The Narn Military

[EAS_Intrepid]

Heyo!

Okay, I did quite some coding for the Earthforce side of the mod, now the Narn Regime's military is my focus.
After that I work on the Centaaarrriii, which will be playable (but with very few units) and appear in a mission or two.


Back to the Narn:
As of now, the Narn have 3 ship classes, all based on the old Th'Nor class (image below).
I am pondering if I should include the newer G'Quan class, but I actually do not think it fits into the time line. (The mod plays even before the Dilgar War)

Frazi - Fighter
UNNAMED - Scout/Destroyer
Th'Nor Type I - Cruiser
Th'Nor Type II - Missile carrier
T'Loth - Battlecruiser/Carrier

That would make 4 ship classes based on 3 different spaceframes/ship types.
Plus the Narn Frazi fighter, which would be the newest addition to their fleet at that point.

I haven't yet built any Narn stations, but I have some ideas about their design.

(1)http://img522.imageshack.us/img522/2827/thlothjm0.th.png (http://img522.imageshack.us/my.php?image=thlothjm0.png) (2)http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/4421/thnorine4.th.png (http://img171.imageshack.us/my.php?image=thnorine4.png) (3)http://img372.imageshack.us/img372/8535/thnoriiwm3.th.png (http://img372.imageshack.us/my.php?image=thnoriiwm3.png)

(1) Th'Loth
(2) Th'Nor I
(3) Th'Nor II

[Majestic]

They look awesome Intrepid, It's great to see some work on this work happening. Are you planning on including those two Narn stations seen in the show?

[EAS_Intrepid]

Yes, these stations will be included. I use every source I can get.

[Majestic]

Thats great, I always loved Narn stations, simple but efficient (except against the Shadows). :lol:

[EAS_Intrepid]

Here is the Narn Starbase. It is not directly the type seen in the second season of B5, but a predecessor.

http://img65.imageshack.us/img65/2684/narnoutpost01fi7.th.jpg (http://img65.imageshack.us/my.php?image=narnoutpost01fi7.jpg)
http://img179.imageshack.us/img179/3453/narnoutpost02bn0.th.jpg (http://img179.imageshack.us/my.php?image=narnoutpost02bn0.jpg)
Shown with a T'Loth cruiser as comparison.

These stations would be quite expensive for the young Narn Regime. Stations would rather be built on asteroids or using older starships. That will be reflected in the mod.

[Dan1025]

Great work, keep it up! :)

[Majestic]

Looking awesome Intrepid. :clap:


These stations would be quite expensive for the young Narn Regime. Stations would rather be built on asteroids or using older starships. That will be reflected in the mod.

As it should be, it's what gives the Narn their feel that I liked so much. They were also the main race I used to play in B5A2 and B5A1.

I am looking forward to seeing more, it's really time for a new Babylon 5 mod for the game. :excited:

[Aerilon]

I ponder whether this project would be at a miss without the G'Quan class. Maybe introduce her as a prototype, or map unit?

[Atlantis]

Hmm, well going by the source material I use, the G'Quan wasn't introduced until 2242, many years later (and the Frazi in 2249, by the way). However, there is plenty of Narn styling and Narn-ness in the other, earlier, designs, so I don't think it would be a loss to leave out the G'Quan.

Intrepid, I could scan and send you the details on some ships from my sources if you want? A bit of extra material (for whichever race you like really) if you want it (approved by JMS himself). There are a few ships from that era I could send, with appropriate annotations...?
EDIT: I know i offered before and never got round to it, but now I have a working scanner =)

[EAS_Intrepid]

Intrepid, I could scan and send you the details on some ships from my sources if you want? A bit of extra material (for whichever race you like really) if you want it (approved by JMS himself). There are a few ships from that era I could send, with appropriate annotations...?
EDIT: I know i offered before and never got round to it, but now I have a working scanner =)

Yes, that would make things way easier. At first I would need sources about early Narn and EA, of course!

[Atlantis]

Okay, i'll get as much scanned as i can find on that era. There's a lot of material on the Dilgar War, so hopefully will be helpful. I'll contact you on ICQ as soon as I have anything for you.

[Creed]

narn rock.. would love to see more of this!

