Marauder

Fan-made image by VileRancour.

Ur-Quan Topics Species Ur-Quan Kzer-Za • Kohr-Ah History Sentient Milieu Slave Revolt Slave War The Words Doctrinal Conflict Second Doctrinal War Personalities Kzer-Za • Kohr-Ah Philosophies Path of Now and Forever Ur-Quan Hierarchy • Battle Thrall • Fallow Slave • Oath of Fealty Eternal Doctrine Death March Doctrinal Conflict Ships Dreadnought • Marauder • Sa-Matra Science Excruciator • Slave Shield • Talking Pet

The Kohr-Ah Marauder is a very powerful vessel rivaling the Ur-Quan Dreadnought. It is armed with spinning sawblades and a destructive F.R.I.E.D. system. The ship has been described as being ominously black, as dark as space, with an alien script carved upon the hull producing a "crusty" appearance.

Propulsion

Comparable in size, speed, acceleration and turning to an Ur-Quan Dreadnought, what the Marauder lacks in mobility it more than makes up for with its devastating weapons systems.

Armament

Primary

In combat, the Marauder launches spinning metal-blade disks with a near-limitless range and a short-range homing capability. When launched, they will travel in a given direction as long as the weapon button is held down, and when it is released, they will stop and hold their position. As an enemy ship approaches, the disks will slowly close in on it. Discs inflict four damage on enemy ships.

Secondary

The "Fiery Ring of Inevitable and Eternal Destruction," or F.R.I.E.D., is a ring of super-heated, ionized gases that expands from ports opening along the Marauder's perimeter, annihilating anything in its path. F.R.I.E.D. clouds inflict three damage each on enemy ships. If a F.R.I.E.D. shot and an enemy projectile collide, the F.R.I.E.D. will always win. This property makes them very useful for defense. Using the F.R.I.E.D. consumes half of the maximum battery.

Tactical Overview

The Kohr-Ah Marauder is one of the most powerful ships in our region of space. Its weapon systems make it an effective opponent at any range, and the primary weapon is particularly useful in "setting traps"; surrounding an enemy ship with blades on all sides and letting them close in.

Its firing rate is slower than the Dreadnought, and its weapons do less damage, but the primary's range and homing abilities more than make up for it.

The Marauder has relatively few weaknesses, but its poor mobility makes it vulnerable to long-range weapons, especially homing weapons. Its own weapons are also easy to negate with shields, making Utwig (and Yehat to a lesser extent) particularly effective.

Minutiae

• Blade disks following a forward trajectory (weapon button held down) are slightly affected by gravity. Once the weapon button is released, a blade will maintain its position even in close proximity to the planet, and will seek the enemy ship independent of gravitational effects.

• The Kohr-Ah AI is notably one of the least effective in Star Control 2, making AI Kohr-Ah relatively easy to defeat, particularly with Spathi Eluders.

3DO Kohr-Ah Marauder Basic stats Crew: 42 Value: 30 pts Battery: 42 Batt. Regeneration: 0.2 units/frame Armament Primary: Spinning blade-disk Secondary: F.R.I.E.D. Refire delay: 6 frames Refire delay: 9 frames Energy use: 6 units Energy use: 21 units Propulsion Max speed: 30 world units/frame Turn rate: 0.2 facings/frame Acceleration: 1.2 units/frame Mass: 10