Honoring the Epic Ships of Elite – Followup & Continuation

Just a reminder for those submitting ship entries that they wish to be included in the roster to please specifically list your...

...ship name, ship ID (optional), ship type (model), and in-game Commander name.

...

...

With permission from the OP via the SEPP Discord Channel, this is a continuation of the thread found here. → https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threads/the-real-stars-of-the-galaxy-our-glorious-space-ships.175238/

Since that thread has not been maintained nor updated accordingly by the OP for a long time, and since I think this is a great, otherwise missed opportunity for us to showcase our more noteworthy ships and accomplishments in Elite: Dangerous, I'm starting this thread.

The guidelines are simple. Post a comment to this thread detailing your ship, its role, and its accomplishments in the game.

I'm changing the listing here a little by limiting entries to one ship per Commander. Yes, you'll have to choose your most legendary, noteworthy, or whichever one stands out to you the most. If you have multiple accounts, feel free to submit separate entries for those Commanders and ships in a new and different post in this thread so that they are listed and recognized separately from each other.

At the beginning of your post in this thread, if you want your ship included in the roster, list your ship name, your ship ID, your ship type, and your Commander name. It's fine if you exclude your ship's ID, if it doesn't have one, but all ships listed here should have a name, as they will be listed and sorted alphanumerically by it. Whether or not you want to list your title, "CMDR" as part of your name is up to you.

Example: The Ronin, 03D-DW – Vulture – CMDR WR3ND

If you feel your ship isn't worthy of submission to this thread, it probably isn't. Play the game, make it epic, and return with noteworthy accomplishments! That being said, all submissions following the basic submission guidelines mentioned above are welcome.

WR3ND · Dec 23, 2017

The Ronin, 03D-DW – Vulture – CMDR WR3ND

Greetings, Commanders and fellow space vagabonds.

Commander WR3ND reporting in to register my ship, The Ronin, a combat capable Vulture explorer build.

Background:

Soon after my return from my two month long roundabout expedition to the galactic polar extremities through Sgr A in a Diamondback Scout (documented here), I set about constructing The Ronin from the plans I had pieced together and mulled over for a new ship while on my return to colonized space.

The Alioth Independents faction was more than willing to grant me access to the Alioth system and temporary exclusive use of some of their shipyard and outfitting facilities at Irkutsk (never mind the pronunciation) in exchange for a portion of the cartographic data from my expedition. This way I was able to personally oversee the outfitting and testing of the ship without the distractions, inconveniences, and security risks involved in sourcing components elsewhere.

Special thanks to the Irkutsk facility management and crew for securing all of the necessary components.

Service Role & Capabilities:

The Ronin is a specialized multirole combat capable explorer ship designed to withstand, deter, and neutralize hostile threats when necessary, while still providing all essential exploration functionality, though with the trade-offs of having a reduced jump range potential and limited emergency backup systems. It can also serve to function as a highly mobile and cost-effective space superiority fighter, though it isn't ideal for bounty hunting as it does not contain all the recommended systems for that.

In short, this relatively small ship is the "vigilante" of explorer ships, designed to roll with the punches and dish out justice between bouts of exploration to secure valuable cartographic data.

Original Loadout:

https://coriolis.io/outfit/vulture/24A5A4A3D5A4D3C1e1e070707074a32f22f2i.AwRj4zyA.CwBjYRhAmW4gzOIA?bn=The Ronin

Current Standard Loadout:

https://coriolis.io/outfit/vulture?...MA28QgIwV3fEQA==&bn=The Ronin 03D-DW (WR3-1V)

Unofficial Theme Music:

Service Accomplishments:

An ongoing mission to ~~photo bomb~~ catalog semi-local nebulae and secure their corresponding cartographic data.

Excluding file formatting and compression, all nebula images are unmodified and natively rendered with a resolution of "8K" (7680×4320). They are taken roughly in line between Sol and the nebulae with their vertical centers oriented perpendicularly to the galactic plane.