[EAS_Intrepid]

Okay, i'll get as much scanned as i can find on that era. There's a lot of material on the Dilgar War, so hopefully will be helpful. I'll contact you on ICQ as soon as I have anything for you.

Okay. Thank you very much.



narn rock.. would love to see more of this!

There is more in the works!

[EAS_Intrepid]

Well... I am a procrastinator:

The Narn station has been textured some time ago :lol:

http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/8457/base1ib9.th.png (http://img151.imageshack.us/my.php?image=base1ib9.png)
http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/8158/base2nb4.th.png (http://img256.imageshack.us/my.php?image=base2nb4.png)

[WrathofSpanky]

I couldn't post here yesterday for some reason. Weird. But anyway, I was thinking that may be a Narn/Centauri cross design might be pretty cool. The Centauri supposedly left behind a lot of hardware on Narn when they pulled out including weapons, hulls, etc. A modified kitbashed Centauri hull with Narn markings and features might be pretty cool. It might make a good stop gap ship for the Narn at that point in their history. Maybe a Primus with mismatched fenders like an old junker car!!! :lol2: A red and black Primus with some nasty Narn pulse cannons welded to the hull might look pretty cool.

Anyway, I think the other Narn ships look fantastic. They're simple and reflect the Narn Regimes meager resources in keeping with B5 canon at that time. I don't know exactly what you had in mind, but I should think that at this point in time the Narn should be substancially inferior to the Centauri with the Centauri having the appearance of an aging yet still very dangerous lion.

Again...beautiful ships you have there.

[EAS_Intrepid]

The Narn are an expanding nation at that time. Sure, they still use some Centauri weapons and ships, though I doubt that the Centauri would leave a Primus warcruiser behind.

But I will try to show these Centauri origins in the Narn military.

[WrathofSpanky]

In season five when the Alliance brings it case against the Centauri Republic for the shipping lanes attacks perpertrated by the Drahk, Londo mentioned that old hulls had been discarded in Narn space. Possibly not entire intact ships but certainly heavily damaged or old and ricketty clunkers were probably discarded as unsalvagable by the Centauri military. The Primus battlecruisers would probably not be left in any great number so maybe it might be used as a cool map unit in some campaign missions and not for general construction. I don't know exactly how old the Vorchan is but a smaller ship like the Vorchan or the Corvan Xerxes would be very logical candidates. Besides, turning Centauri weapons against their former masters is kind of appealing as G'Kar said. Again, great work here. I'm more excited about this mod then I've been for a game in quite a long while. Like you, I feel that B5 is a sadly neglected gem in scifi. You have my full support and you'll never be lacking encouragement with this mod while I'm around. I can't wait to see what you'll do with this exciting mod.

[EAS_Intrepid]

As I said: I will include these Centauri influences in the Narn design.

But think of one thing: You have a massive Primus battlecruiser attacked by a raiding Narn guerilla party. The vessel is heavily damaged and the Centauri deem it not to be salvagable... with their top-of-the-line tech.

How will the Narn rebuild it?

[Atlantis]

In the uprising the Narns did take over a shipyard or two.

However, Primuses are the main ships of the line, the Centauri would never leave ANY of them behind, at all. Covrans are ELINT ships, much too precious to leave behind. The few hulls that were left behind would be older ones, such as the Altarian, Maximus, or Darkner.

Even then, the Narns prefer to make their own designs, so they would've taken any Centauri ships apart to see how they were constructed, instead of relying on Centauri castoffs like the Gaim and Balosians do. That's also why, for a few years until they invented their own Laser Cannons, they used basic Plasma Cannons instead of the more advanced Centauri weapons like Battle Lasers or Plasma Streams. a) the Centauri don't leave high technology behind, and b) the Narn would rather make their own stuff. Except for the Twin Array.

[WrathofSpanky]

By the time of B5 the Primus was about 200 years old. I sure they had been retrofitted, but the design was anything but top of the line. As we saw in the show, a Primus Battlecruiser can get owned by a G'Quan Heavy Cruiser in one on one fights. I think that the Primus is a good design but an old one. Probably in the process of being replaced completely.

[Atlantis]

The Sharlin design is more than 500 years old, but can still own anything else.

