Welcome to the HoloNet Uplink, citizen. This series focuses on Fantasy Flight Games’ Star Wars Roleplaying Game, with content aimed mostly at the Gamemaster. Threats, adventure seeds, rules supplements, and more are all to come for those who access The HoloNet Uplink.
This week marks my return to producing stats and write ups for all things Rogue One. The delightful Rogue One: the Ultimate Visual Guide by Pablo Hidalgo continues to inspire with its cross sections and flavorful details, with today’s topic being no exception.
UT-60D “U-Wing” Support Craft
Troop transport, courier, gunship, medevac, and more. The BT-60D “U-Wing” Support Craft is the latest multirole craft from the Incom Corporation. Heavier than a starfighter, but smaller than most transports, these versatile craft can capably handle diverse mission parameters. While never entering full production, several U-Wings have entered Rebel service courtesy of House Organa. Alliance engineers have considered a conversion program of the civilian version BT-45D to military UT-60D specification, but the necessity of installing a complete hyperdrive suite along with armor and shield upgrade packages makes any such upgrade a costly affair. Regardless, the versatility of these ships has proven vital to the fledgling Rebellion as, despite the extremely small number of U-Wings in service, these craft are in constant demand for operations across the galaxy.
Sil 3; Speed 4; Handling -1; Def 2/-/-/1 Armor 3
Hull Trauma 18; System Strain 10
Hull Type/Class: Support Craft/UT-60D U-Wing.
Manufacturer: Incom Corporation.
Hyperdrive: Primary: Class 2, Backup: Class 10.
Navicomputer: Yes.
Sensor Range: Short.
Crew: One pilot and one copilot.
Encumbrance Capacity: 50.
Passenger Capacity: 8.
Consumables: One month.
Price/Rarity: 110,000 credits (R) / 7
Customization Hard Points: 1.
Weapons: Forward mounted twin medium laser cannons (Fire Arc Forward; Damage 6; Critical 3; Range [Close]; Linked 1), up to two door mounted heavy weapons such as the heavy ion blaster (Fire Arc Port; Damage 15 [personal scale]; Critical 2; Range [Extreme]; Auto-Fire, Ion)
Variants
BT-45M “Mercy” Medevac Transport
Based on the civilian variant of the UT-60D, this heavily modified transport provides the Rebel Alliance with a combat medevac capability. Due to the shortage of UT-60Ds, engineers and medics from the Alderaanian Resistance have developed a standardized upgrade package to return the civilianized BT-45D to military spec. Hyperdrive, shields, armor, and power plant systems are restored but weapons are not included. This is not just in keeping with the ideals of Alderaanian pacifism, but also an important enabler of plausible deniability. Officially described as “ruggedized ambulances” donated to Outer Rim worlds, BT-45M medevac transports were reported lost or damaged in questionably high numbers before their appearance in the Rebel fleet.
Represent the BT-45M by making the following changes to the UT-60D statblock: remove all weapons, add two crew positions (medical technicians), reduce Encumbrance Capacity to 20, and change Passengers to “4 plus 4 litters”. Add the following special rule: Medevac Suite (On board medical equipment allows characters to attempt to heal others using Medicine checks without penalty. In addition, grant two Boost die to all Medicine checks while using the Medevac Suite. Finally, Medicine checks to heal characters suffering the Bleeding Out critical injury are reduced in difficulty by 2 to a minimum of Easy [1 Purple].) Price/Rarity: 100,000/6.
UT-60F “Pig” Gunship
The Rebel Alliance is forced to constantly innovate, tailoring vehicle loadouts based on trial and error to fill holes in their fleet. The UT-60F “Pig” Gunship is an example of one such variant. By upgunning the basic UT-60D with heavy laser cannons and side mounted cluster rockets, the U-Wing is converted from utility transport to ground attack gunship. The U-Wing’s swing wing system is not compromised by mounting the rocket pods on articulating arms in lieu of the door mounts, allowing the pods to retract into the cabin. This allows the UT-60F to maintain similar handling characteristics to the base model, but sacrifices passenger capacity in the process. The added weight and power consumption reduces the UT-60F’s top speed and that fact, when combined with the bodged together look of the weapons system, has earned this variant the “Pig” moniker.
Represent the UT-60F by making the following changes to the UT-60D statblock. Reduce Speed to 3 and Passengers to 4. Replace all weapons with the following: forward mounted heavy laser cannons (Fire Arc Forward; Damage 6; Critical 3; Range [Short]; Linked 1), two hull mounted cluster rocket pods (Fire Arc Forward; Damage 15 [personal scale]; Critical 3; Range [Extreme]; Blast 12, Pierce 5, Limited Ammo 30, Linked 2). Price/Rarity: 130,000 (R)/7.
Christopher Hunt
Latest posts by Christopher Hunt (see all)
- Command School – Deterrence and Compellence - July 11, 2019
Good write up Hunt! I particularly like the “Mercy” variant as its not a very visible, but highly vital, role in Star Wars. Even without there being a Geneva Conventions in Star Wars, the lack of armament is very flavorful.
Now for some rambling:
8 passenger capacity is a low number to risk a ship like this going into a live landing zone (henceforth LZ) and its armament isn’t great for continued fire support past the initial landing given it’s mass. Can’t really do much in the way of modification with the 1 Custom Hardpoint (CHP) available either, but makes sense given the amount of bodging Rebel techs had to do to get it to it’s current capabilities. The stats are accurate for whats given/shown, but it doesn’t make for a very tenable combat lander given the cost, rarity and lack of payload. I think this kind of shows how desperate, and strapped for resources, the Rebels were throwing 8 of these ships at Scarif.
However it could shine in a Covert Ops. Clandestine insertion/extraction of Rebel commando’s, spies, and scouts (like a AoR PC party) a few kilometers away from an objective that is under close scrutiny and/or heavily guarded would better fit the U-wings profile. To help this it in this role I would use the 1 CHP to install a Psuedo-Cloaking Device (PCD) or Nightshadow Coating (NSC) as a cheaper alternative. Allowing the U-wing to use its speed to quickly get to an LZ undetected will allow the team on board to get into a favorable position during an assault or infiltrate/exfiltrate an objective with less suspicion being aroused. This set up also allows the U-wing to come in unexpectedly for a air support should the team need it, giving it one off (possibly more if its a quick strike and the pilot can break contact before being tracked) advantage in combat.
This all being said, the pilot must be fully aware of the limitations of the stealth capabilities. Read up on the capabilities of the PDC in Special Modifications pg.66 and NSC in Fly Casual pg.63 and plan accordingly. Your biggest problem will come with your short sensor range and having to overcome the longer, more effective ranges or capital ship sensors and dedicated sensor ships (exploration ships and the like.) But with these characteristics, and a bit of proper planning, the U-wing will perform far better than in the assault lander role.