Veil Nebula West

Veil Nebula East

Sadr Region

Pelican Nebula

North America Nebula

Elephant's Trunk Nebula

Cave Nebula

LBN 623

Pleiades Nebula

Hind Nebula (system interior view)

California Nebula

Eskimo Nebula (system interior view)

Iris Nebula

Pencil Nebula

R CrA Nebula

IC 4604 Nebula

Dumbbell Nebula

Thor's Helmet

Seagull Nebula

Rosette Nebula

Jellyfish Nebula

Monkey Head Nebula

Crab Nebula

Witch Head Nebula

Barnard's Loop

Skull and Crossbones Nebula

NGC 7822 Nebula

Bubble Nebula

NGC 7538 Nebula

NGC 281 Nebula

Heart Nebula

Soul Nebula

Flaming Star Nebula

Messier 78

Orion Nebula

Running Man Nebula

Flame Nebula

Horsehead Nebula

Eta Carina Nebula

Statue of Liberty Nebula

Lagoon Nebula

Eagle Nebula

Crescent Nebula

To be continued...

...

99th ship registered in the Crab Nebula Expedition of 3302. https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php?t=241638

Waypoint 0 (launch site) – Mitterand Hollow (coordinates 56.20, 121.77)

Waypoint 1 – Merope 5 C (coordinates -26.34, -156.40)

Waypoing 2 – Betelgeuse 2 (coordinates 69.68, 72.91)

Waypoint 3 – Trapezium Sector DQ-X C1-9 12 A (coordinates 14.0 , 143.6)

Waypoint 4 (cancelled) – 2Mass J06410581+0952478 1 A (coordinates 42.0, 174.1)

"Winter is coming," presumably.

Waypoint 5 – ALS 299 6 D (coordinates -35.54, 161.37)

Waypoint 6 – Seagull Sector MX-U C2-3 9 A (coordinates 0.35, 133.74)

Waypoint 7 – Rosette Sector HW-W C1-3 A 2 C (coordinates 45.66, 174.21)

Waypoint 8 – Jellyfish Sector DL-Y D50 7 B (coordinates 73.67, 26.25)

CNE Photo Competition submission, featuring the Jellyfish Nebula, the Large Magellanic Cloud, the Rosette Nebula, the galactic plane, and of course my ship, The Ronin – "Celestial Dreams" – non-edited category.

Waypoint 9 – Monkey Head Sector KC-V C2-3 1 (coordinates -18.00, 47.06)

Waypoint 10 – Crab Sector IH-V C2-3 A 11 A (coordinates -28.99, -36.00)

CNE fleet before jumping to the Crab Pulsar

...

Successfully found a route through the Crab Nebula Labyrinth and discovered definitively that a minimum jump range of 23.88LY is required to reach the Crab Nebula and Pulsar. https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/271103-Navigating-the-Crab-Nebula-Labyrinth

Heading toward the Crab Nebula

Minimum jump range required (as pictured heading back out)

...

I would be remiss to call this an accomplishment, but it was a worthwhile and noteworthy endeavor none the less to have the honor of participating in the Stephen Hawking Memorial Event on the 22nd or March, 3304 at Hawking's Reach. https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/415383-STEPHEN-HAWKING-MEMORIAL-EVENT

...

169th ship registered in the Small Worlds Expedition 3 of 3304. https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showthread.php/422868-Small-Worlds-Expedition-3!!!

Waypoint 0 (launch site) – T Tauri A 1 A (coordinates -72.14, 99.26)

Waypoint 1 – HIP 23759 9 A (coordinates 9.02, -142.41)

Waypoint 2 – TRAPEZIUM Sector CG-X D1-18 ABC 2 C A (coordinates -12.55,-61.23)

Waypoint 3 – HIP 38064 4 (coordinates -69.83, -129.73)

Waypoint 4 – CD-39 6137 2 A (coordinates 19.89, -125.84)

Waypoint 5 – KN Muscae 1 (coordinates -5.25, -0.95)

Waypoint 6 – Fine Ring Sector JH-V C2-4 C 2 (coordinates 10.94, 41.02)

Waypoint 7 – IC 4604 Sector FB-X C1-16 A 1 A (coordinates -3.74, 29.41)

Waypoint 8 – Veil West Sector DL-Y D68 D 4 F (coordinates -49.06, -82.08)

Yes, I had to go back for another look.

Waypoint 9 – LBN 623 Sector FW-W D1-100 6 A (coordinates 76.29, 90.24)

...

