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Description

An original creation by fan modder Major Racal for the Starfleet Command (SFC) series of video games. Based the original WYN auxiliary cruiser design created by Stephen V. Cole and the Amarillo Design Bureau (ADB) for the Star Fleet Battles (SFB) tabletop sci-fi war game. Preview picture posed in XNALara XPS.

The WYN Star Cluster, so named for the first three letters of its three main stars, is located at the point where the Klingon, Lyran, and Kzinti (or SFC Mirak) borders meet in the SFB gaming universe. As such it is a focal point for all sorts of interesting activities, just as the Triangle region is in the FASA gaming universe for the Federation, Klingons, and Romulans. It is approximately 50 parsecs or so in size and is also home to several resource-rich planets ranging in classification from K to M, although they are surrounded by both a large asteroid field and a fine nebula-like cloud of intensely charged particles. That cloud is the great leveler and those asteroids the great humblers to anyone attempting to barge their way in, because the charged particle cloud scrambles all sensors, scanners, and external cameras, and the asteroids are there to make navigating when you're blind as a Tiberian bat extremely interesting. XD It's no wonder that the WYN Star Cluster has become home to a number of disaffected individual and groups from all three empires (the Kzinti in particular but there are many others). These outcasts, brigands, former rebels, and many others just wanting to be left alone (if you know what I mean) have banded together in their new home under the banner of the WYN Consortium. They don't have much of a star fleet to defend it, with roughly one-third of their ships being whatever they escap-- er, uhm, flew in there with, and the other two-thirds being either custom-built for them by a local branch of the Orion pirate cartels (expensive) or being converted and heavily customized freighters (far cheaper). The Orions took up residence there for all the obvious reasons (chuckle). Anyway and despite its hodge-podge nature the WYN star fleet has proven sufficient for defense, given the natural defenses of the WYN Star Cluster previously mentioned. All three major powers - Klingon, Lyran, and Kzinti (Mirak) - have sent battle fleets in there for various reasons, usually to either hunt down a specific individual or group or to "clean it out once and for all," and all have so far come away in defeat with most of its survivors wiser for the experience. The WYN defend their territory fiercely, aided greatly by its natural features, they have been there for quite a long time, and there is every reason to believe they and their descendants will remain there for some time to come.

BTW the chief export of the WYN aside from their natural resources is their starship optical technology. They make and sell among the best old-fashioned optical sighting, tracking, and navigating equipment in known space -- which is a necessity for them, given where they live. More than one of the known interstellar major and minor powers have traded for it, and have also sent representatives under false names into the WYN Star Cluster under, uhm, "special arrangements" (wink) to be trained in this antique yet highly refined technology. After all, there do come times in almost everyone's time in space who remains there for quite a while (such as onboard systems failures or dealing with critical damage), where sometimes you have to rely on a good old-fashioned sextant and starchart instead of computers and electronics.

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Dunkeld fell squarely between the smaller Cupar and the more heavily armed Arborath in terms of capabilities. Like Arborath it was a mod of a stock Kzinti large freighter (dual transport container based), although neither quite as sophisticated nor as heavily armed and armored. This in turn translated into greater speed and mobility, approaching that of the standard stock Kzinti large freighter from which it was converted. Dunkeld was the WYN equivalent of an "auxiliary heavy cruiser," even though there's no such thing insofar as most naval authorities go, and it got used a lot in that role by the WYN. Most of the time it was used as an escort for friendly visitors coming into or on their way out of the WYN Cluster, although it rarely ventured beyond its boundaries. Inside the WYN cluster Dunkeld was a very effective ship for its size and armamant given the unique conditions within. Outside just about anyone's combat starship classes of heavy frigate or larger could eat it for lunch, as well as more than a few standard destroyer classes under the right conditions -- given its slow speed, poor maneuverability, and lack of protection from those natural features of WYN space that made it so effective within the boundaries of the WYN Cluster.

The WYN auxiliary battlecruiser is semi-canon, as it comes from the SFB gaming universe. This particular take on it (Arborath) is fanon, but that hasn't stopped lots of fellow fans from using it in their own stuff. (grin-and-wink) Just be sure to credit Major Racal as the creator of this particular take on the WYN auxiliary cruiser when you do, okay? Thanks!

ASIDE - WYN auxiliary starship classes compare well with the various auxiliary cruisers, merchant cruisers, merchant raiders, etc. fielded by the major powers during both of our own own World Wars. Thinking of all WYN auxiliary classes that way might help you to get a better handle on them. As for Dunkeld in particular, it compares well with some of the heavier armed auxiliaries and converted merchant raiders/cruisers of World War II such as the American's USS Big Horn (AO-45) and the German merchant raider Komoran.

