
Mysterious intruders from the M31 Galaxy, with a relentless drive to conquer propelling them ever onward, the Andromedan Invaders are a threat to all life as we know it.
And when I say "as we know it", I'm not kidding. No-one knows what the Andromedans look or sound like, or even who or what they are as a species; the only person who supposedly saw one and lived could not be brought to recount his experience, even with the "aid" of a Vulcan mind-meld. What we do know is that Andromedan warships are forces to be reckoned with; vast Motherships with cavernous hangar bays capable of transporting smaller Satellite Ships into battle, with deadly robotic Marine squads used to strike terror into their opponents at every turn.
First emerging in the Lesser Magellanic Cloud in Y138, the Andromedans set out to conquer the Cloud from Y146 onwards. After their first successful wave of conquest against the indigenous Magellanic empires, the Andromedans used this beach-head to lay the groundwork for a broader set of campaigns against the Alpha and Omega Octants.
The first reported encounters in the Milky Way took place in Y166; over the next several decades, the number (and severity) of these intrusions increased, to the point where they upgraded from "curiousity" to "nuisance" to "threat". Although no-one could have guessed it at the time, these skirmishes were part of the Andromedans' wider efforts; helping them gain experience for the war to come.
That war broke out in the Alpha Octant in Y188, when the Andromedan wave crashed into the thin line of Pacification forces which the Inter-Stellar Concordium had placed between the Alliance and Coalition empires as part of its own Pacification Campaign. As the Concordium fought desperately to shake off the metallic claws reachign for its collective throats, the rest of the Octant found itself facing the invaders not long after. (The Omega Octant had seen overt Andromedan advancements by the late Y180s, but the full-scale onslaught broke out over there in Y192.)
The key to the Andromedan logistical efforts was the Rapid Transit Network. The Andromedans had a range of satellite bases; the size of satellite ships, these bases, one placed, operated a subspace beacon which allowed Andromedan ships to move between them at a staggering speed of Warp 15. A similar, larger link existed between galaxies; with the massive Desecrator starbases acting as super-RTN nodes from the Cloud back to the Andromeda Galaxy. However, only ships armed with the mysterious Displacement Device could traverse the RTN; and since Andromedan ships had a slower strategic speed when off the grid than their Galactic counterparts, this hidden strength became a fatal weakness once the network was exposed.
Officially, this happened in Y195; the Galactic Survey Cruiser USS Darwin returned to Star Fleet with records confirming the nature of the RTN, which allowed the Federation (and other empires) to shut down the network by destroying every satellite base they could find. Eventually, this led to the discovery of three routes down to the LMC; and to Operation Unity, a joint task force which saw the surviving Alpha Octant powers send task forces to the Cloud in Y202, where they were able to stop the invasion once and for all. (This in turn swept the rug out from under the invasion of Omega; there, a counter-invasion fleet managed to destroy the last major Andromedan basion in Y204's Operation Concerted Strike.)
Unofficially, however, things were not quite so simple. Before the Darwin had made its return, it had been sucked into a time rift; dragging it twelve years into the future, to a world in which its findings had gone unreported. In that dark future, the RTN had not been discovered until Y200; too late to stop the Andromedans from gaining a decisive advantage against the Galactic forces. A Star Fleet advanced technology squadron bravely placed itself in the path of a fearsome Andromedan battleship, selling itself dearly in order to give the Darwin a second chance at saving history. Fortunately, this sacrifice was not in vain; not only did the Darwin make it back intact, it also brought with it as much data from the "dark future" timeline as the Star Fleet ships had been able to transfer across during that fateful encounter. These records were highly classified by "our" Star Fleet, but still proved vital in helping to turn the tide against the invaders in the core timeline.
But then, the question remains; is the war truly over? Beyond Alpha and Omega, no-one knows just yet how many other regions of the galaxy have been attacked by the invaders; and nor do we know, one way or another, if any more of the Milky Way's orbiting extra-galactic clusters or satellite galaxies (save for Draco Dwarf and the Iridani Cluster; no to the first, temporarily for the second) have suffered Andromedan infestation. Did Unity and Concerted Strike mark the beginning of the end... or merely the end of the beginning?
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Now, rules-wise, I should start by making oen thing clear; for my part, such as it is, I based my first pass at the rules (almost) entirely on how Federation Commander handles the Andromedans, not how they are done in Star Fleet Battles. The Andros are the prime example of how the rules for a given empire can chance radically from one game system to another; for SFB veterans currently unfamiliar with the difference, I would strongly recommend taking a punt at the FC Reference Rulebook, in order to gauge this major distinction for themsleves.
In terms of what they need in order to get up and running, the Andros are easily the most rule-hungry empire to show up anywhere in the Alpha Octant. (A handful of the more exotic empires outside of Alpha might come close, in terms of how "out there" their ways of doing things are.) Many of their systems are not only unique to them, but work in ways that no other empire can even comprehend, let alone try to emulate.
In terms of weapons, they have Phasers-2... or what seem to act like them, at least. They also have light and heavy tractor-repulsor beams, weapons which can literally rip the target apart at a molecular level, and also moonlight as stadard tractor beams, too. (In the "dark future", the Andros cooked up an even scarier weapon, the dissection beam; capable of carving off entire warp nacelles in one go! Fortunately, "our" Andros never seemed to deploy that one.)
Their other systems are even more distinct. they have power-absorber panels in place of shields; capable of soaking up enemy fire and using it to power their own weapons! The aforementioned displacement device has a tactical application, allowing it to shift a friendly ship into a more dangerous position... or shove an enemy deep into the molten core of a planet. Their transporters are of an order of magnitude beyond those used in the Federation; entire Satellite Ships can be "beamed" into and out of a Mothership's hangar bay. And while you can't beam a Marine squad through active PA panels, they can send their own hit-and-run raids through and back over theirs.
It's not all bad news, however. DisDevs come with a built-in physical limit; space literally cannot handle more than two ships operating them at once, putting a cap on their tactical applications. Also, while panels can store a lot of energy, they do run the risk of cascade effects if the panel generators are disabled; which can see an Andro ship tear itself apart if it's caught in a bad position. Plus, disruptor users gain a benefit, since the bolts seem to have a particular effect against PA panels.
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I'm gonna post my first attempt at a ruleset, along with two sample ships (a Conquistador and Cobra, based on their FC Ship Cards), rather than clog up this opening post more than it is already.
Of course, no-one (save for Mongoose and ADB) has a monopoly (or duopoly, rather) on how things should be in ACtA:SF; so while we have quite some time to consider more unoffical options, any ideas or comments on how to make the Invaders fit more naturally in the game system are welcome.
(And for anyone who is wondering, the ship in the above pic is the Dominator; a dreadnought-class vessel which boasts few equals, even before you factor in its complement of SatShips.)