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Can the T5 Orion Marauder become a skin unlock for the T6 Orion Blackguard
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Member Posts: 8 Arc User
I'd like to change the appearance of my Orion Blackguard Flight Deck Carrier [T6] to the Orion Marauder Flight Deck Carrier [T5], as flown by Hassan the Undying of Nimbus III. 
Post edited by baddmoonrizin on
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Really, the Orions are probably the most popular of the KDF races judging by the numbers of them in the social areas so more Orion ships (and not just carriers) would be great. There is even a (very old) model of the Intruder as an NPC in the game already (in the old AoY tutorial arc) and while a revamp would be great the existing one would be good enough just to have a heavy escort (or anything besides just another carrier).
Or even better yet, have the Intruder a science destroyer similar to the Titan class and play the 'super speed burst' stuff as a modal thing available in science mode (like the teleport stuff some other ships do, or perhaps just raw speed like the Risan frigate but with a limited charging-reserve) and shifting between tac for heavy hitting and science for positioning and the usual space magic tricks. And if it has a fused gun like some of the other modal destroyers in tac mode it would be good to remember that the Intruder was phaser-armed rather than disruptor armed (and in ENT they said the Orion ships were armed with "nadion particle beams" which could be either one but seemed to imply phaser too in this case).
Even just a T6 version of the Corsair would be a welcome addition so Orion captains are not stuck with just one ship (the Blackguard) if they want to stay in canon with a ship that is not obsolete instead of flying a Klingon ship or other Alliance member's ship. Even better than just the Corsair would be having the Corsair and Dacoit parts interchangeable in a T6 version. For fans of kitbashing (like me) that ability would be quite a draw by itself.
If the IP issues can be worked out, the ever-popular Wanderer from FASA could be reworked into an Orion/Federation hybrid for the Alliance since it takes design cues from both (and the "upside-down", pods-on-top 24th century version is at least semi-canon (it was hard canon in early TNG) since it appeared in wirecage form in the shows four times, at least once as "USS Constitution").
And in any case, flipping the hull upside down for an export version does fit the Orion sarcastic and droll sense of humor (and it might make an easy "extra" skin to differentiate between the 23rd and 24th century versions if the devs decide to go that route).
The Orions are a very interesting people with a civilization older than the Klingons that has fallen into a "dark age" of anarchy and petty bandit kings and whatnot that eventually coalesced and polarized into the Syndicate and Free Traders, and that kind of setup is ripe for all sorts of really oddball tech of wildly varying tech levels from isolated groups having different mixes of ancient tech and improvised replacements for the parts of it they lost.
It all depends on whether or not they share the same(or similar) skeleton or not. If they share a skeleton(or a similar one that could be changed easily) then it would be possible.
If they do not share a skeleton, then it would be improbable. It would take to much time and effort and not enough cost incentives to do.
So you wouldn't be able to kitbash them, but it would still be a nice way to give Orion captains another ship to fly.
It woud be about as kitbashable as the Agents of Yesterday ships like the Ranger and Paladin. Not at all and would just be a complete model swap.
It would be an interesting ship, it was sort of like a Pakled clumpship in a way, before the Pakled were even heard of. It is hard to see from the front view, but with the full front view and a brief three-quarter front view that class turns out to look like some kind of armed field-repair ship (and possibly part-time pod hauler when not repairing (or chopping up) ships) converted for more violent and nefarious uses.
The front two-thirds of the ship is a drydock slip similar to the ones near ESD but denser and less skeletal looking, the long "claws" sticking down appear to be mechanical clamps, perhaps with built in umbilicals or whatever to attach to the ship in the slip. It has large, jointed "wings" that hold roughly Klingon style warp nacelles slung underneath like a 20th century jetliner's engines and look like they would be able to fold down and around the slip section, possibly with gaps small enough to seal with forcefields so it could be filled with air if the ship in the slip is small enough.
