Fire in the Deep: an unofficial Juggernaut Empire discussion

Nerroth

Mongoose
At the moment, there are no monsters in A Call to Arms: Star Fleet; though there are several types available for consideration in both FC and SFB, be they based directly from the on-screen source material or created from whole cloth in the SFU proper.

One of the most interesting type of "monster", in my view at least, is the Juggernaut. Originally created in concert with an old fiction story published in the very first Captain's Log, the first known ship of this type (now classified as Juggernaut Alpha) was a gigantic starship of extra-galactic origin, with an advanced AI commanding a robotic crew; its (presumably) organic creators having long since died (or been killed off by their mechanical creations). The battle of Juggernaut Alpha saw command ships from four neighbouring powers work together to try and bring the beast to its knees. Juggernaut Alpha was eventually brought over to Federation Commander; you can see its low-toner Ship Card at this link. (As always with FC Ship Cards, focus on the Squadron Scale edition only.)

(It also made a recent appearance in Starline 2400, where it's the biggest model currently available in the whole line!)

Fast forward to Captain's Log #33, and we find that a second such ship, Juggernaut Beta, had set a course for the Arcturus system, threatening the lives of billions of Federation citizens. This time, Beta has a couple of tricks up its sleeve; a pair of devastating Shriek missiles, seeking weapons far larger than any drone, much harder to kill, and far deadlier on contact. Fortunately, Beta only had a pair of these weapons on hand in any given engagement (and couldn't reload them, since they were apparently converted from the ship's complement of shuttles); but the lessons which Beta learned prior to its eventual demise (along with those it had once recieved in turn from Alpha) were passed along to the incoming Juggernaut Gamma... and then on to every other ship heading in its wake towards our corner of the Milky Way Galaxy.

In CL35 and CL41, more ships from the (hypothetical) Juggernaut fleet were added; with a missile variant of the Juggernaut "dreadnought" (its cargo bays stripped out and replaced with Shriek missile silos) and a range of hull types from the frigate all the way up to the fearsome Juggernaut Battleship; a unit that costs no less than 768 BPV over in SFB, and that's before you start adding in those Shrieks!

CL41 also included Fire in the Deep, a scenario (with related fiction piece) that postulated the fate of the Star of Redemption; a Seltorian Hive Ship that was reported lost in the face of powerful opponents on course from the Star's target galaxy back to M81.


In game terms, the Ship Card linked to above should give a good indication of just how dangerous even one Juggernaut Empire ship can be. The "standard" Juggernaut DN has the same turn mode as a Klingon D6, enough hull and cargo boxes to produce a staggering Damage score in ACtA:SF terms, electrostatic armour that regenerates hits on any hits scored (except, crucally, from the aft), a rotating shield that can be swung in any direction, an array of phaser-4s mounted on the hull (the only known empire to manage such a feat), and a forest of phaser-1s and -3s to add insult to injury. And once you actually kill one, you have to make sure you're well out of the way of its immense explosion strength; a far higher value than normally accounted for in the game system.

And that's just for Alpha; before we get to adding in those lovely Shrieks...

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So, in terms of rules, there would be four new additions JE ships would need; the electro-static armour, the rotating shield, the increased explosion strength and the Shriek missiles.


*The armour could perhaps be abstracted out into a general Shield score; with a note stating it cannot block hits aimed at the A arc. (JE ships have a limited auto-regenerate ability, so perhaps they could have an automatic equivalent of the Boost Energy to Shields! special action; which could roll to repair the armour, but should not be able to reinforce beyond their starting armour score.)


*The rotating shield is a fixed block, that the JE player could allocate to any given arc at the end of the movement phase (or the start of the attack phase; I'm not sure which). The shield would have to stay in that arc until the same point in the next turn, but could be switched to any other arc (or left in place) at that point. (Alpha had an over-ride locking the shield in an arc which suffered a heavy enough volley of fire in a given impulse, but Beta and later Juggernauts discarded that coding.)

The rotating shield generator should be listed as a (non-italicised) ship trait, too, so it can be disabled under the right circumstances; with an X value based on each ship class' starting shield strength.


*The explosion strength could be covered by doubling (or tripling) the number of AD generated per each roll; plus there woudl need to be a rule disallowing wrecks. (Juggernauts reduced to zero damage would automatically self-destruct.)


