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CRMcNeill
Director of Engineering
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Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.
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 Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2018 11:00 pm Post subject: GR 75 Medium Transport Variants |
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Replying from here.
| Sutehp wrote: | Funny thing I noticed in Rogue One: These ships are used by the rebels at the Battle of Scarif, which I thought at the time was silly because I always thought the CR-75 was unarmed. As it turns out, according to Wookieepedia, they are armed, if only lightly with 4 twin laser cannons. Before I found this out, the only rationalization I could come up with for why the rebels would send unarmed transports into battle was to serve as "soak units," basically additional targets for the Imperials that would soak firepower while the more heavily armed rebel ships blasted their targets without having to deal with the additional firepower that would have been aimed at them if the soak units weren't there. That would make the pilots of the Gallofree ships exceptionally brave because they were essentially volunteering for suicide missions every time they flew.
Good to know I was wrong: I always knew the rebels were brave, but I never wanted to think they were crazy. |
Per the various Sourcebooks, transport crews commonly modify their ships, improving "range, speed and cargo capacity."
"...many Rebel transports are equipped with sensor countermeasures to conceal their positions from Imperial probes and sensors. Most carry sophisticated, upgraded astrogation computers and deflector shields, since they frequently travel alone and through uncharted regions."
"Other transports have been converted into hospital ships, communication centers, and so forth."
There is mention on Wookieepedia of GR75's serving as landing craft. I picture replacing the container storage on the underside with a big parking bay for Rebel ground vehicles, like an LST in space. A few other tidbits from Wookieepedia: tankers, jamming support, repair craft.
A medium transport's stats could make a decent conversion into a stealth recon platform, too. Its low Hull means a lot of the Stealth equipment mentioned in Pirates & Privateers could be fitted at relatively low cost compared to a corvette or frigate, and the Cargo Capacity leaves a lot of room to install extra sensors and the like.
With all of that being said, very few of the uses merit actually bringing the ship along in combat. Its low speed really limits its usefulness. Star Wars: Armada makes reference to a combat-retrofitted GR75, fitted with a stronger Hull and Shields, with extra anti-starfighter cannon. Mention is also made of bomber support, perhaps providing fire control designation for other ships, as well as jamming support
The Armada rules also allow GR75's to serve as repair platforms, but that's more of a post-combat mission for ships that stay with the fleet train. Executing mid-combat repairs on warships would require a bit of thought as to how it would work; perhaps tractor beams that allow it to dock with a larger ship and use droid teams and pressor or structural integrity field systems to shore up combat damage long enough for a damaged warship to escape the battle and reach a dedicated repair ship.
The only other uses I can come up with are a Search & Rescue platform, likely a combat-retrofitted GR75 (as described above) that rescues starfighter pilots who have ejected, or ship crewmen who have been blown overboard by battle damage. This is an important necessity for the Alliance, as they are almost never in control of a battlefield after the battle, so any combat rescue must occur before the fleet jumps to safety.
There's always this, too...
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Last edited by CRMcNeill on Wed Jun 21, 2023 9:18 pm; edited 2 times in total |
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garhkal
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Location: Reynoldsburg, Columbus, Ohio.
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| Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2018 12:20 am Post subject: |
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The few times in games i've seen someone do a combat retrofit of sorts, was to add 2-4 tractor beams, and a bunch of missile tubes.
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CRMcNeill
Director of Engineering
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Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.
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| Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2018 2:03 am Post subject: |
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At the very least, I'd suggest the ones we see operating with the fleet during actual combat have all received the Combat Refit.3D Hull
2D Shields
Space 4 (possibly x2 Hyperdrive, as well)
A Space of 4 would at least allow them to keep up with the Alliance's slowest combat vessels (Bulk Cruisers and Nebulon Bs).
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"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.
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Last edited by CRMcNeill on Fri Sep 21, 2018 3:50 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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garhkal
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| Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2018 3:25 pm Post subject: |
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That sounds agreeable.
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CRMcNeill
Director of Engineering
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Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.
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| Posted: Fri Sep 21, 2018 4:39 pm Post subject: |
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After a little more digging, I turned up the following from Armada:
The GR-75 is capable of equipping the Fleet Support and Offensive Retrofit Cards. Here's a complete list, along with a few ideas...
Fleet SupportBomber Command Center
Comms Net
Jamming Field
Repair Crews
Slicer Tools
Offensive RetrofitDisposable Capacitors
Boosted Comms
Rapid Launch Bays
Quad-Laser Turrets
Point Defense Reroute
Expanded Hangar Bay
Hardened Bulkheads
Phylon Q7 Tractor Beams
Per the Armada Rules, the ship can be equipped with one from each list. Plenty of implications to be made from this...
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"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.
The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index
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CRMcNeill
Director of Engineering
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Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.
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| Posted: Sat Sep 22, 2018 10:58 pm Post subject: |
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Also, GR75's could potentially serve as the workhorse platform for Alliance Ground Forces. A lot of the smaller landing ships and landing craft (Landing Craft Medium, Landing Craft Tank, etc) could be filled by variations on the GR75, with Neutron Star-Class Bulk Cruisers (stock, not carrier modified) serving as Attack Transports, Landing Ship Docks, etc.
