Honorable Sword-Ships of the Valron Empire

[Asvarduil]

Pictured Below: Fear our blades! Left to right: a mighty Valron Estoc, a 20-mass defensive fighter that can drop Mjolnir shields in a couple of shots, and a formidable Valron Lirpa; while weaker it can literally fly circles around anything!


The Valron Empire will be a faction on the upcoming MicroMade 100-mass server that players can curry reputation with, by defeating their enemies in glorious combat - none other than the hated Coalition of Systems, and their feeble promises of strength through cooperation.

War does not make one great...victory makes one great!

As to the ships, the general tactics of the Valron Empire revolve around powerful single shots that deal damage that it's hard to recover from. Typically Valron ships use a potent Cannon+Beam combo that is devastating at close range. Valron ships often mount Overdrive systems to further increase their incredible maneuverability, and some mount Jammers when launching surprise attacks.

Additionally, Valron ships feature defensive features useful for landing planetside, debarking, and having starship-grade cover as their foothold!

If Valron ships have a weakness, it's that they have minimal shielding - a few well-placed shots can begin to tear into their hull and damage the vulnerable systems beneath.

If you see any Valron ships in your system, DO NOT ENGAGE - It will only provoke them and their twisted sense of honor. We at Esthar Fleet Systems encourage immediately contacting Coalition Security and retreating to the nearest fortified base, where our mighty defenses can put more holes in these degenerate's ships than in old Earth Swiss Cheese.

Analysis of their Subjugation Cruiser, the Valron Flamberge, is coming as soon as we receive data from our field sources...

 

[Dr. Whammy]

Soooo. You are gonna call it "MicroMade". Nice.

 

[Asvarduil]

Urgent Report from Esthar Fleet Systems!

At last, we've captured a visual of the dreaded Valron Flamberge - a ship was lucky enough to escape an encounter with one!

Pictured Below: Fore view of a Flamberge.


Pictured Below: Aft view of a Flamberge engaging a Mjolnir Raider.


Pictured below: A ventral view of a Flamberge


The Valron Flamberge is an extremely dangerous ship. These ships are called in when small ship-to-ship engagments aren't working for the Valron. It's rumored that any who can best a Valron Flamberge in combat will be treated to a peaceable banquet in their honor, as well as a pact of non-aggression - for, any who can destroy a Flamberge, are a great enough warrior to warrant the Empire's respect.

The armaments of a Flamberge are good, but not perfect. Flamberges mount two weapons - a Cannon/Cannon/Ion "shield eater", and a Cannon/Beam/Overdrive "deathstroke" cannon. Flamberges are well shielded, but due to the limitations of Valron shield technology, don't regenerate quickly. Valron ships are every bit as maneuverable as their smaller counterparts. Further, Valron Flamberges mount both a Jammer, as well as a Jump Drive, such that they can threaten a foe at a moment's notice.

It is possible to board a Flamberge. One must actually jump into the underbelly of the ship to do this. If you do that, you'll find that there's a bridge, and two quarters with medical supplies. To date, cargo space hasn't been seen on a Flamberge, as the Valron consider loot on a ship to be a mark of piracy. To compare the Valron to pirates is a grave insult indeed.

If you see a Valron Flamberge, you're most likely already dead. Indeed, if a Flamberge is ever bearing down on you, bladder release is both permissable, and encouraged.

Note from Builder: I'm proud of how this ship turned out. It's 90.2 mass, and it'd probably easily beat any previous design I've made. The Mjolnir pirates are supposed to be beatable; this ship is supposed to be a picket ship that makes attacking Valron space a terrible idea. Now, I have to come up with a competitively good 'big' ship for the Coalition of Systems.

 

[Dr. Whammy]

Um... Yeah. I'm putting you on my "list"...

 

[Asvarduil]

Um... Yeah. I'm putting you on my "list"...

Yeah, sooner or later all my "MicroMade" ships will be uploaded, so you can spawn them in and do what you like with them.

Funny thing, too - I actually think that the Flamberge might be the best non-scanner exploration ship I've built too. Between the Jammer and Jump Drive, as well as the potent weapon systems, this ship is quite competent. On a server where I've got a cron job set up to jail > 100 mass ships, it'd easily be a high-end competitor. The only problem with it, is due to the already-high mass, up-armoring it isn't an option.

