Author Topic: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread  (Read 170317 times)

Arkansas Warrior

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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #330 on: 17 September 2013, 20:18:16 »
I bet they would.  The new Caesar seems to be big on spreading goodwill and Marian culture rather than raiding and pillaging.
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Col.Hengist

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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #331 on: 25 September 2013, 22:51:35 »
Well, if you need something I'm sure it would ne easier if we wete just one big happy family  O:-)
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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #332 on: 26 September 2013, 11:37:33 »
Yeah seriously Niops doesn't look good getting weaker after the Jihad while their neighbours get stronger and stronger.

Niopsian

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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #333 on: 27 September 2013, 12:23:45 »
Yeah seriously Niops doesn't look good getting weaker after the Jihad while their neighbours get stronger and stronger.

At this stage, if I were a leader in the NA government in 3145 I'd start taking a good, hard look at petitioning the FWL for admittance.

That, or lobby Clan Sea Fox really, really hard in hopes of getting adopted as a clearinghouse/depot world.


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Baldur Mekorig

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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #334 on: 27 September 2013, 12:44:31 »
That is if the NA does not become a banana republic for the Marians... >:D #P
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Giovanni Blasini

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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #335 on: 27 September 2013, 14:00:51 »
They already basically are a banana republic for Interstellar Expeditions, who go a huge way towards keeping Niops afloat.  Don't be surprised to see that trend either continued or formalized.

IE is the new Explorer Corps and Niops may well be the new Columbus Base.  Not sure I have a problem with this.
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Niopsian

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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #336 on: 27 September 2013, 16:46:18 »
They already basically are a banana republic for Interstellar Expeditions, who go a huge way towards keeping Niops afloat.  Don't be surprised to see that trend either continued or formalized.

IE is the new Explorer Corps and Niops may well be the new Columbus Base.  Not sure I have a problem with this.

I'm not confident that IE has the resources to keep all of the rowdy neighbors at bay, though. If I'm going to have house guests for the long term I want ones that will give the Space Romans significant pause.

Although, if we rack up enough outside 'partners' contributing to our defense, we really could become the Babylon 5 of the Inner Sphere.  ;)


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Giovanni Blasini

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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #337 on: 27 September 2013, 18:05:15 »
I'm not confident that IE has the resources to keep all of the rowdy neighbors at bay, though. If I'm going to have house guests for the long term I want ones that will give the Space Romans significant pause.

Although, if we rack up enough outside 'partners' contributing to our defense, we really could become the Babylon 5 of the Inner Sphere.  ;)

If I recall correctly, Interstellar Expeditions makes up half of Niops' current governmental budget, which means that, while they may not have direct resources, in terms of factories and the like, to supply Niops, they are the ones bankrolling Niops buying from the open market, where their status as an actual legitimate government will help.  Niops also, despite their small size, has a bevy of warm bodies to supply, from scientists to techs to grunt infantrymen to guard IE's scientists and techs.

I also suspect Interstellar Expeditions has deeper pockets than most people realize.  They have numerous DropShips and JumpShips they operate (though it looks like they often pay for commercial ship operators on the open market to work for them), and fielded their own Bug-Eye class, before that ship's untimely demise.  I seriously need to reread ISP3 to see where their funding comes from.

As for invasion by their neighbors, I don't see it at this point: any internal unrest on Niops isn't spilling over to its neighbors, and the major items of value they had, the Workshops and their scientific knowledge, was either lost to the Marians during the Jihad, nuked by the Blakists, destroyed during their own civil war, or is still being sold cheaply enough on the open market.  There's no longer any incentive to invade Niops.
« Last Edit: 27 September 2013, 18:07:44 by Giovanni Blasini »
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ArkRoyalRavager

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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #338 on: 27 September 2013, 22:49:29 »
If anything the Niopsians hate the FWL more than any other realm, so they would never petition it for admittance.

Gio, which WarShip is that in your pic?

Adacas

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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #339 on: 27 September 2013, 23:04:18 »
Not Automated jumpship the TRO  Boondocks?

ArkRoyalRavager

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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #340 on: 27 September 2013, 23:08:00 »
Nope. The only ship in Bookdocks was the Cloud Ten Airship.

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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #341 on: 27 September 2013, 23:17:21 »
If anything the Niopsians hate the FWL more than any other realm, so they would never petition it for admittance.

Gio, which WarShip is that in your pic?
I thought it was the Dreadnought, but I'm wrong
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Baldur Mekorig

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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #342 on: 27 September 2013, 23:19:38 »
Its the Bright Star Auto Scout, from XTRO: Boondongles.
Oh my brother, with your courage we can conquer,
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ArkRoyalRavager

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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #343 on: 27 September 2013, 23:28:53 »
Oh. Thanks, Baldur Mekorig. Looks like Andromeda's Slipscout finally migrated over to BT.

Sorry Adacas. You were right O0

Giovanni Blasini

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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #344 on: 28 September 2013, 01:10:42 »
Its the Bright Star Auto Scout, from XTRO: Boondongles.