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"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.
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RedKnight
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| Posted: Tue Sep 25, 2018 7:28 pm Post subject: |
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| refuel/rearm hubs for starfighter and bomber squadrons on long strike missions away from their bases, a mobile support platform for SpecForce recon teams (carrying what ever expanded universe spec-force troops used instead of U-Wings). heck park one in an asteroid belt filled with SigINT equipment and use it as a mobile listening post. The alliance seems to have no shortage of the GR75's. |
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Sutehp
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| Posted: Wed Sep 26, 2018 3:04 am Post subject: |
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| RedKnight wrote: | | refuel/rearm hubs for starfighter and bomber squadrons on long strike missions away from their bases, |
This strikes me as particularly plausible. If the Ghost from Star Wars: Rebels can do this (see the episode Secret cargo for this) just by having two large fuel tanks attached to her hull, then an even larger GR75 should be to do it without problems.
| RedKnight wrote: | | a mobile support platform for SpecForce recon teams (carrying what ever expanded universe spec-force troops used instead of U-Wings). |
This could work too. The GR75 is certainly ubiquitous enough to go lots of places without arousing suspicion.
| RedKnight wrote: | | heck park one in an asteroid belt filled with SigINT equipment and use it as a mobile listening post. |
Also a good idea. It's certainly alot easier than excavating asteroids to make room for a non-mobile listening post. And it's easier to evac if things go sideways.
| RedKnight wrote: | | The alliance seems to have no shortage of the GR75's. |
And no shortage of occasions to repair the damn things because (IIRC from the Rebel Sourcebook) they break down so often. In fact, didn't the Empire let the Rebel Alliance buy and steal all those GR75s because they thought the old ships would cause the Rebels more grief than they were worth? Even so, the Rebels were still happy to get them, even if they have to constantly repair them. A bad ship is still better than no ship.
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CRMcNeill
Director of Engineering
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Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.
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| Posted: Wed Sep 26, 2018 5:03 am Post subject: |
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| Sutehp wrote: | | And no shortage of occasions to repair the damn things because (IIRC from the Rebel Sourcebook) they break down so often. In fact, didn't the Empire let the Rebel Alliance buy and steal all those GR75s because they thought the old ships would cause the Rebels more grief than they were worth? Even so, the Rebels were still happy to get them, even if they have to constantly repair them. A bad ship is still better than no ship. |
Here's the quote from the RASB: | Quote: | | "Rebel spacers insist that the Empire was fully aware the Alliance was buying the transports, but they let them purchase them anyway because they thought the ships would cause the Alliance more grief than good." |
In that context, it's more like hyperbolic griping from the flight crews and mechanics who have to operate the things.
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"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.
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garhkal
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| Posted: Wed Sep 26, 2018 3:06 pm Post subject: |
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I always loved that quote. BUT it does make you wonder, WHY they'd have thought they would be more costly to the rebellion than they'd be worth.
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CRMcNeill
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Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.
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| Posted: Wed Sep 26, 2018 3:57 pm Post subject: |
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| garhkal wrote: | | I always loved that quote. BUT it does make you wonder, WHY they'd have thought they would be more costly to the rebellion than they'd be worth. |
Probably because the ships are slow, fragile and require a lot of maintenance hours to keep operating. These are the sorts of things crews and mechanics b!tch about as a way to vent the frustration of having to work with a temperamental piece of equipment. Especially when they have to get up and do it all over again tomorrow.
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"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.
The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index
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CRMcNeill
Director of Engineering
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Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.
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| Posted: Thu Jul 09, 2020 4:09 pm Post subject: |
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Another possibility based on a discussion elsewhere: a Damage Control variant.
Picture a GR-75 converted into a mobile tensor field projector and power station (either add-on capacitors or generators), used to get in close to a badly damaged or crippled capital ship and provide structural stability and extra power until the damaged vessel can make repairs. That capability could prove pretty useful in the thick of battle (like the Battle of Endor, where plenty of GR75's were present despite being nominally non-combat vehicles).
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"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.
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CRMcNeill
Director of Engineering
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Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.
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| Posted: Sun Dec 25, 2022 2:01 am Post subject: |
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Thought I'd give this a bump on account of a picture posted in the Fractalsponge Discord. Someone did an image of the GR75 with a completely empty cargo space (as in, removed all the external containers seen in most images of the ship).
It's not official, but it certainly looks right, and makes it a lot easier to picture that empty space being filled in to perform the various uses described above.
Also this is the compressed version of this picture. The original is 3840 x 2160 pixels, and very detailed.
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"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.
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garhkal
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| Posted: Sun Dec 25, 2022 3:16 am Post subject: |
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Looking at that, it almost makes it look like it could carry an at-at or two..
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CRMcNeill
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| Posted: Sun Dec 25, 2022 9:33 am Post subject: |
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| garhkal wrote: | | Looking at that, it almost makes it look like it could carry an at-at or two.. |
It certainly has the room, although I can't imagine circumstances where an Alliance-exclusive transport would be hauling one.
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"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.
The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index
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