*And as for Shrieks; rather than drones, I would treat them more like shuttles (not least since athey replace shuttles when taken, on a one-for-one basis). Make it speed 24, give it 4-5 damage points, make it harder to hit than a normal shuttle (and immune to anti-drones), and give it 5 AD, Devastating +1, Multihit D6 if it impacts an enemy ship.

There should be a strict limit of three in flight per launching ship, though; the JE command and control systems seem unable to handle more than three in flight at any one time. (And launching a regular shuttle should count against this limit, too.) This will be an important factor to remember should the Missile Dreadnought end up on the table...



Any thoughts so far?


EDIT: I forgot to add, apparently the Juggernauts have some sort of teleporter that doesn't work anything like the kind of transporters we know about. They aren't on the Ship Cards (or SSDs), but they allow, I think, two hit-and-run actions to be launched per turn; which can go through the armour and back (but not through the rotating shield). If I'm not mistaken on that one.
 
Apologies for the double post; but I wanted to put this set of ideas into a separate one for clarity's sake.

Here is what I have so far:

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*replace the Shield score with an Electrostatic Armour score, and add the following rule:

Electrostatic Armour: This special armour operates like shields in most respects; it automatically regenerates ten lost points at the end of each turn, up to its starting value. However, it does not cover the A arc. Transporters cannot operate through an active armour bank, but Juggernaut teleporters can be operated normally.

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*Add the following Traits to a Juggernaut Empire ship (of any class); Auto-Destruct, Rotating Shield X, Teleporter X:

Auto-Destruct: Juggernauts always self-destruct if defeated in combat, and produce a devastating explosion far in excess of other empires’ fallen warships. Rolls of 1-8 on the Damage Table always count as results of 9-12 (i.e. the ship will Run Adrift and then explode); and produces an explosion with a maximum of 40 Attack Dice (rather than 20).

Rotating Shield X: This shield block may be set in a given 90-degree arc (F, A, P or S) at the end of the Juggernaut’s movement; it may not be adjusted until the same point in the subsequent turn. Note that if a Juggernaut ship uses the Boost Energy to Shields! special action, only the rotating shield will be repaired, not the electrostatic armour; and the shield cannot be boosted beyond its starting value, not even temporarily. Also note that any Shield effects cused by critical hits apply to the rotating shield, not to the electrostatic armour.

Teleporter X: This system is broadly equivalent to transporters used by other empires. It operates as a transporter, with the exception that it can operate through a Juggernaut’s electrostatic armour bank (its own or that of an allied ship) but not through the rotating shield.

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*And as for Shrieks:

Shriek Missiles: Starting with Juggernaut Beta, Juggernauts can exchange their shuttles for the devastating Shriek missiles, on a one-for-one basis (and at a cost of +10 points). Shriek missiles operate as suicide shuttles, but with the following exceptions:

Shriek Missile - +10 Points

When Juggernaut Alpha was encountered in the Milky Way, it had no seeking weapons available (save for suicide shuttles). That changed with the arrival of Juggernaut Beta, that had somehow converted two if its shuttles into the devastating Shriek missiles. While Beta was recorded as deploying no more than two such missiles in each of its encounters historically, it has been postulated that subsequent Juggernaut arrivals (armed with data sent from both Alpha and Beta in advance) would have a larger number of these uniquely powerful seeking weapons readied by the time they approached their target galaxy.

Turn: SM
Electrostatic Armour: 0
Damage: 5
Marines: 0
Craft: None
Traits: Controlled, Relentless

Weapon: Shriek Warhead
AD: 5
Special: Accurate +2, Devastating +1, Multihit D6

Controlled: Shriek missiles require guidance from their launching vessel. No more than three Shriek missiles may be in flight from each Juggernaut vessel at any given time; control cannot be transferred from one Juggernaut vessel to another. (A Juggernaut can choose to drop tracking from any Shriek in flight in order to allow the launch of another; the missile so dropped is immediately removed from play.)

Relentless: Shriek missiles are notoriously difficult to stop. Dice aimed at Shriek missiles suffer a -3 penalty to hit, and require a Crew Quality roll of 12 to be neutralised by a tractor beam. In addition, Shriek missiles are immune to Anti-Drone fire.

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Great work. I'm no expert but the rules you've postulated make sense to me. I look forward to official ACTA embracing the more mission based aspects of SFB and FC scenarios. I certainly remember reading the original Juggernaut story back in Captain's Log 1. And imagine how big a 2500 scale Juggernaut mini will be !!
 
Ok so we have a Juggernaut.

