UNOFFICIAL
BABYLON 5 SHIP DESIGNS
ABBAI
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The Baluda Dreadnought was a
design initially conceived during the Dilgar War. A single ship was produced during that conflict,
but saw little front-line service. It
was later upgraded with improved weaponry, including the experimental Heavy
Combat Laser and the only ship-mounted Shield Projector in the Abbai
inventory. |
BRAKIRI
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Im-Rehsa Technologies developed
this variant of the Tashkat to act as a heavy gunship. The Tashkava was never constructed in large
numbers in the 2250’s due to the high maintenance costs of the graviton
lance, but sales of the weapon to the Ak-Habil Corperation made the
production of of the Tahkot possible. Though produced in larger numbers than
the Tashkava, these ships remained uncommon in Brakiri service (note these
ships also fall under the 33% limited deployment restriction as well). The Tahkot offers staggering firepower, but
is relatively weak defensively, requiring other ships and/or fighters to
provide protection. |
CENTAURI
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This rare Centurion Variant is
armed exclusively with Ballistic Torpedoes.
The power demands of these weapons frequently required a pair of twin
arrays to be shut down to keep all the ballistic torpedoes online, leaving
the ship lightly defended. Often
compared to the Narn Dag’kar, the design never gained much favor with the
Centauri leadership. |
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The Vorchas was produced as a
testbed for the new heavy array.
Replacing the plasma accelerator of the standard Vorchan, the heavy
array offered good offensive and defensive firepower, at the cost of a heavy
single-shot punch. Production ceased
with the introduction of the Demos, and the few Vorchas hulls remained rare
in Centauri service. |
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The Vorchath shares much of the
history of the Mograth Frigate. Both
equipped with a Plasma Stream as its primary weapon, the Vorchath differed in
having no secondary offensive weapons. The purpose of these ships is somewhat
debatable. They have been observed operation with Mograth squadrons,
providing a jump drive on a hull with similar weapons, and with standard
Vorchans, providing a complimentary weapon to the Plasma Accelerator. |
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The standard Primus war cruiser,
equipped with a Mass Driver for planetary bombardment. |
DILGAR
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An uncommon version of the
Mishakur optimized for standoff fire support of a fleet. Frequently paired with Tratharti Gunships
in a Pentacan to support other Dilgar ships from long range. Power shortage
typically requires the shutdown of at least one Scatter Pulsar, creating
potential blind spots in the ship’s anti-fighter defenses. |
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Armed almost exclusively with
Medium Lasers, the uncommon Tratharti-L offers staggering medium and
short-range firepower. Like the EA
Nova-A, it is very vulnerable to fighter and missile attacks. Also, the excessive number of weapons
intensifies the power shortage issues shared with the standard Tratharti. In
the case of the L-model, shutting down the Mass Driver barely covers the
excess power demands of the lasers. |
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The unique Tratharti-T was
fielded to evaluate long-ranged weapons stolen from the Alacans and Balosians
early in the Dilgar War. Tests with these
weapons proved quite promising, but plans to produce these weapons in
quantity could not be carried out prior to the conquest of Omelos. The ship remained behind the front lines at
Alaca serving as a garrison ship and did not see frontline combat until late
in the war. It was destroyed by the
Cascor in the liberation of Balos. |
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Discovered in a Dilgar shipyard
after the war, the incomplete Tratharti-Z demonstrated the ultimate Dilgar
plans for the Pulsed Energy Mine. The
incomplete hull boasted eight mounts for the new Dilgar weapon. Based on recovered documentation, the
Dilgar planned to put this ship in production alongside the standard
Tratharti. However, it is unclear when
this variant may have appeared. Designers Note: This is a more
conservative version of a very similar ship that first appeared in Babcom Issue 12. This ship uses the same Pulsed Energy Mine
(Dilgar Pulsar Mine) introduced in the issue, but still makes the same rolls
as the Narn E-mine for each shot (each shot has the same odds to scatter or
fizzle). |
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The uncommon Targath-P, armed
exclusively with Pulsar weaponry, proved devastating to enemy fighters and
ships alike. Never produced in the
numbers of the standard Targath, it was still revered by many commanders as a
superior warship. |
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A single Targath cruiser was
built in 2231 with captured examples of weapons used by the Drazi. While powerful, the Dilgar found this ship
very difficult to maintain. The
Targath-T had a relatively short career.
Destroyed in only its second battle, it drew the wrath of the Drazi,
who were infuriated by the use of their technology by the hated Dilgar. |
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The Targath-V Vigilance
Cruisers were produced to provide garrison ships at systems left behind by
advancing Dilgar forces. Seen
frequently in Hyach and Brakiri space, the ship sacrificed half of its fighter
group in exchange for a pair of bomb racks.
These were often used in harassing attacks or to suppress small-scale
planetary uprisings. Totally absent
from frontline forces during the early Dilgar offensives, the Targath-Vs were
only encountered as the Liberation Navy began to retake league territory. |
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These swift ships were designed
to support Pentacans of Jashakar frigates in hit-and-run attacks. While the Ochlavita-Fs could accelerate
with the smaller frigates, it proved incapable of maneuvering with them in a
melee. The firepower given up when
compared to the standard Ochlavita made them extremely unpopular and they
remained rare in Dilgar service. |
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Serving alongside standard
Ochlavitas in the Dilgar advance, the uncommon Ochlavita-L proved its value
repeatedly in battles with League forces.