Ship #2075, Fleet ID 03D-DW registered for Distant Worlds II 3304. https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showt...Distant-Worlds-II-Fleet-Roster-Sign-Up-Thread

Submitted Fleet Roster Ship Picture

Waypoint 01 (launch site) – Pallaeni (Distant Worlds Tourist Beacon, coordinates N/A)

Oceania Launch Fleet Jump

Waypoint 02 Omega Sector VE-Q b5-15 7 B (Roald Landing, GeoSite #5, coordinates 34.283, 79.552)

"My meatshake brings all the girls to the yard." What happens in Rohini stays in Rohini.

Waypoint 03 PRU AESCS NC-M D7-192 A 3 A (Conflux Delta Site, coordinates -53.348, -48.923)

Thanks again to a very helpful Commander who happened to be at the right place at the right time! o7

Earth-like World Moon

Explorer's Anchorage

Sgr A

"Can't... resist... DSSing... this... world..."

"Blue Swirl"

Found a way in... Out?

"Why Hello"

"Final Countdown"

"Beagle Point View"

"The Ronin Way"

"Distant Sol"

Certificate of Completion

A nice little planetary nebula I happened across on my return trek.

...

Successfully found a plottable route through The Abyss from and to Beagle Point for 35Ly+ Jump Range ships. https://forums.frontier.co.uk/threa...-to-beagle-point-for-35ly-jump-ranges.514888/

...

Stopped by Jaques Station in Colonia for a visit and to cash in my exploration data from Distant Worlds II.

Not far to go. Need to be cautious around "civilization."

Almost there.

Yes, now that you mention it, I do happen to have a bit of exploration data to sell.

Until next time...

Riverside · Dec 23, 2017

Wayward Wanderer, MA-17F – Federal Corvette – CMDR MalcRiverside

The original hull was commissioned on the release of Horizons (December 2015), the earliest opportunity to purchase the ship. At the time I was furiously working on completing Triple Elite within a year of starting out (which I achieved with less than a week to spare).

I bought a Cutter a few days later and initially both new ships consumed most of my spare cash. I completed my trade rank a few days after this, put my main ship at the time (Gunrunner, a weaponless, uncatchable Cobra MkIII) into storage and headed out into the black to complete my Exploration Rank in a minimally equipped, 40ly Anaconda so for several weeks the Corvette languished in storage, my reward for my eventual return.

As it turned out I fitted the Corvette out and although it made light work of RES and CZ mercenary activity it's low jump range meant it only saw local use and I returned to my beloved Cobra for day-to-day activities.

However with the release of the 2.1 update in August 2016 everything changed for me. The Engineers meant the Cobra was no longer the uncatchable safe haven it had always been for me, I hadn't needed to fly a ship with weapons for a year let alone keep in practice shooting stuff. Combat Elite was my first rank in August 2015 (before the progress bars) and the final push for the top tank meant I was no longer interested in engaging every enemy that came my way.

I needed another safe haven, a ship that could allow me to escape any situation, only killing if I must. The Cutter has enormous shields and good speed, but it's supercruise handling frustrated. My Anaconda could survive anything too, if I worked at killing all-comers, it could handle any threat but it had to handle it, because it couldn't run, but in outfitting it I realised the compromise in jump range from fitting enough defence & offence to keep me safe meant the previously unloved Corvette came to the fore.

So I went big, fitted out and engineered the Corvette with big ship killing weapons to quickly dispatch the Elite Anacondas that were the only NPC ships I ever encountered now, and fitted out the interior for multi-role with 256t of cargo space, ADS/DSS, 6A scoop, 6A SCB, military armour and a pair of 4A AFMUs for in-flight repairs.

I stuck around in the bubble until 2.2 but eventually I was just fed up with having to kill half a dozen Elite Anacondas every time I took even a simple mission, I remember taking a low rank assassination mission just because it was in a system I was heading to anyway, an Elite Conda improbably joining my instance every time I dropped into the assassination scenario.

The only time I ever lost the Corvette hull was on the 4th October 2016 to station defence, getting too close to another landing pad while taking this pic of a landed SLF:

. I hadn't realised I was too close while in the old external camera view.