Yup.  My current running  joke. Since Boondoggles came out is that the the Bright Star ended up the Syrinx AI from FGC Niops.  Also, I just think the idea of the ship is cooler than hell, And would be tickled pink if it's still in operation somewhere in canon. 
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glitterboy2098

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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #345 on: 28 September 2013, 19:16:36 »
looks a bit like a Cylon Tanker from BSG actually..

Colt Ward

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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #346 on: 28 September 2013, 19:56:05 »
I think Niops will stay independent as it holds a place between Canopus, the Hegemony and FWL . . . Regulans and Anduriens might also have an interest in it staying independent.  So yeah, the B5 link does somewhat extend- it should be a great RPG playground due to that nature.
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ArkRoyalRavager

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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #347 on: 28 September 2013, 23:04:07 »
looks a bit like a Cylon Tanker from BSG actually..

I was thinking it looks more like an older Battlestar. Without the flight pods.

Giovanni Blasini

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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #348 on: 04 October 2013, 18:42:02 »
For kicks, and inspired by Bergie, I looked at the Random Allocation Tables from Field Manual 3145, took into account NAM's D-rating, and looked at what the most common vehicles for each class were.

Figuring a roll of 7 is your most likely outcome on 2d6, with 6 and 8 being the next two most common numbers, you end up with something like this:

Light 'Mechs (+2 on roll)
7 = LTD-1 Brigand (What.)
6 = COM-4H Commando (Marian surplus)
8 = STG-5R Stinger (Thanks, Taurians!)
Notes:The complete lack of UrbanMechs on the Periphery General light 'Mech list will make the elves of Tir na Niops very sad.

Medium 'Mechs (+2 on roll)
7 = PXH-4W Phoenix Hawk (WoB Salvage?)
6 = CN9-Ar Centurion (Marians again?)
8 = KW1-LH2 Lineholder (Hmm...Republic sales?)

Heavy 'Mechs (+2 roll)
7 = TDR-9T Thunderbolt (Taurians again)
6 = ARC-6W Archer (Marian rocket launcher boat)
8 = KSC-5MC Koschei (Magistracy?)

Assault 'Mechs (+2 roll)
7 = AWS-9Q Awesome (nice!)
6 = STK-5M Stalker (FWL states)
8 = VTR-9K Victor (Hmm...)

Light Vehicles (+1 roll)
7 = Hunter
6 = Scorpion
8 = Tamerlane

Medium Vehicles (+1 roll)
7 = Light SRM Carrier
6 = Vedette
8 = JES I

Heavy Vehicles (+1 roll)
7 = Manticore
6 = Pike
8 = LRM Carrier

Assault Vehicles (+1 roll)
7 = Behemoth (Go big or go home)
6 = Demolisher
8 = Demolisher (Gauss)

Light Aerospace Fighters (+1 roll)
7 = TR-7 Thrush (pulled out of a warehouse, either in Niops or the Magistracy)
6 = SB-27 Sabre (everyone seems to have these)
8 = SYD-Z1 Seydlitz (Lyran castoffs)

Medium Aerospace Fighters (+1 roll)
7 = F-90 Stingray (FWL surplus)
6 = SL-17 Shilone (say what?)
8 = LTN-G15 Lightning (another dirt common fighter)

Heavy Aerospace Fighters (+1 roll)
7 = TR-13 Transgressor (More Magistracy surplus?  Good fighter though)
6 = SL-15 Slayer (back to chanman and my FGC joke about the ease of making the airframe)
8 = EGL-R6 Eagle (FWL surplus?)

DropShips (+1 roll)
7 = Leopard CV (our new capital warships!)
6 = Triumph (gotta move those combined arms units somehow)
8 = Danais (dirt common commercial ship, and probably the most common Niops dropper - these probably represent civvie DropShips hired out by NAM to supplement the above ships)

Currently, NAM's got a single regiment of 'Mechs at 85% strength.  Given that BattleMechs aren't their primary militia asset, it's entirely possible that Niops is close to pushing three regiments of mainly infantry supported by vehicles on top of that.  Their aero assets probably aren't as impressive as the 54 fighters of their old aero regiment.
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truetanker

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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #349 on: 04 October 2013, 21:20:20 »
I'd give them some old Czar / Black Eagle and Drost IIA's for comfort. Fluff has them still floating around out there.

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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #350 on: 05 October 2013, 09:22:52 »
Quote
6 = ARC-6W Archer (Marian rocket launcher boat)

One could think that abomination is Marian, but sadly, it is Taurian. :P :-\
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Adacas

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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #351 on: 05 October 2013, 09:49:31 »
If the Archer-6W is Taurus model, in terms Nyops Shilone could maybe buy some of the remaining production of the Marian Hegemony Hadrian Plant in Pompeii, the model 3050 manufactured under license from the Outworlds Alliance

Niopsian

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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #352 on: 06 October 2013, 09:38:50 »
Crazy question: What would IE roll on as a Sphere-wide corporation if it just started buying equipment and gifting it to the militia? Would they use the Mercs RAT?


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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #353 on: 06 October 2013, 09:43:05 »
I would assume so as they would be the same designs being sold to corporations.

