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20 Man Crew Compliment!

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Dekion

Regular
I love the idea of a 20 man crew compliment. Andromeda has 7, and they interact well without drawing attention away by adding tons of extras. The only illogical thing is that a ship with a compliment of over 4000 can be run by only 7, where in Rangers it takes 20 and they have 20. The characterization possibilities are going to be great.
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The question is if the mission is a success will they get a better/bigger ship for the possible series?
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Twenty is almost too many to get to know all of them, but it's enough to let one or two be killed off,
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Well, from what we've been told, isn't being posted to the Liandra some sort of punishment assignment? Or is that only for the captain? On second thought, how can it be only for the captain?

We're told the Liandra is old and haunted. But with the small size and crew, it's also perfect for spy/infiltration work. Given that so much of what the Rangers do is "sneaking around," maybe it's the perfect ship. Maybe this crew will wind up being the "Scully and Mulder" of the Rangers?

It may be that they have to work their way back into the good graces of the leadership to get off the Liandra. But who knows how long that'll take? And by that time, maybe they'll have proven themselves too effective a group to split up.



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"What's up, Drakh?"

Michael Garibaldi
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Jomar:
Twenty is almost too many to get to know all of them, but it's enough to let one or two be killed off,
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<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Do you suppose the ones that get killed will be wearing red shirts?
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"What's up, Drakh?"

Michael Garibaldi
 
It almost seems with 20 that there won't really be any "extras" on the ship. Maybe "regular extras". But everyone could get a line or two in a season (assuming of course Rangers the Series is picked up).

It will seem more like a submarine than a starship. I agree that's very realistic for a ship whose mission is to get in and out quickly and quietly.

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"I do not believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense,
reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use."-- Galileo
 
I like the idea of a smaller crew. Perhaps this will open the door for interesting recurring characters to augment the regular cast, if the movie spawns a series.

Mondo Londo has a good point about the Captian's "punishment". This is of course pure speculation, but maybe such a command is a severe demotion, when compared with his former status?

It may open up interesting possibilities in regards to the interaction of the crew, since Dulann and Cantrell where with him when he acted in a "dishonorable" fashion.

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When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in a confederacy against him.
-Jonathan Swift
 
For matters of comparison, does anyone know what the crew size is for a White Star?

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"What's up, Drakh?"

Michael Garibaldi
 
I also wonder if the "ghosts" will become an active part of, or an influence upon, the crew -- sort of like the Apocalypse Box?

Perhaps the "ghosts" will be able to get them in and out of a different dimension, etc?

I doubt the "ghosts" will be there just to be scary....

It'd be kinda cool to see the current Liandra crew conferring with the past one.

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"What's up, Drakh?"

Michael Garibaldi
 
I am not sure, but I thought it did not hit 100, but was close. Maybe 88 or so. Just a guess.


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This is also a guess, but I think the "ghost" thing gets resolved, to a degree, in the movie.


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The number of a eighty or so for a Whitestar always bugged me. I mean the whole darn ship is automated anyway. This is evidenced when Sheridan takes the Whitestar1 to Za'ha'dum in season three. Not only that but there aren't that many people standing around in the show. Further it always seemed fewer and fewer were around as the show progressed. As they became the ranger fleet there seemed to be like about twenty or so people on board. Now that was a little different when Lanier was training as a ranger, but that makes sense to me. You'd have some people around who know what's going on and then a crew of newbies. Given all that, I would give a number of roughly thirty, not eighty. Just makes more sense.


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MagnumX

"Trust me, trust the captain, anybody else...shoot'em"-Ivanova
 
Well as far as the White Star crew goes, I'm not sure we ever see much more than the bridge crew. It wouldn't surprise me if there are other crew members on other decks -- maintaining the engines, heavy weapons, etc.

Thanks for this info above. It helps dramatize the difference between the Liandra and the average White Star.

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"What's up, Drakh?"

Michael Garibaldi
 
A 20-man team is great for everything that they're going to be doing. For spy/infiltration work, you're gonna have to work CLOSE. And you're gonna have to TRUST. Although you can do it with someone you've just met or seen on the deck, I'd think you'd rather work a covert ops mission with someone you know...

