I recommend Star Trek: Vanguard

[Supplement Four]

Female Captains' Uniforms

Here's a question:

As I read, I like to picture in my mind's eye what a character looks like. In the case of Vanguard, I'll look up an alien or a character on the net, if possible, or I'll think of an actor that fits the description in the text. For example, the way Commodore Diego Reyes is described (not just his looks, but the way he acts as well) reminds me of Jimmy Smits--so much so that I wonder if David Mack also pictured him as the character when he wrote the book.

Commodore Diego Reyes, sans the new, gold, Starfleet uniform.

There are a couple of mentions about the Starfleet uniform change in the first Vanguard book, Harbinger. Kirk likes the new mini-skirts.

Captain Hallie Gannon commands the Bombay, a Miranda-class starship assigned to Vanguard.

My question is this: Does Captain Gannon wear a mini-skirt, the new Starfleet uniform?

I mean, if you life depended on it, would you take orders from this person?

Or, does command slide down the throat a little better when your Captain is wearing pants?

 

[Supplement Four]

Are there Starfleet uniforms we haven't seen?

There certainly could be. The series hints at them. Besides dress uniforms....

McCoy wears a short sleeved medical smock when in sickbay sometimes:

Kirk has his wrap-around tunic:

Cadets wore a similar uniform:

And, there are several work/athletic/and protective outfits we've seen on the show:

So, what is your speculation?

Do you think Starfleet female captains of this era wear miniskirts or some other uniform we haven't seen?

 

[Supplement Four]

Harbinger annotations

I was wrong about David Mack picturing Jimmy Smits in the role of Commodore Diego Reyes. Instead, he thinks of Tommy Lee Jones when he writes him.

Check out David's web site here: http://www.infinitydog.com/harbinger_annotations.html

You will find who he thinks of for all the major characters in the Vanguard series (Bridget Moynaham as T'Prynn...Yum!) as well as see annotations for each of the chapters in the first book.

 

[aramis]

I've no problem taking orders from females in miniskirts, provided they have the known authority. I had to do so on many occasions in my life... including in 8th grade Social Studies (and am scarred for life by it... Mrs. Queen was in excess of 300#, 5'2", and wore miniskirts).

And Dr. Dehner just doesn't exude competence nor authority despite the trews.

 

[tbeard1999]

The Fed DD is useful in one role that isn't useful in most SFB games...Retrograde movement, firing proximity torps...

Unfortunately, most games were fought on fixed maps, making this not all that useful.

The chief problem with retrograde tactics -- including the much-fawned upon "Kaufman retrograde" maneuver -- is that they assume that your opponent will foolishly pursue you.

Personally, I don't put much stock in tactics that require my opponent to be a moron. Or that require a strategically absurd condition -- a decision to fight a major action where there is no particular reason for either side to do so (i.e., the map completely "floats").

 

[spinwardpirate]

I'm going to have to stop reading these threads... because if I don't I'm going to want to run a Traveller Trek rpg session, and I haven't even started my Traveller Firefly game yet!

 

[Supplement Four]

I'm going to have to stop reading these threads... because if I don't I'm going to want to run a Traveller Trek rpg session, and I haven't even started my Traveller Firefly game yet!

I've often thought what a Classic Trek game would be like using the Classic Traveller rules. I have a lot of the FASA Star Trek game (which is brilliant), though, so I've never switched from that game when the Trek mood hit me.



(PS: Go read the Vanguard books...they're GREAT!)

Very minor spoiler...but a spoiler nonetheless, so I hid it:

Spoiler:

David Mack really knows his Trek. Just look at his web page I posted and check out the annotations. There's a scene where Scotty sneaks off from the Enterprise to visit an Orion crime lord operating out of Vanguard. He's gone there for....something to drink...something exotic.

What he gets, he tastes, coughs, and says, "What is that, lad?"

The answer is: "It's green."

Which is quite neat, if you know your Trek, because in the Classic episode By Any Other Name, Scotty gets drunk and is asked what they're drinking. Scott replies, "It's green."

So...we've just seen where Scott got the bottle to use in that episode.

I love that kind of stuff.

 

[Supplement Four]

I've no problem taking orders from females in miniskirts, provided they have the known authority.

I dunno. I can't see some 45 year old Captain, sitting in the center seat, wearing one of those Classic Trek mini-skirts.

I had to do so on many occasions in my life... including in 8th grade Social Studies (and am scarred for life by it... Mrs. Queen was in excess of 300#, 5'2", and wore miniskirts).

And Dr. Dehner just doesn't exude competence nor authority despite the trews.

Naw, I agree. Neither does Janeway, and she wore pants.

I was trying to speculate on what female Captains wore during this era of the Trek universe.

I, personally, think it's a uniform we haven't seen (because we never saw a female Captain before TMP came out).

I bet it has pants and looks more like Dehner's uniform than Uhura's.

 

[tbeard1999]

Which is quite neat, if you know your Trek, because in the Classic episode By Any Other Name, Scotty gets drunk and is asked what they're drinking. Scott replies, "It's green."

So...we've just seen where Scott got the bottle to use in that episode.

I love that kind of stuff.[/sblock]

I do too, but when Scotty states this in By Any Other Name, he's "blind drunk". He makes an obvious attempt to read the label, fails, then pronounces that "it's green".