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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #354 on: 07 October 2013, 02:35:29 »
As for the Victor . . . the -9K is fluffed as being the same as the -9D which was built in a lot of the Chaos March and SIC . . . so Capellan and Canopian surplus?

Given what seem to be good relations with the Rim Commonality and the Marians, it might be that both sides are trying to buy favor.  Of course the Regulans are trying to influence Niops as well . . .
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Lord Harlock

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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #355 on: 07 October 2013, 16:21:29 »
Yup.  My current running  joke. Since Boondoggles came out is that the the Bright Star ended up the Syrinx AI from FGC Niops.  Also, I just think the idea of the ship is cooler than hell, And would be tickled pink if it's still in operation somewhere in canon.

Ah memories, I really did want to spin off the New Avalon Catholic Church to secretly battle FGC Niops's Transhumanist.

Giovanni Blasini

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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #356 on: 16 October 2013, 14:51:57 »
So, I was thinking, which, as you all know  is almost as dangerous as letting chanman think.

As of 3145, Niops has an 85% strength BattleMech regiment, and 'Mechs are considered to be secondary to infantry and vehicles.  Presumably, it's like the pre-Jihad days, where Niops fields three to four infantry regiments, most likely with the 'Mechs split between regiments.  No exact mention of infantry, vehicle or fighter strength had been made.

So, by 3145, Niops is slowly getting their crap back together.  Eventually, they'll either rebuild a Workshop or two, or perhaps a whole factory.  It may be some time before you can produce any variety or designs at that point.

So, your goal: choose one to three designs to fill out the NAM. They could be 'Mechs, fighters, battlearmor or vehicles, or even small craft.  While Niops may not have lost technical expertise, lower tech will be easier to get production running on.

What would you build?
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Giovanni Blasini

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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #357 on: 16 October 2013, 17:27:19 »
My own thoughts on what to build:

1. Keep it as simple as possible, by minimizing the number of parts you need, especially big ticket items like fusion engines.

2.  Don't go with three 'Mechs, but diversify: build a trooper 'Mech, infantry support vehicle and interceptor/anti-DropShip fighter.

Possibilities:

CRB-27b Crab
-- Very solid trooper, strong SLDF theme, but does Niops have the blueprints?
Black Wasp robotic aerospace fighter
-- Uses the same size engine as the Royal Crab, also uses double heat sinks, uses ERLLs, as does the Crab.
-- Difficulty: does Niops have the blueprints? Can you trust them as your frontline ASF?
Vehicle: ??? (I can't find anything using a 250 fusion)

Corsair
-- Old SLDF bird, solid design, basic in the extreme, yet decent versatility.
Swayback or Centurion AL
-- Both use the same engine, while the CN9-AL uses a LL backed by MLs.
-- Pity there's no LL/ML Swayback.
Chaparral Tank
-- Same engine, and gives your infantry mobile Arrow IV support.

Wilder ideas:
SHD-X2 Shadow Hawk LAMs
-- Two for one!
-- Crappy trooper 'Mech meets crappy aerospace fighter!

WSP-100 Wasp LAM
-- Davy Crocketts for everyone!
-- One for you, and one for you, and one for you!

UrbanMechs
-- Let's make the elves of Tir Na Niops happy!
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Colt Ward

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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #358 on: 16 October 2013, 18:07:43 »
Let us rule out what you do not need in a mech or vehicle, which might be a way to go . . .

I would also say the vehicle does not have to use a SFE, but might be preferable with ICE- after all they are the defenders and are not as worried about the logistics which is why you use a SFE.  With that said . . . I think a LBX armed Po (which could be swapped with a LGR if they could get the prints) or a LBX armed Zhukov would be the best heavy armor option.  The armor should be the anvil for the mech's hammer to pound people against.

I like the Crab and heartily endorse its production.  But the other end of the mech question is . . . what are they/could they be getting off the Marians, Rim Commonality, Canopians (perhaps Anduriens?) and Regulans?  Vehicles would be sort of the same but to a lesser extent.  Also do not forget the pre-3140s independent FWL worlds like Kendall and Westover- decent mechs, light armor and aero.

No ML Swayback?  Have you forgotten the awesome HBK-4P?  I grant it will not have the range to engage anything but . . .
Colt Ward
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Giovanni Blasini

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Re: Empire of the Nerds: The Niops Association Thread
« Reply #359 on: 16 October 2013, 18:27:38 »
Niops already gets a metric crapton from their neighbors:  at the end of the Jihad, the Niops Association Militia was at around 10% strength, and as of 3145, they have an 85% strength 'Mech regiment on top of their mainly infantry/vehicle militia.  With no more Workshops, either techs were excellent at battlefield salvage, or nearly everything they currently field was imported.

For Niops, which prided itself on self-sufficiency, that's a frightening concept.  I have no doubt that they will eventually want to restart local production of military hardware, but suspect that they're going to be limited in the number of lines they can produce, and I suspect that whatever it is, it will be something Interstellar Expeditions will also find useful.

And, yeah, I remember the HBK-4P, and am quite fond of it. I was referring more to a Hunchback with large lasers (they all have MLs), so it could share weapons with the Corsair: I suspect that whatever Niops fields, they'll reuse parts whenever and wherever they can.
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