Narn Regime G'eron Battleship 50mm

This model is scaled at 50mm to be suitable for miniatures gaming. 

When the Narn Regime implemented the “Emergency Naval Development”project, its intention was
to produce as many combat capable warships in as short a time as possible. Many feared that the
fickle Centauri might change their minds yet again and return to the home world. It was hoped that a
sizeable fleet, even one based on ships that were inferior to Centauri vessels, would form a large
enough deterrent to keep the Centauri away.
As time passed, it was realized that the Centauri had much larger problems. They could no longer
afford the time or effort for one former subject world. The Narn thus gained much needed breathing
room to reassess their position. It also gave the Narn needed time to allow its new scientists,
engineers and naval commanders and architects a chance to gain experience and expertise.
While Narn scientists unraveled the secrets of captured Centauri technology, Narn naval architects
began to design a new breed of dedicated warships. Warships that would be able to fight the
Centauri on equal or near equal terms. As they worked they began to realized the immense task that
was a modern military fleet. The myriad of missions which would need to be performed by the new
navy would require many new classes of warship. Quality was to be goal but quantity remained the
reality.
Realizing that the Centauri would likely be the largest threat, the Narn reviewed the assets of the
Centauri war fleet. Even in its decline the once “Lion of the Universe”retained a diverse and powerful
force. And at its lead was the large and powerful Octurian class battleship. To engage a Centauri
fleet would entail combat with this vessel. The Narns needed an equivalent and set forth to build it.
Initial design studies immediately bogged down due to the lack of design experience. A vessel that
large was proving to be difficult proposition. To speed progress the design teams began to look into
the idea of scaling up another design or existing vessel. The most promising option, was a scaling
up of another ongoing design, the G’Quan Class heavy cruiser. It was large and robustly designed
easing the difficulty of scaling up the design. But most importantly it’s design was making excellent
progress, making it the only real choice and work was begun.
They immediately began to run into problems. Scaling a cruiser up to a battleship was not as simple
as it was earlier hoped. The increased size hull meant more armor to cover it. The added armor
meant more internal bracing which also drove the weight up. More weight meant larger more
massive engines which meant a larger structure to house them which in turn drove the weight still
higher. Lacking the skills or experience, the design began to spiral out of control. Compromises
were needed and wholesale changes began to leak into the design.
The obvious fact now faced was that this new battleship was not going to be as large as the Octurian.
To save weight the three original G’Quan based main thrusters were reduced to 2 improved versions
whose combined almost equaled that of the G’quan. The reduced thrust had and added benefit in
that it allowed the engine to also be reduced in size. The fighter bay, originally planned to house 24
Gorith fighters was reduced to the G’Quon’s 12, though extra space was kept to house larger future
fighters.
Still, progress on the design reached the point were the first vessel was ordered to be commissioned.
But as work progressed, rumors began to filter out about a completely new and revolutionary design,
one that would be larger still, armed with the latest of weapons and be capable of not only facing but
even defeating an Octurian. The rumors remained unconfirmed and were beginning to fade when
suddenly a new weapon system called an energy mine appeared from a new special design facility.
The new energy mine was quickly added to the battleship design and the first battleship, the G’eron
was completed. Her work ups and tests proved the ship to be capable though uninspiring. Though
By Richard Bax, rbax@structint.com, 1999
of defeating a Centauri cruiser, the G’eron would likely not survive an encounter with an Octurian.
Construction of the second battleship, the T’Lair, was soon halted and within a month, work was
begun on a new design, the Bin’Tak dreadnought.
For the moment at least, the G’eron was still the most capable warship in the Narn fleet. She was
assigned to the Home world defense fleet where she served as flagship. Her only other activities
were the occasional saber rattles against other races, none of which culminated in combat.
When the first Bin’tak, G’Quan’s Fire, was commissioned most assumed that the G’eron’s day was
done, but 2 months later G’Quan’s Fire was lost to a freak reactor failure with all hands. Stunned by
the loss, Narn Admiralty order the T’Lair to be completed as a stop gap while an investigation of the
G’Quan’s Fire loss was conducted. The T’Lair was completed just prior to the completion of the
investigation. No formal report of the investigation was ever made, but subsequent to its completion
construction of a second Bin’tak was ordered concurrent with the canceling of any further
construction of G’eron class vessels.
The G’eron and T’Lair served with home fleet until the completion of the new Bin’tak. They were then
both deployed as flagships to the Battle Squadron. A year and half later they were again replaced by
further Bin’tak vessels and reassigned as task force leaders.Both vessels took part in the opening
moments of the Narn Centauri War. In the first weeks, the G’eron saw action in Quadrant 27 while the
T’Lair was held in reserve. Both vessels were then shifted to Quadrant 1, The G’eron was involved in
the attack on Ragesh while the T’Lair took part in the assault on Beta 3. A week later, the T’lair again
saw action in Coutor. The G’eron was held inreserve at Ragesh and was spared the surprise defeat at
Immolan.
To date, both battleships had performed well, taking little permanent damage. Three week later the
T’lair’s luck ran out. Faulty reconnaissance of Batain system incorrectly indicated only a limited
defensive force instead of the actual battle fleet. In the ensuing battle, the T’Lair was lost while
conducting a rear guard holding action, which allowed some of the fleet to escape.
By now, the G’eron was once again the flagship of the fleet in Ragesh, the Bin’Tak dreadnought
D’Korith having been destroyed in battle. She held this position for about 2 weeks before being
heavily damaged by the Centauri assault which recaptured Ragesh. Heavily damaged, the G’eron
was sent to Bor’gath, a highly guarded secret system within Narn space. There she spent the
remainder of the war, constantly considered the second most important ship to be repaired but never
quite the most important. At wars end she was still not fit for service and it would be another six
months before she was declared ready. Her position now is that of fleet flag for either the Home
world or the patrolling Bor’gath, alternating with lone the surviving Bin’tak.
 Fluff credit to Richard Bax