By mid-October 2016 I'd had enough of the custom NPCs attention so one day while looking for data at the edge of the bubble I looked at a nebula on the skybox and just left the bubble. 10,000Ly later I was in the ETA Carinae region in a 19ly jump range Corvette, when news of the first Thargoid Hyperdictions came in. I debated whether to return, but it would take me so long I thought 'in for a penny...' and carried on up the Carina arm, on an anti-clockwise grand tour of the galaxy. I reached Beagle Point in July 2017, as far from the bubble as I could go.

I've spend the rest of 2017 meandering around, I reached Colonia on the 10th December 2017 and docked again for the first time in over a year, still in what has become by far my favourite ship, and named it the Wayward Wanderer.

It could be a little faster (boosts to around 360m/s), it jumps far enough to reach anywhere I've asked it to so far (38ly with jumponium, around 78ly with Neutron Star boost), and carries everything I need to perform any activity short of landing at an outpost. My only change to the loadout has been to temporarily swap out one of the cargo racks for a passenger module while I'm in Colonia, I still have 128t of cargo space for trading & scavenging.

Updated 23rd March 2018:
I returned to the bubble in the Wayward Wanderer a few days ago and have been doing loads of the new mission templates that have come in while I was out. My ship finally met it's match trying to take out a clean terrorist leader (Deadly Cutter) in a wing of 6, plus a few cops (too busy to count), I had the Cutter down to 8% hull and zero Powerplant, could have high waked but chose to try to kill the Cutter and low wake, didn't quite make it but had huge fun trying

I took that hull & loadout to Beagle Point, to Colonia and plenty more, it paid for itself in exploration data alone

It's replacement hull's paint is still shiny and I've upgraded it into a more combat focused loadout for massacre missions, and if my faction needs an NPC leader to go away it's still my go-to ship.

[VR] optimal_909 · Dec 23, 2017

Riverside said:
Wayward Wanderer, MA-17F – Federal Corvette – CMDR MalcRiverside

https://i.imgur.com/r4WbVID.jpg

The original hull was commissioned on the release of Horizons (December 2015), the earliest opportunity to purchase the ship. At the time I was furiously working on completing Triple Elite within a year of starting out (which I achieved with less than a week to spare).

I bought a Cutter a few days later and initially both new ships consumed most of my spare cash. I completed my trade rank a few days after this, put my main ship at the time (Gunrunner, a weaponless, uncatchable Cobra MkIII) into storage and headed out into the black to complete my Exploration Rank in a minimally equipped, 40ly Anaconda so for several weeks the Corvette languished in storage, my reward for my eventual return.

As it turned out I fitted the Corvette out and although it made light work of RES and CZ mercenary activity it's low jump range meant it only saw local use and I returned to my beloved Cobra for day-to-day activities.

However with the release of the 2.1 update in August 2016 everything changed for me. The Engineers meant the Cobra was no longer the uncatchable safe haven it had always been for me, I hadn't needed to fly a ship with weapons for a year let alone keep in practice shooting stuff. Combat Elite was my first rank in August 2015 (before the progress bars) and the final push for the top tank meant I was no longer interested in engaging every enemy that came my way.

I needed another safe haven, a ship that could allow me to escape any situation, only killing if I must. The Cutter has enormous shields and good speed, but it's supercruise handling frustrated. My Anaconda could survive anything too, if I worked at killing all-comers, it could handle any threat but it had to handle it, because it couldn't run, but in outfitting it I realised the compromise in jump range from fitting enough defence & offence to keep me safe meant the previously unloved Corvette came to the fore.

So I went big, fitted out and engineered the Corvette with big ship killing weapons to quickly dispatch the Elite Anacondas that were the only NPC ships I ever encountered now, and fitted out the interior for multi-role with 256t of cargo space, ADS/DSS, 6A scoop, 6A SCB, military armour and a pair of 4A AFMUs for in-flight repairs.

I stuck around in the bubble until 2.2 but eventually I was just fed up with having to kill half a dozen Elite Anacondas every time I took even a simple mission, I remember taking a low rank assassination mission just because it was in a system I was heading to anyway, an Elite Conda improbably joining my instance every time I dropped into the assassination scenario.

The only time I ever lost the Corvette hull was on the 4th October 2016 to station defence, getting too close to another landing pad while taking this pic of a landed SLF:
https://i.imgur.com/x7zKTa0.jpg. I hadn't realised I was too close while in the old external camera view.