Relatively poor armament to rear made this variant dependant on other
ships for protection following a battle pass. |
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The Dilgar modified a single
Ochlavita to evaluate captured Brakiri weaponry. The ship proved moderately successful, but
the Dilgar never successfully replicated the gravitic weapons in sufficient
quantity to support regular production.
In battle, the arrangement of the Gravitic Bolts proved quite
advantageous – the rear weapons were shut down to provide extra power for the
forward Bolts, then as the ship withdrew the forward guns were shutdown to
provide extra power to the rear mounts. The ship had a surprisingly
successful combat career. |
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This ship was discovered
following the defeat of the Dilgar in 2232.
It appears to have been a testbed ship for the Pulsed Energy
Mine. The ship was found with only a
single mount installed (the others were vacant). Apparently, the ship was being used to
conduct initial trials on the new Dilgar weapon. Attempts by EA engineers to conduct firing
trials with this weapon all resulted in failures, suggesting the Pulsed
Energy Mine was still in the developmental stage and unready for fleet
service. Had tests ultimately proved
successful, a few of these Ochlavita variants may have been produced, but
priority would likely have been placed on the larger Tratharti-Z (see above). |
DRAZI
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Like the Preyhawk, the Preybird
was a rare Drazi variant armed with Dilgar weaponry. In this case, a Warbird variant carried an armament
dominated by four medium lasers. A
pair of scatter pulsars and a point pulsar rounded out the weapon suite. |
EARTH ALLIANCE
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The Earth Alliance completed a
very small number (perhaps no more than 2 or 3) of these command versions of
the Warlock Destroyer. Nicknamed the
"Grimlock" by their crews, the Warlock-Gamma was among the most
powerful EA ships ever produced. |
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A rare version of the Nova
Dreadnought armed with Railguns rather than Laser/Pulse Arrays. It proved less than successful, and only a
few were ever built. |
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"Militaries of the League
2" mentions the Earth Alliance experimented with the installation of a
Hyach Spinal Laser on at least one testbed.
The Hecate is a natural choice for the EA to test experimental
weaponry (as in the case of the Hecate-Beta). |
GROME
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"Militaries of the League
2" mentions the Grome planned to include a spinal version of the railgun
in their future dreadnought class. The
Gromahk's spinal rail gun is unique, as it is a piercing, standard damage
weapon. Fire control remains poor, but
the potential to score a lethal hit on a target's primary with a single shot
makes it a fearsome weapon. |
MINBARI
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Inspired by the Season 5
Episode, Meditations on the Abyss, the uncommon carrier version of the
vaunted White Star surrendered its tractor beam in exchange for an expanded
hanger supporting a flight Nials.
These specialized White Stars served in both frontline combat and as
Ranger training ships. |
NARN
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This rare version of the Narn
Rothan Destroyer produced with some of the first examples of the Imperial
Laser. Twin arrays replaced the Light
Plasma Cannons in the stern, but the larger weapon mounts required the removal
of all the existing armor. This weapons arrangement would heavily influence
the G’Kon Cruisers (see Showdowns
10) produced a few years later.
The Ronval fell out of favor with the introduction of the G’Kon and
the design was not continued. The few
existing hulls remained in Narn service, fighting alongside the Rongoths
decades later. |
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An uncommon version of the
Thentus intended for squadron service.
Fitted with a combination of medium pulse cannons and a pair of ion
torpedoes, the Thentor could give good service as part of a squadron, but was
a poor performer when operating alone. |
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The T’Kash entered service at
the same time as the larger and more versatile Ka’Toc, in an effort to get a
large number of Mag Guns into Narn service.
Twin arrays replaced the SPBs on this variant of the T’Rakk, improving
the ship’s survivability as it closed to firing range. Unfortunately, the T’Kash proved to be
something of a suicide ship. The
threat of the Mag Gun made it a
priority target for early long-range fire by the Centauri, and the T’Kash was
simply too small to sustain heavy damage.
When the T’Kash did reach firing range, it rarely survived long enough
for a second firing run. |
RAIDERS
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These two recovered derelicts
from the Narn-Centauri War were converted by Jonas McMundy and added to his
renown raider group, the Junkyard Dogs.
Replacing destroyed heavy plasma arrays with light particle cannons made
these ships much less dangerous at close range, but gave them improved
capability from the relative safety of medium range. The addition of fighter rails actually
makes these ships far more valuable to the ‘Dogs as carriers than as raiders. |
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The Junkyard Dogs converted
this single derelict Mograth hull to a powerful raider. Unable to maintain the high-tech plasma
stream or matter cannons, McMundy outfitted the ship with an array of
particle weaponry. The ship was
slightly underpowered, requiring some of the defensive guns to be deactivated
if all the offensive weapons were armed. |
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The Junkyard Dogs recovered the
wrecked hull of a Maximus Frigate abandoned during the Narn-Centauri
War. Unable to maintain the guardian
array, and with little need for a purely defensive ship, the raider group converted
the ship into an aggressive gunboat armed with multiple medium pulse
cannons. |
Last updated 27 November 09