Hull 88 Ignoring cargo here as it gets as silly as the freighters. (if you want to count the cargo its Hull 120)

Electrostatic armour 40 (counts as shield all aspects except Rear 90 degrees), auto repairs 10 per turn to maximum, cannot boost above this.

Rotating shield 100, counts as shield. Covers a 90 degree arc, may be rotated to cover a new arc each turn when the Juggernaut finishes its movement. Can be boosted to repair

Turn mode 4

P4 F 2AD
P4 SH 1AD
P4 PH 1AD
P4 A 2AD

P1 F 2AD
P1 F/P 2AD
P1 F/S 2AD
P1 PH 2AD
P1 SH 2AD
P1 T 2AD
P1 S/A 2AD
P1 P/A 2AD

P3 F/P 3AD
P3 F/S 3AD
P3 S/A 3AD
P3 P/A 3AD

Special rules.

Any attack within the Aft arc which causes cause a crit will be Warp criticals. However due to its huge damage control and self repair capability the Juggernaut auto repairs one critical every turn, Juggernaut player decides which one. If the All hands on deck SA is used that supersedes this auto repair, you do not get an extra crit repairs, only those repaired by the special action.

Its offensive firepower is a bit lacking, aside from its Uber missiles its basically a Phaser boat, well one with 6 P4s, 16 P1s and 12 P3s. :roll:

Where it wins is simple durability. This thing rolls 10D to repair its shield when it boosts shields. It will take on and crush cruiser squadrons or pairs of Dreadnaughts simply due to the fact that it is so tough.

To stop it you need a fleet, you need to surround, it. Threaten those vulnerable warp engines and fire at it from the aft arc forcing it to shield that arc. If you can get it to lock its shield over the aft then its only got 40 shields (regenerating 10 a turn) and 88 or 120 hull to defend itself :shock:

Its Phaser firepower is spread out so its hard for it to focus on a single target unless it can centre line you*, it does just fine flying through the middle of your fleet and shooting everyone though :twisted:

*Centre line firepower is 4 P4 and 12 P1 so not to be ignored
 
Very interesting

Like most SF ships I would love it the sheer number of differnt guns/arc could be reduced / simplified

If a ship fires at the Juggernaught in a spefici non aft arc - does it get to choose if it uses its armour or the rotating shield?

Auto-Destruct - just say if the ship is reduced to zero or less damage it explodes.

Transporter - so does it have Marines or should it just say it can make two atatcks per turn?
 
Well you could reduce the number of Phaser mounts by making them cover wider arcs but that seems like heresy round here :roll:

The shield is set to cover one arc a turn and does not move till the next turn. So if its coming towards you and sets the shield in the F arc then some of your ships flank it and fire into its P and S arcs the shield only counts against the F arc attacks. Split arcs count to the defender so don’t get any of those or you are hitting a 100 point brick wall.

Example Turn 1 its placed in the F arc since most of the enemy are there, turn 2 it could be moved to the S arc as the Juggernaut swings past the enemy and comes around them.

Turn 3 something gets behind it and the shield is swung round to cover the un armoured back side.

Since the shield can only be set at the point the juggernaut activates in movement and is then set for the rest of the turn the trick is to threaten on arc then swing round to pound another arc. Or get cruisers behind it. I seem to remember doing a juggernaut battle many years ago and it ended up with its shield super glued to its read end once we realised how vulnerable it was to hits on its warp engines via the un armoured aft.

As a side note the Shield can be moved every FC impulse which is 4 times a turn. If you are feeling evil then the shield can rotate to cover an arc in response to incoming fire up to 4 times in its turn which is just plain EVIL.

If you send DDs or frigates behind it expect them to die fast, it may only have Phasers but it can swat a ship behind it with 3 or 4 P4s and 8 or so P1s

Yes it has marines 15 of them

Explosion strength. One AD hitting on a 4+ for every point of Hull or roll explosion strength and count the hits as Multihit D6 giving it an average explosion strength of 20D6 damage
 
I suppose I should have been quicker off the mark; I was emailing ADB and Mongoose asking for a further clarification regarding posting sample ship builds for playtest purposes (I've heard back from the former, but not quite the latter just yet), and was hoping to get the chance to try this one out for myself.

Oh well...


In terms of Marines, it seems that ACtA:SF halves the numbers used in Squadron Scale FC, but i'm not sure if it's rounded up or down. (The 15 Marine squads the Juggernaut DN has in Squadron Scale would become either 8 or 7, depending; as it happens, the Fleet Scale version does go with 8, so.)


