I think you're limiting your choices too much when you arbitrarily decide that a whole class of shows is not worth your time. Crusade was nothing like Star Trek because the ground-rules under which it operated and the universe it was exploring were nothing like those of the Trek shows. It's a bit like saying, "I don't like war films because they're all like Sands of Iwo Jima, and I hate that John Wayne crap." I'm sure that would come as news to the folks responsible for Patton, Paths of Glory and Saving Private Ryan.
But if that's your prejudice, and that was enough to make you "hate" Crusade, all I can say is, "Your loss."
As for the types of ships they "should" have in Rangers: They shouldn't have Victory-class destroyers, because the prototypes won't be finished until two years after To Live and Die in Starlight. But there is no reason the IA couldn't have developed other classes of ships in the interim.
In 2262, before the climax of the Centauri crisis, Sheridan tells Delenn that they've been using the White Stars to fill too many roles. They need additional classes of ships. Because the Minbari bore all the costs of developing and building the White Star-class, Sheridan suggests that Humans build the destroyer class based on Minbari technical data. In exchange for paying for the ships the Humans will get a lot of technical know-how and, persumably, some of the new ships for their own use.
After the attack on Centauri Prime the Minbari may decide to bite the financial bullet and develop one or more additional classes of warship, scouts or cruisers, for instance, while the Humans are building the new destroyers. One of the reasons that Victory and Excalibur take so long to build is that the Humans have to reverse-engineer some of the Minbari and Vorlon technology in order to manufacture comparable materials and components, and adapt some of the systems to Human tastes and abilities. The Minbari, having already built the orignal White Stars would not have to do the same, so they could presumably develop new ships faster than the Humans.
One or more new classes of ships for the Rangers, developed from the basic White Star technology, could easily be built by the Minbari in three years or so - especially since it is unlikely that they shut down their R&D efforts just because they had one class of ships in production. If contemporary military aircraft and warship production is any guide, there were probably several variants of the White Star design built during the Shadow War and after, each a slight improvement on the previous version, as crews gained experience with the ships and reported problems.
Regards,
Joe
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Joseph DeMartino
Sigh Corps
Pat Tallman Division