Still, a nice hat tip to us Classic Trek Alphanerds.

 

[Supplement Four]

I do too, but when Scotty states this in By Any Other Name, he's "blind drunk". He makes an obvious attempt to read the label, fails, then pronounces that "it's green".

Still, a nice hat tip to us Classic Trek Alphanerds.

The scene is set up quite nicely. Immediately preceeding it, there is a scene aboard the Bombay. The Engineer is going nuts. He thought he had three weeks but now is told the vessel will be shipping out in 12 hours. Everything that could go wrong is going wrong. The cargo master has misplaced spare parts. Junior techs have uploaded a computer upgrade, requiring the computer be shut-down, when the rest of engineering desperately needs the computer to finish repairs on time. Only half impulse will be available unless more time is taken...etc.

The scene ends with the Engineer calling the Bombay's first officer, who is known for being able to aquire certain items when the quartermaster says the items are not available.

Then, we cut to Scotty, aboard the Enterprise. Kirk's ship isn't in that great a state of repair either, having just returned from the energy barrier at that edge of the galaxy (Where No Man Has Gone Before).

But, late at night, Scotty find a moment to sneak off.

It's an easy connection to think that Scotty is going to help out the Bombay...but this is not the case! Scotty ends up at the hatch to the Orion ship...(and the rest is in the mini-spoiler above).

It was well written, setting up one expectation, but getting something else, then tying the outcome in with a moment from the Classic series.

It's one of the reasons I love this series so much.

 

[spinwardpirate]

I was trying to speculate on what female Captains wore during this era of the Trek universe.

I know I've seen pants on women in the background... I'm just not sure how far into the series the practice continues.

 

[spinwardpirate]

I've often thought what a Classic Trek game would be like using the Classic Traveller rules. I have a lot of the FASA Star Trek game (which is brilliant), though, so I've never switched from that game when the Trek mood hit me.

(PS: Go read the Vanguard books...they're GREAT!)

Thanks for the recommendation. I may take you up on it. Though I'll admit I haven't been able to read fiction in awhile. Then again, I haven't tried reading Trek fiction in a couple decades... so maybe I could actual handle something like that.

 

[aramis]

S4: I suspect that captains will wear whichever uniform option works their legs better in their own opinion...

Having had a female player choose the "skant pattern" for her character when playing a ship's CO...

Now, I know it's bad form, but we see that in TNG, the skant pattern is used by both genders* (There is a walk-across by a vulcan male in skant pattern in TNG season 1 or 2). I don't see why the choice wouldn't be their own to make.

I do suspect the younger the officer, the more likely to choose skant over trousers.

 

[Supplement Four]

This is an excellent pic of what the USS Bombay probably looks like...

 

[spinwardpirate]

Sweet! Is that new? I haven't seen that until now.

 

[Supplement Four]

Sweet! Is that new? I haven't seen that until now.

It was a Miranda class created for the Star Trek fan show: Star Trek The New Voyages.

I've seen a lot of Miranda's, and they all are a little different. Maybe it's a customizeable, workhorse class (that's the way the ship is used in Vanguard, anyway).

Look up thread a bit, and you'll see a schematic of one with a retractible sensor/deflector dish.

 

[BlackBat242]

The main hull & engines of the Mirandas seem to be standard (depending on TOS-era or movie-era version), but the modules above the main hull seem to be the point of specialization... perhaps they can be changed out at a Starbase... or removed altogether?

 

[Supplement Four]

The main hull & engines of the Mirandas seem to be standard (depending on TOS-era or movie-era version), but the modules above the main hull seem to be the point of specialization... perhaps they can be changed out at a Starbase... or removed altogether?

That seems like a major job. I was thinking more along the lines of the specific ship class customized for a particular job. For example, the German halftracks in WWII were used for all sorts of stuff: as ambulances; troop carriers; mobile mortars; MG ground support; cargo carriers; etc.

Maybe the Miranda cruiser is a workhorse who's general schematic can be easily altered for whatever job the ship is built to do.

 

[saundby]

Secondary hull kitbashed from a phaser?

It has an interesting look to it. Not sure why the struts supporting the warp drives couldn't be hung directly off the beefed-up saucer. The running-through look is kinda cool, but the aero engineer in me is screaming.

Especially if the secondary hulls change out, or aren't part of the base design, seems like it'd make more sense to make it like a Tug--warp drives off the saucer, then hang a secondary hull off the saucer any way it pleases you without having to worry about the structural effects of the secondary change-out. *shrug* IOW a tug but with the beefed up saucer and the attach point above rather than below the saucer and shorter warp pylons so they don't look quite as dorky sticking out nine miles without a container to balance their appearance.

At any rate, it's fun all the effects you can get playing with the bits of the original ships.

 

[Supplement Four]

Not sure why the struts supporting the warp drives couldn't be hung directly off the beefed-up saucer. The running-through look is kinda cool, but the aero engineer in me is screaming.

Struts also connect the sensor/deflector array because...most economical and it works? Dunno. Just a thought.

At any rate, it's fun all the effects you can get playing with the bits of the original ships.

You think its a model? I think its CGI.

Or, are you saying you think it is CGI using the original bits?