In a way, I never really understood the whole Galaxy-class starship with the thousands upon thousands of Starfleet officers. A crew that big would seem to get in the way, honestly.

My 2 cents, as always!

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Channe, Freelance Writer Extraordinaire and The Next JMS
--
B5 Synchroninity of the Day: I just found out that the new dorm I'm living in next year has been named Breen Hall.
 
The Rangers seem to exist in... deniability (spelling?), for lack of a better word. It wouldn't surprise me if the Liandra gets sent on the most deniable missions -- the ones where it wouldn't be so terrible if they didn't make it back.
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I'm not saying the Rangers would throw the crew's lives away; but somebody's got to do the suicide missions. And with such a compact crew, well, I guess it makes the sneaking that much easier (depending on the Liandra's stealth capabilities, shielding, etc.).

Besides, the most dangerous missions make better action stories!

So will it be Scully and Mulder on Mission: Impossible?

As to the Enterprise D, I think the crew compliment was 1,200 or so -- including families.

Adding families was a "humane" move, helping families stay together and letting parents help raise their kids, etc. Granted, being separated from your family is very painful; and leads to resignations, family breakups, etc.

The removeable saucer section was their response to safety considerations. All in all, I think it was just a construct to bring us Wesley Crusher.
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It also shows how little economics means in the Trek universe. A ship like that would cost a fortune, not only to build but to operate (think food storage, spoilage, energy use, water & toilet use & storage).

Trek people usually respond to this with claims of limitless recycling and matter/energy conversion. Well, it's their universe, so I guess they make the rules. But given the number of bad guys out there, and that a smaller ship would be just as powerful and capable of longer missions (i.e., just leave out the families), and would take nowhere near the time, people, materials to build...

Second, saucer section notwithstanding, kids on a military ship is a needless risk. It certainly has to affect a comander's decisions in dangerous situations. It ain't the Love Boat!
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Finally, that term... "starfleet officers..." Where are the enlisted people? Yes, they kept calling O'Brien "Chief," but he walked around for years with a full lieutenant's insignia. O'Brien aside, where are the working people?

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"What's up, Drakh?"

Michael Garibaldi
 
This talk about the Whitstar having a crew of eighty.

They are not going to be on duty all at the same time. If space faring ships use the same system as sea going ships these days, then there are going to be two watches, if not three. That cuts eighty down to twenty seven (approximately) on duty at any one time.

TA DA!
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"One from three makes one"

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Ranger Elenopa

"You can get more with a kind word and a two by four, than you can with just a kind word"
 
<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Elenopa:
This talk about the Whitstar having a crew of eighty.

They are not going to be on duty all at the same time. If space faring ships use the same system as sea going ships these days, then there are going to be two watches, if not three. That cuts eighty down to twenty seven (approximately) on duty at any one time.

TA DA!
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<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Yes, of course. Thanks. How did we all miss that?



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"What's up, Drakh?"

Michael Garibaldi
 
I did two watch system for 48 hours once on a sailing trip. Four hours on, four hours off. By the end I was a zombie.
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Ranger Elenopa

"You can get more with a kind word and a two by four, than you can with just a kind word"
 
Glad you're still with us.

It does reveal how unrealistic so many of these shows are. The important plot elements always happen when the stars are on the bridge!

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"What's up, Drakh?"

Michael Garibaldi
 
The watch system is in place.

Reference has been made to pulling double shifts, and the mysterious Major Atombe, who I assume was on a different watch from Ivanova. And didn't Lochley get woken up in the middle of the night because of some alien attack?

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Ranger Elenopa

"You can get more with a kind word and a two by four, than you can with just a kind word"
 
It will be interesting to see how some issues are dealt with.

Can you believe it? If they keep the old ship in the (possible) series, the crew will actually have to think how to get out of dangerous situations instead of just blowing their enemies up because they are weaker.

It will be good to see the tables turned for once.

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"Yes."
 
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