By mid-October 2016 I'd had enough of the custom NPCs attention so one day while looking for data at the edge of the bubble I looked at a nebula on the skybox and just left the bubble. 10,000Ly later I was in the ETA Carinae region in a 19ly jump range Corvette, when news of the first Thargoid Hyperdictions came in. I debated whether to return, but it would take me so long I thought 'in for a penny...' and carried on up the Carina arm, on an anti-clockwise grand tour of the galaxy. I reached Beagle Point in July 2017, as far from the bubble as I could go.

I've spend the rest of 2017 meandering around, I reached Colonia on the 10th December 2017 and docked again for the first time in over a year, still in what has become by far my favourite ship, and named it the Wayward Wanderer.

It could be a little faster (boosts to around 360m/s), it jumps far enough to reach anywhere I've asked it to so far (38ly with jumponium, around 78ly with Neutron Star boost), and carries everything I need to perform any activity short of landing at an outpost. My only change to the loadout has been to temporarily swap out one of the cargo racks for a passenger module while I'm in Colonia, I still have 128t of cargo space for trading & scavenging.

https://i.imgur.com/4w3Z3t5.jpg

It was great to meet you in Colonia CMDR, especially as I was there in a similar loadout. To check what it could do in an explorer loadout, I got shipped 6A low emissions power plant and 6A distributor, then stripped all non-explorer modules to see the improvement in jumprange: from 20ly to 24ly. I'm not sure that range increase balances the feeling that you are flying it as equipped as it should, a majestic warship.

I'm currently AFK, but otherwise I'm rocking a 'multiroled' Keelback around Colonia, which was the ship that took me to BP - it was the first Keelback at BP (pre-engineering era, 23.7ly range), and it also has a galactic POI named after it, the 'Keelblack Rings'. Also, my exploration 'FDL', originally named as 'Crimson Panther' was equally the first FDL at BP - these are the only memorable achievements of mine.

However, I totally agree with you that the Corvette is the most lovely ship in-game, and I see nothing in the pipeline that will change that (even though I love the Krait already).

Alex Brentnall · Dec 23, 2017

Flagship of Eir, RESCUE - Anaconda - AlexBrentnall

Rescued over 100 stranded cmdrs as part of the Fuel Rats
Was the first to land on Betelgeuse 2 after horizons release
Fastest ship from Sol - Colonia (1hr 47min)
3rd Fastest ship from Sol - Sag A* (2hrs 19min)
Fastest ship from Sol - Beagle point (6h 35min)
Has flown over 1.5 million Ly (best guess, currently at 2mil ly travelled)
Part of Distant Worlds 1 trip
Top 10 cmdrs for several CGs
Featured on several FDev livestreams
Met over 117 thargoids back when they were just hyperdicting people.

Some pics:

Edit: Also I love the thread idea and you keeping it going. +1

WR3ND · Dec 23, 2017

Some great submissions so far. Love reading about your ships and what all you've been able to accomplish in them.

I've updated the roster to list them and link to your posts.

WR3ND · Dec 27, 2017

Hope no one was put off by my ship worthiness related comment in the OP. This is for people to decide for themselves regarding their own ships, not for other people to judge them on. I will gladly list any ship entries submitted here in accordance with the other stipulations laid out in the OP.

Hoping to read more about the other epic ships of Elite out there.

Fly smartly, Commanders. o7

JonathanBurnage · Dec 27, 2017

Endurance - AA-AH4 - Anaconda - JonBurnage

I humbly submit my trusty exploration Anaconda, the Endurance. She has flown further from the galactic plane than any other vessel and is the holder of the current galactic depth record at -3381LY.

You can read the story of how I got there and back here: https://forums.frontier.co.uk/showt...ovember-2017?p=6163718&viewfull=1#post6163718

It didn't win the writing contest, but it did get me a spot on the 'Epic tales of derring-do' section of Alec Turner's sticky 'Best of the forum' thread! Needless to say I will be taking her on Distant Worlds 2 - if you're going on Xbox One I hope to see you there.

Edit: correct format now

WR3ND · Dec 27, 2017

JonathanBurnage said:
...

Thanks for the submission, just in general please try to use the ship submission format described in the OP so that I can more easily list them in the roster and link to them.

Also, would you prefer "The Endurance," or "Endurance" for the ship name listing in the roster, and would you like your Commander name listed as well? If so, please provide that too.

