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Description

Ported to OBJ from the fan created model made for the Starfleet Command (SFC) series of video games by Activision. Based on the original design by Stephen V. Cole and the Amarillo Design Bureau (ADB) for the Star Fleet Battles (SFB) tabletop sci-fi war game. Original model by Adam Turner. Preview picture posed in XNALara XPS. NO MODEL DOWNLOAD.

The Lyran Star Empire and the felinoid species known as the Lyrans were originally created for SFB in order to add more variety to the game. They are genetically related to the Kzinti but don't ever mention that aloud in the presence of either species, as both share an intense hatred of each other and such comments have been known to provoke violence -- and in one particular case an all-out war. On the other hand, the Lyrans are friendly with the Klingons and have worked with them in the past on many occasions, as well as sharing technology with them. Lyrans as a rule favor a multi-hull approach in their starship designs (lots of catamaran and trimaran designs), mixing Kzinti-style angular looks with such obvious Klingon nods as fairly similar warp engines and the style of support pylons used for them. Lyran ships also tend to be bristling with weapons (including their favorite, the expanding sphere generator or ESG) although they also tend to be somewhat underpowered for everything they carry. The Lyrans were carried over when SFB was adapted to serve as the basis for SFC and are featured in the first two games (and expansions for the second) in the series. That's why they sometimes spill over into some of the more mainstream Trek multiverse threads. Gotta love Trek gaming fans. XD

The Lyrans are generally given credit in most SFB-based Trek multiverse threads for being the ones to first conceive the concept of the fast patrol ship (PF naval abbreviation). Some have said that this may have resulted from their own inability to design a decent space fighter small enough to qualify as one yet big enough for all of the weaponry they wanted to put on it, given the Lyran tendency to overgun all of their designs. Whatever the case might have truly been, the Lyran Bobcat (Federation Starfleet code name) made its debut late in the TOS/TAS era and what a debut it was by all accounts. They also invented the fast patrol ship tender or PF tender at the same time to act as a sort of "PF carrier," with ability to carry up to a full squadron of six of these via external mechanical links, as well as having all of the necessary onboard equipment and supplies to properly service and maintain them in the field. Both proved so effective that all of the other major spacefaring powers "borrowed" the concept and began fielding their own in response. Thus was a whole new class of starships added to everyone's fleets within a fairly short window of time, and all thanks to the Lyran Bobcat, first of the fast patrol ship types.

That said, Bobcat was not without its faults. As large as it was, it was still to small to mount everything the Lyrans wanted to put on its hull. That was why multiple variant Bobcat types emerged, each armed differently in a determined but ultimately futile effort by the Lyrans to find that mystical and unobtainable weapons mix that would work for all occasions. This in turn caused a lot of confusion among the various Lyran fleets, as they more often than not would up with multiple Bobcat squadrons of mixed weapons configurations instead of a single and far less confusing Bobcat standard weapons mix. Another problem was that the Lyrans were forced to develop an all-new hull design for Bobcat, and while it for the most part did its job, they were never entirely satisfied with it and always kept tweaking it in various ways, also rushing these into the field like it did the various weapons mixes and ultimately aiding in confusing the hell out of their fleet and squadron commanders. Somehow they found ways to make it work in spite of all of this, and that's why the Lyran Bobcat eventually earned a place as one of those major game-changing starship designs for its time. Looking back, it probably did as much for the Lyrans and everybody else as did the linear warp revolution for the Federation, or the development of the singularity engine and the initial Hawk Generation starships to field it for the Romulans.

This is semi-canon, as it comes from the SFB gaming continuity.

TRIVIA - Lyrans bear a strong likeness in the face to the Terran lynx and their ears aren't trifurcated like those of the Kzinti. Lyrans typically have either normal tufted cat ears (like a bobcat or lynx) or bifurcated tufted ones, depending on the breed. They also tend to have a greater variety of fur color than do the Kzinti, with striped fur not unknown and sometimes favored within certain tiers of Lyran society. Another telling difference is that Lyrans have fully furred tails, whereas a Kzinti tail is completely hairless (hence the old human nickname for the Kzinti of ratcats).

