The Black Campbell

1971 Dodge Charger

While other muscle cars were being emasculated, the Charger was being equipped with a V8 ranging from the 312ci and 383ci motors up to the 426 Hemi and 440ci.  This is the 426 Hemi version…

PM: +1   RED: 4   CRUS: 70   MAX: 140   RNG: 230   FCE: 3   STR: 9   COST:  up to $100k at auction

GM Information:  The Charger is a beast in a straight line and gains another +1PM in pursue/flee tests.

Q Evaluation:  There is a former American agent in Miami that drives one of these things.  Beautiful car…  007

Third Born

Type:     Heavy Bulk Freighter   Class:    Hercules HB-921/C   Registry:    TR-61330/H

DIMENSIONS:
Length: 672′   Beam: 88′   Draught: 168′   Scale: Spacecraft   Decks: 11  Crew: 50   Cargo/Passengers: 1.17 million tons (cargo) and 200 passengers; could accommodate up to 1000 with minimal cargo (250,000 tns.)

ATTRIBUTES:
Agility: d4   Strength: d8 (d12)   Vitality: d6   Alertness: d4   Intelligence: d4   Willpower: d6

Initiative: 2d4   Life Points: 14 (18)   Speed: 4 (SL/JC)   ARMOR: 0W, 1S

WEAPONS:
6 30mm Point Defense Autocannons (Planetcraft scale/Skirmish Range): d10W

TRAITS:
Mass-Produced: d4, Variable Cargo Size d4

SKILLS:
Athletics d2, Mech Engineering d4, Perception d4, Pilot d6

NOTES:
Third Born is a heavy bulk freighter designed to carry space-travel standardized cargo containers.  Each container is 60’x 15’x15′ with a grand total of 13,500 cu’ of space.  The class is designed to haul up to 87 containers, for a grand total of 1.17 million cubic feet of cargo space.  (With a full load of containers, the ship uses the Attributes in parentheses.)

The maximum payload for planetfall is 12,000 tons – equivalent to 17 pounds/cubic foot.  Ordinarily, this means the vessel can land with a full cargo load, although it is very sluggish and unresponsive.

Slow and not glamourous, Third Born has been a successful smuggling vessel due to her carrying bulk loads of legitimate cargo, with illicit cargo hidden deep inside the containers.  After the Cylon attack, her master, Gus Costas, used the weapons and ammunition he was carrying to arm the vessel against attack.

Class: GAL-365 Mk II     Type: Short Range FTL Shuttle

DIMENSIONS:
Length: 74’11”   Beam: 24’8″   Draught: 21’6″
Scale: Vehicular [Barely]   Crew: 2    Passengers: 24 [100 emergency]
Cargo: 70 tons

ATTRIBUTES:
Agility: d4   Strength: d12   Vitality: d8   Alertness: d8   Intelligence: d8   Willpower: d6

Initiative: d4+d8   Life Points: 20   Armor: 1W, 2S    Speed: 5 [SL/JC]

TRAITS:
Mass-Produced [d2], Short-Range [d4], Workhorse [d4]

SKILLS:
Mechanical Engineering [d4], Perception [d4], Pilot [d4]

ARMAMENT:
None

HISTORY:
The GAL-365 Mk II short-range shuttle is a mainstay of ship-to-shore activity, both in the military and the civilian world.  GAL-365C versions are called MLC [marine Landing Craft] and are modified with stronger deck ribbing to carry up to 70 tons – a main battle tank, or up to 4 landrams, depending on configuration.  They can carry the crews of these Vehicles, or can bee used to do emergency evacuations of up to 100 people.  They are equipped with a short-range FTL system good for two jumps (as opposed to 10 with a raptor.)

The Colonial Marine Corps also uses an uparmored version of the GAL-365, commonly referred to as an MLS (Marine Landing Shuttle.)  An MLS is usually piloted by dedicated CMC pilots, but often pilots are crosstrained for MLS and Raptors.

