With all the New Era stuff being hashed about, I thought I'd change
the pace a bit with a classic era problem I've discovered. I haven't
seen it in the archives, so if this is old news please direct me to
where it was discussed. I have trouble believing I'm the first person
to notice this, but I haven't seen it anywhere else.
The Problem? The X-boat route maps published by Digest Group seem to
pay no attention to the Way Stations placed in _Atlas of the Imperium_.
A quick example:Corridor sector(pre-rebellion) has Way Stations(WS's)
at 0608 and 2837, yet neither has X-boat routes connecting to them.
The same problem exists in every sector with published routes, with the
obvious exception of the "old" sectors- the Marches, Solomani Rim, and
Old Expanses.
While checking this, I came upon another WS problem--the lack of them.
The Old Expanses has 9, the Spinward Marches has 6 (for 10 Imperial
subsectors). In contrast, most sectors have 3 or 4, even though they
represent the oldest, most settled regions of the Imperium. Considering
the WS's function as major maitainence and routing facilities for the X-boat
network, these popuplous sectors seem shortchanged. Naturally this is a
result of the way they were generated, but obviously the generation program
did not generate WS's with a frequency consistent with previously published
material.
My solution: Following the "least intrusive" dictum for making changes,
I suggest the best solution is to reposition the WS's onto the mapped
network. Existing WS's off-route would be downgraded to normal scout bases.
The number of WS's in a sector would be determined, generally 1 per
2 Imperial-controlled subsectors. These would be placed either by upgrading
existing on-route scout bases or by placing new bases on the route,
preferably at the junction of 3 or more routes.
Some sectors still have a higher than average ratio of WS's to Imperial
subsectors, but these can be explained by the requirements of that sector.
For example, the Marches need home ports for the IISS's long-ranged criuser-
sized vessels which ply the regions to spinward, surveying, collecting
intelligence, and maintaining contact with the scattered client states in
the area. On the other hand, Core, as the administrative and communications
hub of the Imperium, needs more to handle the increased traffic load.
Here is a list of the WS's listed in "AotI", followed by a new list for
several sectors I have X-boat maps to, or could extrapolate from Rebellion
Era maps.
IMPERIAL WAY STATIONS LISTED IN ATLAS OF THE IMPERIUM
Spinward Marches------(6):0333,0930,1705,2228,3032,3202
Deneb-----------------(5):0336,0913,1023,1615,2913
Corridor--------------(2):0608,2837
Vland-----------------(4):0237,0708,1725,2932
Lishun----------------(3):0210,0331,1627
Antares---------------(4):0336,1119,1810,2638
Empty Quarter---------(0):
Trojan Reach----------(1):2102
Reft------------------(0):
Gushemege-------------(5):0740,0924,1412,1638,2813
Dagudashag------------(4):0613,1640,1721,2807
Core-----------------(10):0322,0402,1016,1033,2016,2118,2139,2224,2403,3034
Fornast---------------(4):0340,1215,2334,2524
Ley-------------------(3):0724,1210,1435
Verge-----------------(1):2612
Ilelish---------------(4):0520,0525,1229,3027
Zarugashar------------(4):0621,1902,3136,3201
Massilia--------------(4):1326,1424,1837,2905
Delphi----------------(3):0411,0533,1438
Glimmerdrift Reaches--(1):0635
Daibei----------------(3):1126,1411,1935
Diaspora--------------(4):0207,0918,2130,2605
Old Expanses----------(7):0327,0437,0516,0922,1229,2120,2228
Solomani Rim----------(5):0214,1207,2010,2812,2821
PROPOSED NEW WAY STATION LOCATIONS
The Marches, Solomani Rim, Old Expanses, and Reaver's Deep, due to the length
of time they have been published, recieve no changes.
The only sectors on this list are ones I either had pre-Rebellion maps for,
or could reconstruct from rebellion maps.
Vland----(7):0234,0708,1717,2225,2232,2808,2926
Lishun---(9):0331,1006,1037,1220,1627,1914,1932,2309,2624
Core----(11):0402,0416,0622,1134,1418,1536,2118,2224,2401,2608,3034
Daibei---(6):0627,010,0922,1935,2419,2706
Magyar---(2):2810,3128
More to follow if I can get ahold of the Imperial-Era maps.
Of course, by the time of the New Era, this is pretty much moot, but any-
one running a classic- or rebellion-era game might find it useful.
John H Bogan
[email removed]