive Value would drop to 7.