Cheers.

JonathanBurnage said:
...

Edit: correct format now

Thanks.

Stealthie · Dec 27, 2017

Ship Name: Blackbird
Ship Ident: SR71-A
Type: Viper Mk3 (modified)
Owner: CMDR Stealthie.

Notable Accomplishments
Built as engineering showcase and put into service in the Pleiades Sector for light transport, recon, blockade-running and counter-insurgency operations.
Insignificant purchase cost and re-buy cost with vast earning potential.
Fast.
Really, really fast.

WR3ND · Dec 27, 2017

Stealthie said:
...

Looks pretty darn cool too!

You guys aren't making it that easy on me to list the ships in the OP though...

But at least you included all the info more specifically.

Cheers.

...

Oh, by the way, I think the original Blackbird was a pretty darn cool jet too. Up there with the Raptor for me. [up]

I like that the thrusters of your Viper line up well with the side vertical stabilizers. I might not use the center one though to better match the look of the jet, but that's just me – not sure what the options are for that ship kit.

JonathanBurnage · Dec 28, 2017

WR3ND said:
Thanks for the submission, just in general please try to use the ship submission format described in the OP so that I can more easily list them in the roster and link to them.

Also, would you prefer "The Endurance," or "Endurance" for the ship name listing in the roster, and would you like your Commander name listed as well? If so, please provide that too.

Cheers.

Thanks.

Hey thanks for adding me - entry is fine as you have it ('Endurance'). JonBurnage is my CMDR name - no imagination I'm afraid

IndigoWyrd · Dec 28, 2017

Rescue Zero
Registry Whiskey Tango Foxtrox Zero Zero
Saud Kruger Orca
Search and Rescue Craft

Notable Accomplishments:

Recovered over 6000 Refugees from Thargoid attacks on The Oracle, Liman and Titan's Daughter
Provided support and assisted with destruction of Thargoid Cyclops during first Rescue CG.

https://coriolis.edcd.io/outfit/orc...==.Aw18SQ==..EweloBhBmUA4QFMCGBzANokICMF9A===

WR3ND · Dec 29, 2017

IndigoWyrd said:
Rescue Zero
Registry Whiskey Tango Foxtrox Zero Zero
Saud Kruger Orca
Search and Rescue Craft

Notable Accomplishments:

Recovered over 6000 Refugees from Thargoid attacks on The Oracle, Liman and Titan's Daughter
Provided support and assisted with destruction of Thargoid Cyclops during first Rescue CG.

https://coriolis.edcd.io/outfit/orc...==.Aw18SQ==..EweloBhBmUA4QFMCGBzANokICMF9A===

https://s5.postimg.org/t54vm6nyt/Screenshot_0162.png

Nice. So is that Rescue Zero, WTF00 – Orca – IndigoWyrd?

IndigoWyrd · Dec 29, 2017

WR3ND said:
Nice. So is that Rescue Zero, WTF00 – Orca – IndigoWyrd?

Indeed.

Navigare Necesse Est · Dec 29, 2017

My Viper Attack was kinda epic. But then came 2.1. Now all my ships are just a heap of poo.

WR3ND · Dec 29, 2017

Navigare Necesse Est said:
My Viper Attack was kinda epic. But then came 2.1. Now all my ships are just a heap of poo.

It's not what you got, it's how you use it...

But yeah, I know what you mean. I haven't bothered all that much with the Engineers myself either. Might revisit them when they get updated. We'll see; not holding my breath.

SliFox115 · Jan 5, 2018

Ship Name: Cheddar Chaser MKII
Ship Ident: FR1156
Type: Asp Explorer
Owner: CMDR SliFox115

Notable Accomplishments
Built to service a constant stream of stranded commanders during PS4Maggedon, this Rasp of mine has served quite well. Helped me reach 100 First Limpets in 6 Weeks, totalling out at being involved with around 210 rescues. Capable of jumping ~43 LY, one of the first things i usually hear upon arrival was, "Wow that was Quick!"

WR3ND · Jan 8, 2018

Updated the OP with the new ship submission. [up]

Cheers.

WR3ND · Mar 23, 2018

Surely there are more Commanders with ships they would like to submit for registration and entry here? I'd like to read about them.