The MLS Armor rating is 2W, 2S, and they carry 24-100 marines, depending on the drop load.  The lower cargo deck is designed to hold a single main battle tank, or up to 4 landrams, depending on their mass and size.  With a tank, only 24 marines can be carried.  For a quick drop, 100 marines and their gear can be loaded.

Since the Colonies were named after the constellations (or vice-versa, I suppose…), here’s the patron god(dess) of each colony:

Aquaria:  Hera,   Arelon: Athena,    Canceron: Hermes,    Caprica: Hestia, Gemenon: Apollo,    Leonis: Zeus,   Libris: Hephaestus,   Picon: Poseidon, Sagittaron: Artemis,   Scorpia: Ares,   Tauron: Aphrodite,   Virgon: Demeter…

This should aid in lending a bit of character to the Colonies and their people in your game.  It also gives you “holidays” should you need them for a plot.

So my question…who is the patron god of Earth and the 13th Colony.  Could “god” — the angry and jealous god mentioned in the Kobol episodes (well, the cut scenes), be Hades?

…under “Role playing Related.”

A point of contention for the fans of Battlestar Galactica (show and game) is the size of the Colonial Fleet.  The only real on-screen information is a line in the miniseries in which the crew gets news of the loss of 30 battlestars in the initial engagement and Starbuck says “That a quarter of the fleet…”  Since the word used is fleet — I’m going with the idea that “battlestar”, like ship, is a general term that might cover battlestars we’ve seen down to various escorts, etc.

The fleet appears based on the US Navy, so that is on what I’m basing my take on the Colonial Feet.

Based on Picon, the Colonial Fleet nevertheless has local headquarters on each colony.  (The show seems to suggest Delphi or Caprica City was the regional/colonial base of operations.)  There is a military academy mentioned, and I think we can assume it’s on Picon, where the main HQ for the fleet is located.

The fleet itself is approximately 120-150 ships strong, divided into a collection of operational “battlestar groups” or BSGs.  There are twelve fleets tasked with the protection of a specific colony, with three Colonial Marine Corps Assault Groups (MAG) [these would be the equivalent of marine expeditionary fleets in the US Navy.]  There is also an exploration group, tasked with exploration and mapping of the surrounding star systems, and espionage/early warning activities.  There are also some vessels on detached duty, conducting rescue of civilian vessels, criminal investigations, etc.

The average BSG is comprised of 6-10 vessels.  The main asset is the battlestar, a heavy battleship/aircraft carrier, with four escort vessels (alternately called gunstars or assaultstars in fandom.)  The gunstars are dedicated platforms which provide missile and fighter defense for the battlestar and are positioned far enough away from the primary to give early warning and defensive cover.  Assaultstars are Colonial Marine transport platforms which allow the BSG to project force on the ground, or conduct boarding actions.  Most BSG have one or two in their group.  Lastly, there is often a tender and/or fueler with a battlestar group, providing supplies to the other vessels.

MAGs are smaller, comprised of one or two assaultstars with marine complements and equipment for fast response to crises around the Twelve Colonies.  These assaultstars are accompanied by a pair of gunstars, a tender, and a fueling vessels.  The average marine complement on an assaultstar is anywhere from a company to a battalion of marines, and their ground equipment.  These vessels are more cramped than battlestars, and usually have short “float” durations (a few months, at most.)

The exploration group is broken into small expeditionary groups, usually involving an older battlestar or assaultstar, a civilian science vessel, and a civilian tender/fueler — with the civilians being on military contract and subject to military command and jurisprudence.  Their missions range from a few weeks to six months.  (Here’s a good hook for a “second fleet” campaign.)

With spaceborne assets, ground assets, the CMC I would estimate the total manpower of the Colonial fleet is about a million men and women under arms.

The fleet was created during the First Cylon War, and incorporated military assets from all Twelve Colonies.  It is understandable that there would be vestiges of these older military units — planetary guard (National Guard units, if you will) that are colony-specific and handle most humanitarian aid, peacekeeping, and other non-kinetic operations.  I would assume they could be rolled into Colonial command during a time of war.