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). |
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The Dilgar
produced this improved variant of the Roskatur to accommodate
the larger Thorun Dartfighters. Stingfighter and
LCV facilities were deleted to make room for the Thorun
bays, and an improved weapons fit was provided. |
DRAZI
|
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
|
"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
