Starships and Aliens galore!

The Xindi-Insectoids are human-sized sentient bugs that have a lifespan of a dozen years. I’m no scientist, but wouldn’t a bug with an exoskeleton that big effectively be unable to move due to the weight of that same exoskeleton? Maybe because it’s an alien bug person it’s got an ultralight exoskeleton. Oh well, check out their Xindi-Insectoid Warship that they use to attack the poor humans of the 22nd century in their woefully inadequate United Earth NC-class.

Just so the giant space bugs don’t have all the fun, by the 24th century we have the Zalkonians using their Zalkonian Warship to asphyxiate people with their choking beam. That’s right, it’s a beam that can choke you from thousands of kilometers away inside your own space ship. I guess that makes sense, I mean, why incinerate someone on their fancy ship with your beams of amplified light when you can just choke them to death and then walk on board their ship and take all their stuff?

Lastly we have the Cardassians (think people with scaly skin and the pallor of a wax sculpture) and their semi-sentient (or is that conscious) Cardassian ATR-4107 missile.

Human species and the Xindi

I was watching a recent Ted Talk where the speaker pointed out how at one point in the history of our planet, there were nine different human species in existence. Mind-boggling. The subject reminded me of the Xindi people of Star Trek, a group of five related species with a misdirected desire to destroy Earth and humanity for humanity’s supposed future destruction of their as-yet undiscovered new homeworld.

Yeah, so throwing aside the multiple issues of punishing people for what they will or might do but have not yet done, the concept of multiple human species on one Earth is intriguing. Some reports indicate there were a hobbit-like human species living in present-day Indonesia as late as the 19th century! If true, then it’s a testament to the Xindi that they managed not to wipe each other out, because look at our own sibling species: Neanderthals (extinct), Homo Erectus (extinct), Homo Floresiensis (extinct), and so on.

Without further ado, here is the Xindi-Reptilian Warship for the CODA Star Trek rpg.

Romulans; stealth, cloak, and dagger

The Romulans seem to have an undeserved reputation in Star Trek for being conniving, backstabbing, leap out at you from the dark, kind of people. But what is there that’s really so objectionable? They use cloaking devices to hide their ships from detection, but many countries in the world today employ stealth aircraft to avoid radar detection. They use double-agents to conduct espionage and sabotage of opposing powers, but numerous countries in the world do the same thing now. Some might say they torture their captured opponents to reveal sensitive information. Yeah, well, we all do that too.

So without further ado, I present the imminently understandable Romulans and their very first starship, the Romulan Bird-of-Prey!

Axis and Allies and the triumph of London

I love Axis and Allies. I’ve played it with my wife, with my friends, with Game Table online, and I just can’t get enough of it (though the AI player annoys me with its focus on air forces). I’ve played the Allies and smashed the Axis, and played the Axis and triumphed over the Allies. Maybe it’s because I’m a history nerd, or the son of military parents, but I’m endlessly fascinated by that monumental struggle that ended almost 7 decades ago.

But I digress. Here’s my latest CODA Star Trek rpg ship, the Starfleet London-class, now on my starships page.

Now I need to go watch some uber World War II action on Netflix!

RPG Baby

LOL, future bard!