And to clarify, if the shield is set in an arc also covered by the electrostatic armour, any incoming fire would hit the shield first, then the armour, then the hull itself (for regular hits; criticals should bypass both the shield and armour).


So, does anyone here have a 2400-series Juggernaut they might want to try playtesting these ideas with?

(Speaking of 2400s, the metal drones in that range might be good as stand-ins for Shrieks.)
 
Ah yes, the old special-run Juggernauts...

(For those who are unaware, before the current Starline 2400 Juggernaut mini was released, there were a couple of different limited-run models that were made available a while back; neither version used the same mould as the current design, but both were very impressive models indeed. Or so I gather; I wasn't able to get one of either at the time. And, as it happens, the "standard" Juggernaut mini I was able to get has since gone missing, ahem.)


So, for potential duplication's sake, I figured I would post the version of the Juggernaut DN I had written up anyway; along with the Juggernaut Light Cruiser for smaller encounters. (I would have used the Juggernaut Destroyer, but I'm not sure how Turn Mode AA should be translated over to ACtA:SF.)

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LIGHT CRUISER (CL) - 300 POINTS

When training academies across the Alpha Octant began to include Juggernaut models in their battle simulators, efforts were made to approximate what larger, or smaller, vessels might exist in the "Juggernaut Empire" armada. The light cruiser is one of these postulations; adjusted to incorporate the potential use of the infamous Shriek missiles in the wake of encounters with Juggernaut Beta. As of yet, it is unknown whether or not such vessels actually exist; though more than a few officer candidates have had their mettle tested by the inclusion of this "monster" in their training sessions.

Ships of the Class: None as yet recorded.

Turn: 3
Electrostatic Armour: 20
Damage: 40/14 (without cargo boxes; 52/18 with)
Marines: 4
Craft: 2 Shuttles
Traits: Agile, Auto-Destruct, Enhanced Bridge, Labs 4, Rotating Shield 50, Teleporter 2

Weapons Range Arc AD Special
Phaser-4 24 PH 1 Accurate +2, Kill Zone 10, Multihit 2, Precise
Phaser-4 24 SH 1 Accurate +2, Kill Zone 10, Multihit 2, Precise
Phaser-1 18 F, P 1 Accurate +2, Kill Zone 8, Precise
Phaser-1 18 F, S 1 Accurate +2, Kill Zone 8, Precise
Phaser-1 18 PH 1 Accurate +2, Kill Zone 8, Precise
Phaser-1 18 SH 1 Accurate +2, Kill Zone 8, Precise
Phaser-1 18 A, P 1 Accurate +2, Kill Zone 8, Precise
Phaser-1 18 A, S 1 Accurate +2, Kill Zone 8, Precise
Phaser-1 18 T 2 Accurate +2, Kill Zone 8, Precise
Phaser-3 6 F, P 2 Accurate +1, Kill Zone 2, Precise
Phaser-3 6 F, S 2 Accurate +1, Kill Zone 2, Precise
Phaser-3 6 A, P 1 Accurate +1, Kill Zone 2, Precise
Phaser-3 6 A, S 1 Accurate +1, Kill Zone 2, Precise

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DREADNOUGHT (DN) - 750 POINTS

An immense robotic warship with extra-galactic origins, each Juggernaut is a deadly threat to its would-be opponents; foes its artificial intelligence is singularly directed to challenge, in order to face whatever “champions” it may encounter. At least three such vessels are known to have approached the Milky Way, with more presumed to follow in their wake. When fragmentary records emerged of a series of powerful warships recorded as heading towards the M81 Galaxy in the post-Revolt era (which had emerged in the flight path of the Seltorian Hive Ship Star of Redemption, lost with no survivors in the depths of inter-galactic space) this vessel type was used in the simulators to attempt to approximate these unknown craft; however, it is unconfirmed whether or not the vessels which (presumably) sealed the Star's fate were indeed from whichever corner of the universe these fearsome vessels ultimately hail from.