 

[Reilly Reese]

Didn't the Mini-Made server die?

 

[DrTarDIS]

Just a minor note: Until the AI gets "fixed" the can/can/ion weapon won't be used by AI, as they stay at max weapon range. In this case the can/beam weapon will really be all that's used...

Other than that, not bad looking micro ships. I like the slabs. Maybe try a bit more slab-work on the under-side?

 

[Asvarduil]

Just a minor note: Until the AI gets "fixed" the can/can/ion weapon won't be used by AI, as they stay at max weapon range. In this case the can/beam weapon will really be all that's used...

Other than that, not bad looking micro ships. I like the slabs. Maybe try a bit more slab-work on the under-side?

Thanks. Yeah, I'll be sure to add the slabbed texturing to the undersides before I upload these ships.

As to Can/Can/Ion, I'll have to rethink that. I might change them to seeker missiles instead, as these are the heavy-hitters of the Valron fleet - Seekers have a comparable range to can/beam right? If they don't, I'll have a decision to make - drop sniper cannon, or pair up a second sniper cannon with a tertiary effect.

Didn't the Mini-Made server die?

It did. I'm starting a new, yet-smaller server with a 100-mass limit, as well as some custom rules inspired by LvD, as well as some theories I have on how to improve StarMade. At present I'm building content, in the form of AI faction ships and stations, as well as doing my research on how to implement the rules I want to implement, if I can.

 

[Gasboy]

That's a pretty cool idea, a hundred mass server.

 

[Asvarduil]

So, this started off as an Outpost station. It...got a bit big. This might well be a homebase.



This is the Valron Castrum, a mighty station. This is an in-construction shot, so as a result it has no facilities, no power, no shields, no defensive turrets.

The Valron do not have Coalition transporter technology, so you'll find all manner of staircases. The Valron augment their station hull with black armor that shields strategic shield emitters (they're actually just red lights, because StarMade doesn't have the concept of a shield emitter.)

Valron stations are based on castles, but in space some castle concepts don't apply, and other concepts do. Each 'tower' relative to the landing plane has an anti-tower that fulfills a secondary function. The main defensive turrets have a second turret on the bottom side; the habitation towers have anti-towers with secondary systems. The primary tower - which will contain the station's astronaut PvE objective - has the power core as it's anti-tower.

Will post more information when the station is a bit more finished.

 

[Asvarduil]

Work has continued on the Valron Castrum! There's more to see.



I've been working on the interior of the station, as well as fitting systems, as well as decreasing the mass of the station.

The first shot shows a landed ship. I've not yet added shipyards to the docking areas, unfortunately - that's my next thing to do.

The second shot shows the apartments and crafting areas from the exterior. Similar to the Coalition System Bases, there's a side devoted to crafting, and another side with civil accoutrements. Apartments neighbor the main work areas.

The third shot shows some of the interior. The station command area is in the center, and is behind faction-locked doors. As the Valron lack transporters, there's ramps to reach other floors of the station.

The last shot shows the airlock, and above it the entrance to the shipyard.

As part of my mass-cutting, I scaled back on the anti-towers; I may well wind up clipping the two side towers down as well.

 

[Asvarduil]

As part of my Station rework, I've got a new, older type of Valron Station - the Type A Post!



The Valron Post Type A is very similar to the Coalition Counterpart - both are relatively lightly defended, and contain essential facilities for the spacegoer, including a medbay and undeathinators, industrial facilities, and a small shipyard. The Valron turbolasers have less range, but might be more powerful than their Coalition counterparts. However, the Valron station is less-well-shielded.

 

[Asvarduil]

Attention Recruits of the Valron Empire!

Respect goes to those who triumph. Yet, we cannot afford all future warriors with the best of fighters. It's better to earn equipment from valorous action, than to be gifted a prop that doesn't help you improve.

So, the Valron Empire shows you the vessel a raw Fighter gets - a Valron Gladius!



This is a small, sub-30 mass ship with the basics - rapid-charge, rapid-fire beam cannons. It has a small jump drive to help you get around, and as all Valron vessels boast, superior maneuverability. While it has negligible shields, you'll find that the Advanced Armor covering the ship prevents you from taking the worst of damage.

Fight well, and earn a better vessel! Now, go forth to glory! Go forth, for the Valron Empire!