Zeke's Stuff

LoE Stuff

Ship Classes of the Colonial Navy

National Hull Prefix: UCS (Unified Colonies Ship)

-Carriers
--Midway (SCV) ---Named for the Battle of Midway, fought in 363 CE against an enclave of thralls of the Old Ones found almost precisely between Old Earth and the Fleet's destination of Epsilon Eridani. The class bears the names of the Fleet's greatest battles, including Ticonderoga and Vinland.
--Valley Forge (CV)
---Named for the two previous Valley Forges, the frigate that evacuated the Adams family to the supergalleon Independence during the Exodus and a fleet carrier lost during the First Cacaphony War of 776-783 CE. The class is named after famous ships of the Fleet. (OOCly, they're actually named after Essex-class carriers of WW2)
--Determination (CVL)

-Battleships
--President Adams (SBB)
---Named for the dynasty of the Founding Father himself, the Adams is the proud flagship of the UCN. The class also officially bears the names of Columbia's presidents.
--Marshal Nikolas (BB)
---Named for the Marshals who led Columbia through the chaos of the Exodus, the Cacaphony Wars, and all its' troubles since, including Marshal Sandoval Nikolas, founder of the Colonial Marines, Marshal Avram Linstein, hero of the Civil War of 1561-65 CE and Marshal Joan J. Pershing, first female Marshal and commander of the Columbian Expeditionary Force during the Siege of Van Ecks' Moon in 2118 CE.

-Escorts
--Trenton (CA)
---A Space Battleship Yamatoified Baltimore-class cruiser. Named for various things. Primarily gun-armed.
--Smythe (DD)
---A Space Fletcher. I never said I was going to be particularly -creative- with my ship designs after the Battlestar Fiasco.
--Torrent (DD)
---Some sort of Ohio-class space boomer-sub.
--Growler (PT)
---Some sort of Los Angeles-class space hunter-sub.

Notes:

"Columbian Exodus" calendar
BCE = Before Columbian Exodus (eg "Ancient Rome was sacked by the Vandals in 1345 BCE", though there's no way the Columbians would still have such data)
CE = Columbian Exodus (eg "401st Year of the Columbian Exodus")
Year 0 is approximated to be 1800 AD

---

Glossary:

Cacaphony, the: A race of mutated, daemonic humans encountered at Epsilon Eridani upon the fleet's arrival in 775 CE. Suspected to be servants of the same lords as those worshipped by the thralls discovered at the ore-rich world of Midway in 363 CE. Fought two wars against Columbia for control of the system, from 776 to 783 CE and from 801 to 817 CE. Finally broken and subjugated at the climatic Fifth Battle of Ticonderoga on 25 December 817, named for the rocky moon orbiting the gas giant of Epsilon Eridani E around and on which it was fought.

Linstein, Avram: Tall, awkward, introverted, but politically and militarily gifted, this Jewish Neocrat would rise to the position of Marshal during the Civil War, fought between the outworld Concordance of Secessionist Columbians and the capitol-world Unified Colonies of Columbia. Elected to the position of President during the war, his unwavering abolitionist stance would lead to the emancipation of the Silent once the outworlds were brought back into line and the signing of laws to protect them.

Silent, the: Enslaved Cacaphony, rendered docile by generations of selective breeding by their masters. Freed after the Civil War, the Silent now voluntarily provide skilled and unskilled labour throughout the Colonies, requiring little sustenance and less sleep to work long hours in the factories and fields. They primarily keep to themselves, and Colonial law forbids physical contact with them except in emergencies. This has proven thus far to prevent overt violence against the Silent, but has also kept them isolated from Colonial society. Whether the latter was intentional or not has yet to be revealed.

Mage Stuff

Mage Charsheet

Roman Stuff

Timeline

Ab Urbe Condita (Before Common Era / Common Era)

1 (753) - The city of Rome is founded near the western coast of the Italian Peninsula. The reign of the Seven Kings begins.

244 (509) - The last of the Seven Kings is overthrown. Res Publica Romana, the Roman Republic, is founded.

413-415 (338-336) - The First Samnite War takes place. Armies of Rome and Samnium clash in southern Italy. Rome begins to dominate the Italian Peninsula as repeated successes in the field bring more and more territory under its' control.

416-418 (335-333) - The Latin War takes place. The Latin people of Italy are defeated and brought under Roman rule and Roman law.

427-449 (326-305) - The Second Samnite War takes place. After a decade of defeat and a decade of victory, Rome wins again, taking more Italian territory for itself.

