Intelligence Summary #14: Alderaan's Vengeance, Mercenary Cruiser Profile

Stardate: Sixday, 098-130 ABY/Tarsan Intelligence Service (TIS)

Subsector: Shannekam

Profile of the Mercenary Cruiser Alderaan's Vengeance

The starship, Alderaan's Vengeance, has been a fixture in the Tarsus System for several years now.  During this time, the "Aldi Vee" provided escort to merchant vessels and security to planetary facilities, on a contractual basis. 

Two days ago, the Aldi Vee departed for Ku Crassus and according to Captain Robert Ulgo, accepted "...a long term contract outside the Tarsan system."

At the moment, it is doubtful that Captain Ulgo will do business with any Imperial-based employer.  Ulgo and a large portion of the crew are descendants of Alderaan's expatriate community, people who happened to be away when their world was destroyed by Palpatine's first Death Star.  As a whole then, the crew of the Aldi Vee bear a deeply-rooted hatred towards the Galactic Empire and its subsequent variations.

Another point to consider is that despite the ship's departure, family members of the crew have remained on Tarsus. 

Despite these apparent assurances, the current political-military situation remains uncertain and there are dozens similarly outfitted vessels operating within this subsector, which our ships may encounter as either friendly--or hostile.

Ship Capability:

While classified as a "mercenary cruiser," in reality, Alderaan's Vengeance is a modified CR90 Corvette.  The specific modifications include:

--Moving the two laser batteries to midships

--Removing one blaster battery and moving the remaining blaster forward

--Replacing the point defense (PD) battery with an Area Defense Anti-Fighter (ADAF) system

--Adding a hangar bay

--As a consequence to adding the hangar, the vessel's thrust is reduced to 5

(GM's NOTE:  Ship statistics are based on Star Wars Full Thrust Rules). 

The ship's hangar currently holds 4 X-Wing fighters and 2 assault shuttles. 

For Full Thrust, use a 4-ship counter/stand to represent the X-Wing fighter group.  More detailed specifications can be found in the Star Wars RPG supplement Starships of the Galaxy. 

Note of caution:  The actual book, by Wizards of the Coast, is out of print, but according to Google, is available for as a free PDF download.  I own the hardcopy, so I can't vouch for the validity and safety of the download sites listed in the Google hyperlink above.

Fighter-to-fighter combat can also be conducted, if you can find a copy of Star Wars--Star Warriors.

 The shuttles are capable of transporting 2 x 8-man squads/2 x recon speeders/one of each.  Various types of shuttles are available, the most generic consisting of one support weapon.

The Aldi Vee has a complement of 184, consisting of the following positions: 

The ship's captain

3 x Doctors

37 x Emergency Crew

3 x Engineers

12 x Medics

9 x Officers

3 x Intelligence Officers

18 x Pilots

24 x Ship Gunners

100 x Technicians

1 x Mercenary Captain

8 x Mercenary Scouts

42 x Mercenaries

(GM's NOTE:  The NPC stats for these individuals can be found in the Star Wars RPG supplement, Threats of the Galaxy).

The ship's troops, the "Alderaan Avengers," are divided into the following:

5 x 8-man squads

4 x 2-man scout teams (on foot or operating the recon speeders)

1x 3-man command team

The ship's troops are known to wear a variety of armor; short of power, or battle armor, while armed with standard blaster weapons. 

The scouts, on the other hand, prefer to wear light armor, for swift movement and concealability. 

The ship's "Dust Devil" recon speeders can be outfitted with enhanced sensors, or blaster cannons. 

While highly trained and motivated, the total strength of the Alderaan's Avengers, equates to a reinforced platoon.  Of the 5 squads on board, a maximum of 4 will be deployed off-ship during any given operation.  One squad provides shipboard security at all times.  The entire force is capable of the following missions:  starship escort, shipboard assaults, raids, personal or facility security and training cadre. 

GM's Notes on Possible Squad Capabilities and Stats:

Our gaming group has utilized, or experimented, with the following rules for sci-fi wargaming:

Fubar, Stargrunt II  and Future War Commander.

Squad Data using Fubar:

Mercenary Infantry
Veteran
Activation: 3+
Expertise: 4+
Suppress:  3
Armor:  Medium-5+, or Heavy-4+
Possible weapons:
Blaster Rifle--2 Firepower Points (FPs)
Blaster Pistols--1 FP
Grenades--3 FP
Heavy Blaster--3 FP

Mercenary Scout Team
Veteran
Activate: 3+
Expertise:  4+
Suppress:  3
Armor:  Light-6+, or Medium-5+
Possible weapons:
Same as mercenary infantry, but substitute a sniper weapon for the heavy blaster.
Special abilities:  "Chameleon Power"

Squad Data using Stargrunt II:

Squad Type:  Infantry
Unit Quality & Leadership:  Veteran (orange counters)
Full Strength:  8
Armor:  Full Suit (light)--D8/Scouts, partial suit (light)--D6
Sensors:  Standard--D6/Scouts use Enhanced--D8
Small Arms Types:
Blaster Rifles*:  Firepower--2, Impact--D10
Possible Support Weapons:
Heavy Blaster (infantry):  Support Firepower--D6, Impact--D12
Sniping Blaster (scout):  Firepower--D12, Impact--D8

If the entire platoon is involved in a large-scale operation, then the following stats from Future War Commander may be used:

HQ (CV8)
Move: 40F
Attack: 2/30
Assault: --
Hits:  6L
Save:  6
Cost:  130

Recce Team
Move:  10F
Attack:  1/30
Assault:  --
Hits:  3L
Save:  6
Cost:  40

Recce (Dust Devil landspeeder)
Move:  30 G
Attack: 2/30
Assault:  2
Hits:  3L
Save:  5
Cost:  50

Infantry
Move:  10F
Attack: 3/30
Assault:  3
Hits:  4L
Save:  6
Cost:  70

Other sci-fi rules are available for conducting battles involving the Alderaan Avengers, such as:

Tomorrow's War, Gruntz, 5150 and Blasters and Bulkheads.