The back end is (very) roughly similar to a flattened cylindrical cross-section shape similar to a giant ham can (though symmetrical side to side instead of tear-drop shape) and most fan renditions of it have the top plates on the top rear similar to the "tail feathers" of some Romulan designs, which I think was featured in the behind-the-scenes design sketches from the episode published in one of the fan magazines way back then. That back section probably had most of the crew quarters and the impulse engines, and perhaps a shuttle bay or two.
The big yellow-glowing V-shaped structure front is probably warp drive support equipment like Bussards, plasma and matter/antimatter conduits and all the other stuff that is in the wings on Klingon ships and buried in the secondary hull of Federation ones. The warp-drive-in-front arrangement is weird but not impossibly so.
Overall, the ship is not as crazy and unlikely a design when seen from both angles and could realistically be another fleet auxiliary that is armed well enough to be thrown into a combat situation when needed (similar to the Seneca), especially with bits of Borg tech making its way into Alliance hands that would enable their tractors and cutting tools to be weaponized effectively at higher settings along with any regular weapons mounted on the ship.
Plus, being an Orion ship it would not only be a welcome addition just for being another Orion ship which the KDF is so starved of so far, the Orions apparently keep their older designs up to date (like the Klingons and their D7 and B'Rel classes), the Blackguard spaceframe was seen as far back as the 2150s or earlier for instance, so the TAS ship class still being around in some form in 2409 and later makes a lot of sense.
Since the front three-quarter view is rather uncommon and not so easy to find here is a screencap of it from one of the screencap sites:
Until you mentioned it, I didn't know about it (I didn't have enough time to binge more than a few episodes of Lower Decks before the Paramount+ ran out though I caught everything else except the last episode of season 2 SNW), but I was curious and researched it.
It turns out the answer is yes, D'Vana's sister's ship is the modern version of that type. Apparently, dialog says it is specifically a Syndicate design so its primary function is probably a mobile chop shop for captured ships and probably a drydock for smaller raiders a secondary function.
It shows the first good look at the back of the ship which does feature the short "tail feathers" like projection from the TAS sketches, but what the fans have been interpreting as the impulse engines are something else that look like banks of windows (though if they are windows the ship is HUGE (though it is possible they are sensor plates like the ones the TOS Enterprise is supposed to have instead of windows (notice in TOS the only set that has actual windows in the outer hull is the shuttlebay catwalk set, which also has one of the coffin-shaped airtight doors at one end).
Oddly, it looks like the impulse drive vents point to the sides of the ship and not the rear like everyone else's do (unless the red, non-glowing rectangles at the end of the "tail feathers" are the impulse engines), which I suppose could be a holdover from their ancient technology.
Also it apparently uses an uncoated tritanium alloy whose patina is a dark, dull, reddish color similar to the one the Klingons use instead of the brighter orangish patina of the TAS era version, the greenish patina of the Romulans, or the bright brassy gold of the Federation tritanium alloy (though the only place you see the Fed version uncoated is in TOS on the deflector dish and inboard nacelle grid and in the movies on the All-the-Enterprises wall display, that white ceramic coating or dull gray metallic coating covers the rest).
Thanks for the insight, darpendragon - it's disappointing if true, but certainly understandable. I don't see that many blackguards in-game, so I doubt it registers on any of their gameplay metrics. Cheers.
Got the DSC D7 instead.
SNW featured a great-looking Orion science ship last season, the D'Var type, which would be a great addition to the Orion ship roster. Its spinning engine might be a bit of a problem I suppose, but I kind of doubt it since the Dewan ships have a spinning tail and "bubble" trail without any noticeable problems. Also, the elegance of the TOS-R Orion aesthetics compared to the sack-of-potatoes look of Haarad-Sar's barge from ENT is great for characters who try for the loftier aspects of Orion culture and science instead of the brutal overly pragmatic funk of the Syndicate (Personally, I have Orions from all across that spectrum).
The D'Var:
There's also the playable Tholian Tarantula with its slowly spinning segments, and the Jellyfish.