Non-Imperial Bases and Base Codes
I was hoping to use the review of Canopus, Aldebaran, Neworld, and Langere to spur a discussion about Solomani Confederation bases, which may lead to a wider discussion about non-Imperial bases in T5.
The Confederation, of course, has many similarities to the Imperium and largely shares a common history -- so most of the T5 worldgen processes should apply reasonably well to the Confederation. There is no Confederation equivalent of the Scout Service; the Navy assumes the roles taken up by the IISS. CT Supplement 10:
The Solomani Rim notes that “Solomani naval bases include a scout base” (45), a point also mentioned in
GURPS: Traveller: Rim of Fire (62).
The CT Solomani Alien Module notes that “Worlds are generated in the same manner as in basic Traveller,” suggesting Confederation naval bases occur only at worlds with Starports A or B at the same frequency as the Imperium. The limited sector data there supports this inference.
CT Module 5:
Atlas of the Imperium provides data on 8 Solomani Confederation sectors – Reaver’s Deep, Daibei, Old Expanses, Dark Nebula, Magyar, Solomani Rim, Alpha Crucis, and Spica. The Atlas details system allegiance, whether the mainworld is an asteroid belt, the presence of water on the mainworld, and the presence of gas giants. The Atlas also names high population worlds and shows the presence of bases: “open stars indicate naval bases established or maintained by non-imperial forces,” and “Outside the Imperium, a [secondary] military or non-naval base is represented by two small black dots” (3).
I have to question the reliability of the Atlas data, though. Though the maps are reasonably consistent within sectors, they are wildly inconsistent across different sectors in Confederation space. Confederation allegiance is sometimes noted and sometime omitted. For some sectors the Solomani naval bases are always the only base in the system, while in other sectors the Solomani naval bases are always accompanied by a secondary base. The following table shows just how inconsistent the Atlas is when it comes to Confederation space:
| Sector | Allegiance | Bases |
| Reaver’s Deep | Confederation Allegiances not marked | Confederation naval bases marked but no secondary bases |
| Daibei | Confederation Allegiances not marked | All bases in Confederation base marked as Imperial naval bases, no secondary bases |
| Old Expanses | Confederation Allegiances marked | Non-Imperial naval bases marked, no secondary bases; bases at Class C starports (hexes 2639 and 2739) |
| Dark Nebula | Confederation Allegiances not marked | All Confederation naval bases accompanied with secondary base |
| Magyar | Confederation Allegiances marked | All Confederation naval bases accompanied with secondary base |
| Solomani Rim | Confederation Allegiances marked | Confederation naval bases marked but no secondary bases |
| Alpha Crucis | Confederation Allegiances marked | All Confederation naval bases accompanied with secondary base |
| Spica | Confederation Allegiances marked | All Confederation naval bases accompanied with secondary base |
What are these secondary bases, when they occur, supposed to designate? The only canonical CT description of a Confederation naval base we have, from
Signal GK, is an Army base co-located with a Navy base: “The major official Solomani presence on Ochre is a Solomani naval base situated at the starport; the base includes a Solomani Army regiment (the 412th Assault Infantry), a Solomani Navy fighter squadron (the 972nd Strike Fighter Squadron), and several support units” (12).
Are all the
Atlas secondary bases, like Ochre, Army bases co-located with naval bases? Does the secondary base symbol simply indicate that all Confederation naval bases double as scout bases? Are these Military Bases per CT Book 6,
Scouts, a type of facility not located on the mainworld: "Military forces (army and marine) are stationed at a base for training and maintenance. In addition, some naval operations may be supported from the base as well" (32). Also, "Military bases may be noted with the symbol M. If, however, naval or scout bases are already present on the world, then no symbol for the military base should be used, and it should be noted in the remarks instead" (38).
MegaTraveller doesn’t give us much clarification on Confederation bases. The extended worldgen sequence in the
Referee’s Manual includes military bases in the CT book 6 sense,
i.e. non-naval bases located off the mainworld, generated as part of the subordinate world creation. But just to make things even more complicated, the
Manual also creates a different sort of military base during system generation on page 24, the "non-imperial military base," also coded M, which is evidently associated with some sort of locally-controlled space service, like colonial or planetary navy. “Non-Imperial military bases undertake some or all of the functions of Imperial Naval and Scout bases” (24).
So are these Confederation secondary bases associated with planetary-controlled forces – perhaps member-state or Home Guard bases?
Solomani and Aslan states that the Confederation “navy also maintains bases in every subsector, with liaison officers appointed as advisors to the member-state fleets” (15). World generation directs the referee to “apply a -1 DM to tech level and a + 1 DM to population. . . . Worlds in the sectors adjacent to Solomani Rim sector use the "Clustered" column of the starport type table on page 24 of the Referee's Manual. All other Confederation sectors use the "Standard" column of the starport table” (41). The Clustered table increases the odds of an A or B starport, meaning bases are slightly more likely in Confederation space.
The Mongoose alien module notes that “Solomani Confederation military bases exist on important or strategic worlds throughout the Solomani Confederation. There are no scout bases although some naval bases may be oriented toward exploration, survey or Xboat system operation” (116). The Mongoose
Solomani Rim supplement notes that “in the Solomani Rim the Confederation Army’s main bases are co-located with those of navy bases” (31).
A review of T5SS data shows that Confederation naval bases (coded K) are consistently located in systems with class A or B starports and are always found with an accompanying M base. (The only exceptions are in Ustral Quadrant, which has a handful of systems with only one or the other base.)
T5 does not define either K or M base codes. Although V 5.09 makes several vestigial references to military bases (267, 268, 396, 404, and 407), on worldgen Chart F (412) we learn "Other bases may be established as exceptions: Military, Scientific, Diplomatic, and Cultural." When developing Canopus, Aldebaran, Neworld, and Langere I generated naval bases (K) using the straight up T5 rules. I initially assumed M was a co-located army base and automatically added an M base if the mainworld seemed likely to support a significant army: Atmo 4-9, Pop 8+, TL 9+. I also added M bases to Important or Military Rule worlds without naval bases if they met this criteria.
But in order to have these sectors better conform to the reviewed T5SS Confederation sector data, I ended up revising bases so that a K base is almost always accompanied by an M base.
But we have a chance here to rethink what these base codes mean. Maybe rather than have N be an Imperial navy base, it becomes something more generic: “navy base of the regional allegiance.” So it could also be a Confederation or Hive Federation Navy base. K could be a major local naval base – a planetary or colonial navy, or an autonomous region, member-state, or Home Guard naval base. M then would be a ground or sea based military base, maybe associated with either the allegiance or the local system.
Or consider depots, which are defined in T5. Do other polities maintain depots like the Imperium? Just because they haven't been previously described doesn't mean they couldn't or shouldn't exist.
Rim of Fire describes Kidashi (Solomani Rim 0528) during the Solomani Rim War as having been "a primary shipyard and supply depot for the Confederation Navy, so that the system was a major objective for the Imperium in the last stages of the war" (99). Was this a depot with a capital D? T5 suggests that a Depot "is present on about one world in a thousand" (272). If the Confederation maintains them, Canopus, Aldebaran, and Neworld would be likely locations.