Exactly, the Primus was kept up to date, and is still the battlecruiser of the line in the Centauri fleet. As we saw in the show, even the Emperor uses one.

A Primus does NOT get owned by a G'Quan in a 1 on 1 fight. It is on quite even footing, maybe having a small advantage (plus the fact it jumped in unexpectedly)... Yes the Primus has disadvantages (the "glass jaw" forward structure, which can be destroyed so easily), but it is still the main capital ship the Centauri use.

Capital ships are not expendable units in B5. They don't get left behind. That's why we don't see Raiders with Sharlins.

Plus what I said before about Narns not using Centauri ships, preferring to use home-grown designs such as the T'Loth.

[EAS_Intrepid]

All right, I cleaned up the thread a little...

Something new coming along the hyperspace route:

http://img232.imageshack.us/img232/9808/gvar02qv8.th.jpg (http://img232.imageshack.us/my.php?image=gvar02qv8.jpg)
http://img71.imageshack.us/img71/9954/gvar01qn1.th.jpg (http://img71.imageshack.us/my.php?image=gvar01qn1.jpg)
http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/5685/gvar03ap4.th.jpg (http://img80.imageshack.us/my.php?image=gvar03ap4.jpg)

The Narn G'var class destroyer. I based it on the Var'Nic long range destroyer you guys will know if you play B5A2.
In the last image shows it in comparison to the Th'Nor.

There is a little background story to this ship:
Dilgar Mercenary Cruiser and a troop transport were having an EVA troop landing exersize on a small moon just outside the newly established Narn territory. Two jumps away the Narn had a base and through a stolen long range sensor probe they were surveying that operation. One of the rare Th'Nor class cruisers (the "Th'Gen") with a full fighter squadron was sent underway to attack that operation.
After waiting in hyperspace and preparing the, for the Narn, technological difficult emmidate launch of their fighters, the warship jumped out, launched its fighters and went quickly against the Dilgar cruiser. The Dilgar were surprised by the attack, but fought back. They overrated their strength against the Narns, who, under the command of a veteran of the Narn Liberation War, killed off the cruiser's main sensor and weapons array. While the Narn prepared a boarding team to get their hands on the advanced tech of the cruiser, the Dilgar self-destructed the cruiser (maybe, because they wanted to prevent just that!).

The troop transport was swarmed by fighters, as it tried to lift off the moon. A fighter was shot down by AAA fire and crashed into the engines of the transport, resulting it to falling back onto the surface, killing nearly all of the crew. The rest of the Dilgar Naval Infantry was finished off by hand-to-hand combat.
Thus, the Narn seized a Dilgar Troop transport, including a smaller though capable hyperspace drive and effective anti-fighter weaponry.
Realizing the need for smaller ships to supportand relief the ThNor and rare Th'Loth cruisers the Narn Regime ordered the construction of a small FTL capable destroyer: the G'Var, named after the commander of the Th'Nor "Th'Gen". All the tech salvaged from the transport was incorporated into this vessel.

I hope you like it.

[Aerilon]

Those models look good EAS, though seem to be lacking on the black patterned patches.. I guess, if they are earlier Narn ships (which they are) they may not have all the detail that the latter ones have, but would still be nice to see. :)

Models do look good though. ;)

[Majestic]

You've outdone yourself this time Intrepid, it looks great. :thumbsup:

[EAS_Intrepid]

Thanks to both of you.
Well, that Th'Nor was the first ship I could grab :wink:

[EAS_Intrepid]

I just have a question to those who own B5 Wars or other B5 source books:
What fighter did the Narn military use before the Frazi?
And I need images of that, orthographic views would be very good.

[Atlantis]

The Gorith.

http://www.flatrock.org.nz/wolf/images/X2_Pix/D_Gorith2.jpg

Nowhere near as sturdy as the Frazi, but it's quite a good interceptor.

I'll post ortho drawings when i get home tonight.

[EAS_Intrepid]

Thank you very much Atlantis!

By the way:



http://www.majesticscificentral.com/forum/photopost/data/507/nrtranker01.jpg
http://www.majesticscificentral.com/forum/photopost/data/507/nrtranker02.jpg
http://www.majesticscificentral.com/forum/photopost/data/507/nrtranker03.jpg

As of now, this is just a *concept* of a Narn tanker.