Federation Commander

What does the M in the Fed Middle Years DDM stand for? Is it just to designate it as a Middle Years ship?

Yup.

Technically, it's the "original version of the DD" (with two photons), but was published decades after the version we all know and love (and sometimes hate).

Didn't the original SFB version have four photons?

*Originally published version* has four photons, yes.

Decades later, ADB translated more Air Force tapes and discovered that it, in-universe, it was originally built with two and the "Franz Joseph DD" we all know (with 4) was a refit of it.

Two photons makes sense - otherwise it is too close to the Middle Years CA. Plus, with one nacelle, four photons would mean a serious power curve issue. You would be at baseline 0 if you want overloads.

I kind of like the suggested "four mini-photons" DD from SSJ1, but that's apparently not gonna fly. Two regular photons is pretty much the same firepower, so....

Never heard of those! What are they, warhead = 4, overload to 6 or 8, costs cut in half across the board, single turn arm for 2 power?

cnuzzi wrote:Never heard of those! What are they, warhead = 4, overload to 6 or 8, costs cut in half across the board, single turn arm for 2 power?

A "mini-photon" is just a half-rate photon. In FC terms, take the photon rules and halve the damage and power requirements. Everything else stays exactly the same. It is a two-turn arming weapon. It was introduced in SFB Module P6 as a "what-if; coulda-been" type rule.

It was paired with a "mega-photon" that took 150% the power and did 150% the damage. (You could think of it as the combination of a single mini-photon and a single regular-photon.) The overall idea was that the small ships would have used the mini-photon, the cruisers would have used the regular photon, and the dreadnoughts and battleships would have used the mega-photon. That would explain why the original DD, CA, and DN all had the same number of heavy weapons: the weapons themselves scaled, not the number of weapons.

As an analysis, if you are a Fed player, you would never have wanted to see the mini-photon (and mega-photon) introduced. The reason is because every single small Federation ship would lose damage output. So, for example, the DW would lose its three photons, but probably only get four mini-photons. The FF would likely just swap its two photons for two mini-photons. So, all of the small ships would have been empirically worse (from the Federation point of view). Even the mega-photon would be a bad trade, as you would lose them faster in battle, but gain no advantage by having them. All-in-all, doing that would have been a very bad trade for the Federation on all fronts.

Expanding the conversation of photon-like weapons, P6 also introduced the idea of a "proton torpedo". It was introduced as the weapon for a simulator empire that mimicked a "sailing era" feel, and had lots of random extra modes. But, if you stripped all of the silly modes out, it ended up being another alternative photon weapon. In FC terms, take the disruptor rules for arming, but use the photon to-hit table and do half the damage of a photon.

djdood wrote:*Originally published version* has four photons, yes.

Decades later, ADB translated more Air Force tapes and discovered that it, in-universe, it was originally built with two and the "Franz Joseph DD" we all know (with 4) was a refit of it.

Yeah, the original SFB version would be the originally published version. Was just checking if my memory was correct.

I have a vague recollection that the Federal Republic of Aurora over in the Omega sector used altered scale photons - no doubt Gary C will be able to provide a more knowledgeable answer!

Sneaky Scot wrote:I have a vague recollection that the Federal Republic of Aurora over in the Omega sector used altered scale photons - no doubt Gary C will be able to provide a more knowledgeable answer!

Yep. OE23.0, altered scale photon torpedoes. Have heavy (3 points per turn to arm) and light (1 point per turn to arm).

In Federation Commander terms, altered-scale photon torpedoes are listed under (4ΩF) in the FC Omega Playtest Rulebook.

It's worth noting that the Auroran Navy often used more than one scale of photon torpedo on the same hull, though not all three at once. For example, of the playtest FRA ships currently part of the FC Omega project, the armored cruiser has 2 standard photons in the FA arc, 1 light photon to LF+L, and one light photon to RF+R. Of those Auroran ships still only in SFB (for now, at least), the battlecruiser has three standard and two light photons, whereas the dreadnought has four standard and two heavy photons.

Alternatively, some Auroran hulls use light photons to increase their arming flexibility. So, rather than having the one standard photon of the Federation police cutter it was derived from, the Auroran frigate has two light photons instead; while the CL-sized FRA strike carrier (over in SFB) has four light photons.

In addition, the "hybrid" FRA destroyers and destroyer leaders (also SFB-only for the time being) use a mix of light photon and disruptor armament, to reflect their merging of Federation and Klingon hull types. (The DD and DDL have the boom and warp engines of an F5C.)

Interesting. Is it possible the DDM was a prototype built in another region of space?

As for all this Photon Talk, I have a custom race that borders Starfleet that uses an alternate form of a Photon Laucher. Its basically somewhat a light photon but has some slight differences compared to the list above.