455-463 (299-291) - The Third Samnite War takes place. A coalition of Samnites, Etruscans, Gauls, and other local powers moves in a final attempt to neutralize Rome's growing power. Despite being outnumbered, Roman legiones prevail, leading to eventual Roman victory. By this point, all of Italy south of the Po River save the Greek city-states in the far south is under Roman control.

471-481 (283-273) - The Pyrrhic War takes place. Rome is drawn from a minor conflict with the Greek city-state of Tarentum into a major war with Epirus, a Greek kingdom ruled by Pyrrhus, and an increasing number of smaller factions. The war would prove to be a bloody back-and-forth affair in which casualties were far too high relative to each side's gains and losses. This war would also esablish the Roman legions as capable of taking on hitherto superior Greek armies at their level.

"If we are victorious in one more battle with the Romans, we shall be utterly ruined."­ - Pyrrhus, king of Epirus

489-512 (265-242) - Rome fights the

Legio

• Legio ca. 2553 AUC/1800 AD (1 Primus Pilus, 99 Centuriones, 100 Optiones, 1000 Decuriones, 9400 Legionarii)
  
  • I (Primus) Senior Cohort (1 Primus Pilus, 9 Centuriones, 10 Optiones, 100 Decuriones, 900 Legionarii
    
    • I-X Centuria (1 Centurion [Primus Pilus in I Centuria], 1 Optio, 10 Decuriones, 90 Legionarii)
      
      • I-X Decuria (1 Decurion, 9 Legionarii)
        

The first cohort of every legion is, on parchment, made up of elite, veteran soldiers battle-tested during one of the many conflicts in which the Roman Army must deploy its' forces. It is double strength, comprising ten centuries to the usual five, in order to allow one veteran century to accompany each regular infantry cohort while retaining a reserve of two centuria to provide superior infantry support to the Testudo cohort or to strengthen another cohort in danger of being overwhelmed, as at the Battle of Alexandria during the Third Arabic Invasion of the seventeenth century AUC. Midway through the battle, a charge of Mesopotamian cavalry overran three of four first-line cohorts of the left-flank XV Legio and another of the second, allowing a two thousand-strong force of Arabic infantry to charge into the weakened legion's lines. Only the quick response of the Fifteenth's Primus cohort in concentrating and counter-charging the Arabic troops prevented a total breakthrough, shocking the enemy with the audacity of a headlong charge into superior numbers of enemy soldiery and buying enough time for the Fifteenth's intact cohorts to regroup and drive the enemy from their midst.

Additionally, while this spirited left-flank action was being fought by the Fifteenth, the Roman commander Euclidius sent the elite II 'Victore' Legio against the Arabs' center, breaking the units they'd weakened to exploit their penetration into Roman lines and splitting the Arabic army in twain, allowing its' two smaller halves to be individually reduced by dusk. The Fifteenth would be rewarded with the cognomen Ferrus ('Iron') for their steadfast defense and, more specifically, for the wall of shields with which their Primus cohort had shattered Mesopotamian soldiery.

A common use of these elite soldiers before the introduction of armor and repeating weapons to the battlefield was to deploy the legion in layered columnar order, with a staggered double line of five Middle cohorts leading, followed by a double line of four Junior cohorts, flanked on either wing by a force of five cavalry centuries, with the Senior cohort kept in reserve at the rear of the formation to serve as a reaction force. This tactic of keeping the Primus cohort as a 'fire brigade' has served legio commanders since the Maximian Reforms instituted by Maximius Eusemis Valis, the general who salvaged the disastrous Indian campaign of the thirteenth century AUC and instituted sweeping reforms designed to professionalize the Auxilia who had broken in the face of enemy war elephants and allowed the still-forming legionaries behind them to be broken before they could organize a proper defense.

• • II-V (Secundus through Quintus) Middle Cohortes (50 Centuriones, 50 Optiones, 500 Decuriones, 4500 Legionarii
    
    • I-V Centuria (1 Centurion, 1 Optio, 10 Decuriones, 90 Legionarii)
      
      • I-V Decuria (1 Decurion, 9 Legionarii)
        

• • VI-IX (Sextus through [9]) Junior Cohortes (40 Centuriones, 40 Optiones, 400 Decuriones, 4000 Legionarii
    
    • I-V Centuria (1 Centurion, 1 Optio, 10 Decuriones, 90 Legionarii)
      
      • I-V Decuria (1 Decurion, 9 Legionarii)
        

• • X Testudo (Tank - from Latin 'Tortoise') Cohort (130 tanks, 5 Custodian Centuriones, 25 Custodian Decurones, 755 Custodes)
    
    • I-V Centuria (26 tanks, 1 Custodian Centurion, 5 Custodian Decurion, 151 Custodes)
      
      • I-V Decuria (5 tanks, 1 Custodian Decurion, 29 Custodes)