Ships of the Class: Juggernaut Alpha, Juggernaut Beta, Juggernaut Gamma (known Milky Way arrivals), Juggernaut Primus, Juggernaut Secundus, Juggernaut Tertius (postulated Home Galaxy encounters)

Turn: 4
Electrostatic Armour: 40
Damage: 88/30 (without cargo boxes; 120/40 with)
Marines: 8
Craft: 4 Shuttles
Traits: Agile, Auto-Destruct, Enhanced Bridge, Labs 6, Rotating Shield 100, Teleporter 2

Weapons Range Arc AD Special
Phaser-4 24 F 2 Accurate +2, Kill Zone 10, Multihit 2, Precise
Phaser-4 24 PH 1 Accurate +2, Kill Zone 10, Multihit 2, Precise
Phaser-4 24 SH 1 Accurate +2, Kill Zone 10, Multihit 2, Precise
Phaser-4 24 A 2 Accurate +2, Kill Zone 10, Multihit 2, Precise
Phaser-1 18 F 2 Accurate +2, Kill Zone 8, Precise
Phaser-1 18 F, P 2 Accurate +2, Kill Zone 8, Precise
Phaser-1 18 F, S 2 Accurate +2, Kill Zone 8, Precise
Phaser-1 18 PH 2 Accurate +2, Kill Zone 8, Precise
Phaser-1 18 SH 2 Accurate +2, Kill Zone 8, Precise
Phaser-1 18 A, P 2 Accurate +2, Kill Zone 8, Precise
Phaser-1 18 A, S 2 Accurate +2, Kill Zone 8, Precise
Phaser-1 18 T 2 Accurate +2, Kill Zone 8, Precise
Phaser-3 6 F, P 3 Accurate +1, Kill Zone 2, Precise
Phaser-3 6 F, S 3 Accurate +1, Kill Zone 2, Precise
Phaser-3 6 A, P 3 Accurate +1, Kill Zone 2, Precise
Phaser-3 6 A, S 3 Accurate +1, Kill Zone 2, Precise

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As Captain Jonah suggested, I'm thinking it may be as well to skip the cargo-based damage hits entirely; the ships are tough enough already, plus it makes life easier for the missile dreadnought (which replaces its cargo boxes with Shriek silos).

Not sure about the aft critical thing, if it is needed or not. If so, maybe say that rolls of 4 or more from the aft direction count as a 3 on the Systems Table? (That would still leave room for an impulse drive critical, too.)
 
Plus we have the BB Juggernaught for those people who want to field a 1500 point fleet with just the one ship :lol: :wink:

The unarmoured rear was very vulnerable. In SFB any hit in the rear arc hit the warp engines and you didn't roll on the table for aft hits till the warp engines were gone. This was a huge vulnerability on otherwise very tough ships and led to the rotating shield being glued to the Juggy's rear end for entire battles.

Without the warp vulnerability you can ignore a smaller ship or two in the rear since you have a lot of hull to soak up a few hits with. With the warp crits but combined with the auto repair you cannot ignore the defence less rear but its not a dangerous weakness.
 
Hmm.


Well, on the one hand, I could see adding in the dilithium chamber critical adjustment into the special rules. How about something like this?

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Warp Engine Vulnerability: One of the drawbacks of the Juggernauts' otherwise impressive design is the exposure of its massive warp engines to damage. Any critical hits scored against a Juggernaut's A arc will be automatically treated as Dilithium Chamber criticals.

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The above would count as a Trait, but in italics (since it is persistent).

(I just noticed that there might need to be a note in the rotating shield rule specifying that any listed shield criticals apply to it, not to the electrostatic armour.)


On the other, I'm not sure if the auto-repair should extend to the criticals. At the moment the ship already gets to regenerate its armour for free; plus it has no weapons which require overloads. In terms of special actions, obliging the Juggy to use All Hands on Deck! now and then might not be a bad thing. (Plus, the ship would already have the standard Damage Control rolls in the End Phase.)

Alternatively, what if a Juggernaut ship only needed a Crew Quality roll of 7, instead of 8, to repair a given critical?
 
Be cool if they had one of these with a set of programmed rules around how it would act in various situations as a solo play scenario.
 
I just added the Enhanced Bridge Trait to the sample ships; seems apt, given each ship'sautomated "nature" (and their super-intelligent AI calling the shots).

In solo play, I figured that the player could just try to fly the ship themselves; though that might be just a case of me drawing a blank as to how to go about statting up some "robot" rules to handle a unit like this...
 
While I may have highlighted the Andromedan connection to Captain's Log #49 in the Andro thread, I should note that this issue also includes a preview of Juggernaut Alpha, which may be of interest to anyone looking to see how its unique technologies may work in an ACtA:SF context.

To clarify, this is solely a look at Juggernaut Alpha itself; there are no Shriek missile rules, nor any of the other "Juggernaut Empire" ships just yet.
 
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