Description

An original creation by fan modder Major Racal for the Starfleet Command (SFC) series of video games. Based the original WYN auxiliary cruiser design created by Stephen V. Cole and the Amarillo Design Bureau (ADB) for the Star Fleet Battles (SFB) tabletop sci-fi war game. Preview picture posed in XNALara XPS.

The WYN Star Cluster, so named for the first three letters of its three main stars, is located at the point where the Klingon, Lyran, and Kzinti (or SFC Mirak) borders meet in the SFB gaming universe. As such it is a focal point for all sorts of interesting activities, just as the Triangle region is in the FASA gaming universe for the Federation, Klingons, and Romulans. It is approximately 50 parsecs or so in size and is also home to several resource-rich planets ranging in classification from K to M, although they are surrounded by both a large asteroid field and a fine nebula-like cloud of intensely charged particles. That cloud is the great leveler and those asteroids the great humblers to anyone attempting to barge their way in, because the charged particle cloud scrambles all sensors, scanners, and external cameras, and the asteroids are there to make navigating when you're blind as a Tiberian bat extremely interesting. XD It's no wonder that the WYN Star Cluster has become home to a number of disaffected individual and groups from all three empires (the Kzinti in particular but there are many others). These outcasts, brigands, former rebels, and many others just wanting to be left alone (if you know what I mean) have banded together in their new home under the banner of the WYN Consortium. They don't have much of a star fleet to defend it, with roughly one-third of their ships being whatever they escap-- er, uhm, flew in there with, and the other two-thirds being either custom-built for them by a local branch of the Orion pirate cartels (expensive) or being converted and heavily customized freighters (far cheaper). The Orions took up residence there for all the obvious reasons (chuckle). Anyway and despite its hodge-podge nature the WYN star fleet has proven sufficient for defense, given the natural defenses of the WYN Star Cluster previously mentioned. All three major powers - Klingon, Lyran, and Kzinti (Mirak) - have sent battle fleets in there for various reasons, usually to either hunt down a specific individual or group or to "clean it out once and for all," and all have so far come away in defeat with most of its survivors wiser for the experience. The WYN defend their territory fiercely, aided greatly by its natural features, they have been there for quite a long time, and there is every reason to believe they and their descendants will remain there for some time to come.

BTW the chief export of the WYN aside from their natural resources is their starship optical technology. They make and sell among the best old-fashioned optical sighting, tracking, and navigating equipment in known space -- which is a necessity for them, given where they live. More than one of the known interstellar major and minor powers have traded for it, and have also sent representatives under false names into the WYN Star Cluster under, uhm, "special arrangements" (wink) to be trained in this antique yet highly refined technology. After all, there do come times in almost everyone's time in space who remains there for quite a while (such as onboard systems failures or dealing with critical damage), where sometimes you have to rely on a good old-fashioned sextant and starchart instead of computers and electronics.

---------------------

Dunkeld fell squarely between the smaller Cupar and the more heavily armed Arborath in terms of capabilities. Like Arborath it was a mod of a stock Kzinti large freighter (dual transport container based), although neither quite as sophisticated nor as heavily armed and armored. This in turn translated into greater speed and mobility, approaching that of the standard stock Kzinti large freighter from which it was converted. Dunkeld was the WYN equivalent of an "auxiliary heavy cruiser," even though there's no such thing insofar as most naval authorities go, and it got used a lot in that role by the WYN. Most of the time it was used as an escort for friendly visitors coming into or on their way out of the WYN Cluster, although it rarely ventured beyond its boundaries. Inside the WYN cluster Dunkeld was a very effective ship for its size and armamant given the unique conditions within. Outside just about anyone's combat starship classes of heavy frigate or larger could eat it for lunch, as well as more than a few standard destroyer classes under the right conditions -- given its slow speed, poor maneuverability, and lack of protection from those natural features of WYN space that made it so effective within the boundaries of the WYN Cluster.

The WYN auxiliary battlecruiser is semi-canon, as it comes from the SFB gaming universe. This particular take on it (Arborath) is fanon, but that hasn't stopped lots of fellow fans from using it in their own stuff. (grin-and-wink) Just be sure to credit Major Racal as the creator of this particular take on the WYN auxiliary cruiser when you do, okay? Thanks!

ASIDE - WYN auxiliary starship classes compare well with the various auxiliary cruisers, merchant cruisers, merchant raiders, etc. fielded by the major powers during both of our own own World Wars. Thinking of all WYN auxiliary classes that way might help you to get a better handle on them. As for Dunkeld in particular, it compares well with some of the heavier armed auxiliaries and converted merchant raiders/cruisers of World War II such as the American's USS Big Horn (AO-45) and the German merchant raider Komoran.