So do Imperial starships have Star Trek-type viewing screens allowing the opposing captains to glare and posture Wrath of Khan style or are they more of the silent submarine slipping through the inky darkness and perhaps radioing each other nasty messages variety? Anyone know?

Think Star Wars.

The occasional holo display but mostly audio.

I always thought star Trek like, what's the use of an opulent and impressive bridge if I can't posture and taunt my enemies?

llsoth said:

This is how I run it too. Holos are only for the big bridge displays, there are no hand-held video chat devices.

Agmar_Strick said:

Well you can still posture and taunt your crewmen =P

Technically, I do both. Partly it depends on the tech involved, so that some ships are audio only, but others are full holo.

I also tend to do more submarineish encounters until one or both get a good lock on the other.

One thing to remember tho, 40k tech is, at its peak, much higher tech than either Star Trek or Star Wars. So do whatever you want.

I think of it akin to modern warships. You have a CIC with various divisional sections each with their own displays, consoles and the like. There's probably a combined status board for the Captain's use, too.

Not sure why, but Rogue trader kind of has that Battlestar Galactica communications feel. though i have to say that imperial ships enter the warp like a submarine.

Void_onion213 said:

Pretty much this, for me. Sort of a mix between Star Wars, BSG, and submarines.

With my current group of players it's all striding about the bridge posturing and strategizing and running out the guns until the ships get up close. Then it's Errol Flynn until all but one ship is slagged, claimed, or running away.

On the bridge of the PCs ship there's a massive Hololithic projector that can be used for star wars style face to face chats. However it's color definition is spotty, and has small glitches such as sputtering emitters, and patchy motion (like a webcam if you move to fast).

Most communication is done by Vox networks, which I usually have as more reliable but prone to being filled with staticy pops and whistles unless someone is carefully tending the receiver's machine spirit. So it sounds more like old timey radio or movie style Hand radio sets despite being some kind of super advanced communication device.

llsoth said:

Luckily due to the large number of stuff already done, you can do it nearly any way you want. In Chaos Gate (old game about SM vs CSM) you had Trek like viewscreen, and they were actually taunting each other.

DOW2 has the bad quality radio transmission with a little video, that even is supposed to represent you getting orders via astropath. Though why you see the actual picture that the astropath receives i dont know.

Voronesh said:

I always figured that all those wires coming out of an astropaths head let them transmit and recieve data from various systems. They just act like a modem when connecting to another astropath similarly plugged in.

llsoth said:

Heh never looked at it that way, yeah but when thinking Adeptus Mechanicus it is rather obvious ^^. I mean they probably do it all the time. (I guess i didnt mesh "Magic" and technology enough)

Who's to say that the bridge's glass viewports don't have some sort of image magnification/CG overlay in their (forgotten) tech?

It would be awesome if you could have an image of the opposing ship's captain "on screen" to interact with the group somehow.

I know it would be hard to do but it sounds great!

I figure that while the RT's opulent bridge may have holo-tanks and trasmition chambers (kinda like Empire Strikes Back holo tech), the chances of that pirate raider that they are going up against having them are minimal (we sold 'em for grog and guns yar!). For other RT's and Imp Navy ships I am currently favouring the vox invitation to dinner approach.

Mind you, I am planning a scene where an Eldar ship projects a holo image onto the bridge of the PC's ship without using the ship's holo-tanks and without them detecting the Eldar ship (at first at least). Should be a nice, semi-subtle way to demonstrate that races tech superiority. Necrons of course would just beam over 50 warriors onto the bridge to prove the same point. Orks? Never renowned for their witty banter. Rak-Ghol? Even worse than orks. Chaos reavers? Why in the Emperor's name are you talking to them!

Although, if holo-displays, or even flat screen video, were common, it could prove endless fun for ships equipped with Laud-Hailers. :-)

Interesting thought, what bonuses would a ship with Laud Hailers get to convert a population with say our modern level tech if they could flood every bandwidth with nothing but sound and images of the Imperial Creed? Or during planet scale military actions? How would a modern army go if every time they tried to contact HQ for commands all they got was "PRAISE HIM ON EARTH!"

Fortinbras said:

Oohh... I like this. With all due respect Fortinbras... *yoink*!

To summarise some of the previous points that match my own views:

It depends on the ship. Imperial Navy would have good solid audio links at the least and more likely video or holo transmissions. A rich rogue traders or particularly old naval vessel might have excellent holo link communications, although the downside might be you could only get its full worth with another such excellent equipped vessel. An old chartist vessel might only have audio, and crackly, buggy audio at that.

Love the idea about Eldar just sending a holo communication regardless of your own tech as a special "screw you primitive monkeys" gesture.

I'd imagine Orks would love a bit of smack talk as their ship closes for battle, in a cheery, homicidal fashion. Those lovable rascals.

And the Killfrenzy trick of just screaming your name across all frequencies should be suitably unnerving for your players.

Gribble_the_Munchkin said:

How right you are! In my current campaign, every time the Explorers face the Orks every round of space combat opens with trash talking.

Star Trek all the way for me.

Basic ships/tech will have lovely hi-def view screens. Better ships will have the 3D-holograms akin to Star Wars (aonly in glorious technicolour.

The only limit i put is on distance - typically such 'instant communication' will possible up to about 50,000 miles. We're not talking instantaneous interplanetary communications as seen in Star Wars.

Of course, both sides would have to switch on the viewscreen, and its possible to have just vox-coms on etc. Nice and flexible.

Why? Plot, narrative and storytelling requirements.

I want the PCs to be able to see their enemies, even when facing off in 200,000 ton starships. Its just not the same if they have to play out the big 'end game' speeches over a telephone...

Personally i think if you look at the various illustrations, books, or any of the media where this sort of thing has actually been represented there always seems to be a viewer or hologram of some sort for communication.

Luddite said:

Not necessarily!

Gribble_the_Munchkin said:

I gotta say, I had never thought about the eldar sending a holo wether you like it or not, but the idea is really growing on me.

As for the Orks, maybe someone should start an Ork smack-talk thread. So I can loot it ruthlessly

I prefer the low tech approach myself. Our bridge does have a huge window with a series of rails in the ceiling that can be used to maneuver big lenses around. So that wehn the Captain jells: "Maginify!" You see a lot of crewmembers running around handling the frames in which these lenses rest. Finally the Captain takes his opera glasses to be able to see what is on screen. Having turned the screen into a telescope

I imagine him talking to the other captains on a crappy Black and White Screen with a lot of white noise interfering everything.

Sister Callidia said:

Brilliant!!

I love it.