Description

Ported to OBJ from the fan created model made for the Starfleet Command (SFC) series of video games by Activision. Based on the original design by Stephen V. Cole and the Amarillo Design Bureau (ADB) for the Star Fleet Battles (SFB) tabletop sci-fi war game. Original model by Adam Turner. Preview picture posed in XNALara XPS. NO MODEL DOWNLOAD.

The Lyran Star Empire and the felinoid species known as the Lyrans were originally created for SFB in order to add more variety to the game. They are genetically related to the Kzinti but don't ever mention that aloud in the presence of either species, as both share an intense hatred of each other and such comments have been known to provoke violence -- and in one particular case an all-out war. On the other hand, the Lyrans are friendly with the Klingons and have worked with them in the past on many occasions, as well as sharing technology with them. Lyrans as a rule favor a multi-hull approach in their starship designs (lots of catamaran and trimaran designs), mixing Kzinti-style angular looks with such obvious Klingon nods as fairly similar warp engines and the style of support pylons used for them. Lyran ships also tend to be bristling with weapons (including their favorite, the expanding sphere generator or ESG) although they also tend to be somewhat underpowered for everything they carry. The Lyrans were carried over when SFB was adapted to serve as the basis for SFC and are featured in the first two games (and expansions for the second) in the series. That's why they sometimes spill over into some of the more mainstream Trek multiverse threads. Gotta love Trek gaming fans. XD

The Lyrans are generally given credit in most SFB-based Trek multiverse threads for being the ones to first conceive the concept of the fast patrol ship (PF naval abbreviation). Some have said that this may have resulted from their own inability to design a decent space fighter small enough to qualify as one yet big enough for all of the weaponry they wanted to put on it, given the Lyran tendency to overgun all of their designs. Whatever the case might have truly been, the Lyran Bobcat (Federation Starfleet code name) made its debut late in the TOS/TAS era and what a debut it was by all accounts. They also invented the fast patrol ship tender or PF tender at the same time to act as a sort of "PF carrier," with ability to carry up to a full squadron of six of these via external mechanical links, as well as having all of the necessary onboard equipment and supplies to properly service and maintain them in the field. Both proved so effective that all of the other major spacefaring powers "borrowed" the concept and began fielding their own in response. Thus was a whole new class of starships added to everyone's fleets within a fairly short window of time, and all thanks to the Lyran Bobcat, first of the fast patrol ship types.

That said, Bobcat was not without its faults. As large as it was, it was still to small to mount everything the Lyrans wanted to put on its hull. That was why multiple variant Bobcat types emerged, each armed differently in a determined but ultimately futile effort by the Lyrans to find that mystical and unobtainable weapons mix that would work for all occasions. This in turn caused a lot of confusion among the various Lyran fleets, as they more often than not would up with multiple Bobcat squadrons of mixed weapons configurations instead of a single and far less confusing Bobcat standard weapons mix. Another problem was that the Lyrans were forced to develop an all-new hull design for Bobcat, and while it for the most part did its job, they were never entirely satisfied with it and always kept tweaking it in various ways, also rushing these into the field like it did the various weapons mixes and ultimately aiding in confusing the hell out of their fleet and squadron commanders. Somehow they found ways to make it work in spite of all of this, and that's why the Lyran Bobcat eventually earned a place as one of those major game-changing starship designs for its time. Looking back, it probably did as much for the Lyrans and everybody else as did the linear warp revolution for the Federation, or the development of the singularity engine and the initial Hawk Generation starships to field it for the Romulans.

This is semi-canon, as it comes from the SFB gaming continuity.

TRIVIA - Lyrans bear a strong likeness in the face to the Terran lynx and their ears aren't trifurcated like those of the Kzinti. Lyrans typically have either normal tufted cat ears (like a bobcat or lynx) or bifurcated tufted ones, depending on the breed. They also tend to have a greater variety of fur color than do the Kzinti, with striped fur not unknown and sometimes favored within certain tiers of Lyran society. Another telling difference is that Lyrans have fully furred tails, whereas a Kzinti tail is completely hairless (hence the old human nickname for the Kzinti of ratcats).