Starship designs...

[Aramanthus]

Cool! Glad to see our first Iron Engineering went so well. We need to do this more often than once a year. There is too much potential in doing it several times a year. unless we limit classes to once a year.

[taalismn]

Also gotta get a little thread necromancy going here...attract more unattached ship designers...since this is Starship Designs...

[Aramanthus]

Nice view of her. Just one thing. Are those supposed to be lights or the stars reflecting on her hull?

[Aramanthus]

Oh ok. That makes sense. Nice pic! I can't wait to see more material. I have to wait until I get back to Wisconsin to create any ships. I'm over in Iowa for the holidays.

[Aramanthus]

Wisconsin is along the Great Lakes. http://www.wisconline.com/maps/index.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wisconsin

Iowa http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iowa

Check these links out DM. That should help you with the states.

[Aramanthus]

I live about 210 miles Racine to home in Iowa. Racine, WI to Davenport, IA are the starting and ending points.

[glitterboy2098]

one state away... How far is that?

about the distance from Singapore to Kuala, if i read google maps right...

[taalismn]

that's not far. Good for a short break... up in the mountains or down at a beach?

Or out in the forest or on the lakes...Wisconsin's infamous for its many lakes...

[taalismn]

I prefer lakes to oceans for relaxation... out in the open sea the only thing I get is anxiety.... At least on a lake I can still swim to shore.

Dunno...I can't swim, but every year I just HAVE to get down to the seashore...even if it means walking along the beach or the seawall with a northeaster pounding salt spray, sand, and waves into my face...lakes are nice, but there's something just heart-poundingly primal about the ocean that calls to me in summer time...as long as I'm safely on shore

[taalismn]

WZT Skirmisher Light Aerospace Fighter

“Arsos...The Queen of the Milen had claimed it as the next stepping stone on ‘Her Path to Unify the Chaotic Cosmos’...whether anybody wanted her to or not...The Arsosians said ‘not’ and put up a fight that kept even the Queen’s vaunted Silver Hellions off...So She decided to lay them seige...They’d have broken too, in the end...Milen ships are well-built, almost better than anything the CCW could spare to get this particular cancer of the cosmos off the Arsosian atmospheric epidermis. Most merc companies wouldn’t have gone near the offer the Arsosians were making, after the Milenians ripped apart Tasko’s Rim-Tigers, and even obliterated the Rhoian delegation.
That’s why we went in with about three hundred trampers to break the blockade...It took most of our funds plus the advance the Arsosin ambassadors-in-exile gave us, but we loaded each of those ships to the bulwarks with drone and decoy hardware, and over a thousand Skirmisher drones...Sure, the Milens saw them coming, and began blowing up the ships left and right, but then the cloud of debris, noisemakers, stealth-creeper missiles, and combat drones began multiplying and gave them more to shoot at than they could handle...And pretty soon the Skirmishers were up right close enough to chew on them at pointblank range....And that distracted the Milens long enough for our fast runners to get planetside with relief supplies and ammunition...and for our heavies to get close enough to the Hellions to slip them some anti-matter ordnance...
We lost pretty much ALL the trampers and the Skirmishers, but the Queen lost seven of the twelve ships she had around Arsos, and the Arsosians got enough extra gear to hang on for another month or so. We bagged two more Hellion ships when they came into the system to reinforce the seige-ships, and they blundered into an ambush, and now the ships they got left are looking a little like they’re beseiged themselves...Queen’s move now, but if she moves any more of the few ships she has left, we got plenty of pawns to hit her at home...”
---Corella S’Tang, Captain, T.C.M.S.S. DamnHound, Trigalactic Consolidated Military Services.

“AUGH! Fire Control!!! That was another decoy you just burnt! And so was THAT!!! Are you BLIND down there?!! Quit wasting the main batteries on flying scrap metal! Concentrate on REAL targets!***GAAHHH!!!** What in the Queen’s Curse was THA---What do you mean we’re losing power to the eighth shield node!!! Then FIX it!!! I don’t care if you DO have a cascade failure!!! It’s YOUR responsibility!!Fire Control! Fire Control!! That last one was a live one!! Quit sleeping on the job and KILL it!!! Well, shoot everything!!! Must I do ALL the thinking around here???!!!”
---Lord-Captain Adrian Nabuu, Her Majesty’s Warship Sceptor of Glory, Milen Imperial Navy, over Arsos.

With a name like ‘skirmisher’, few people would suppose this small combat unit would be worth the trouble of looking at, let alone buy. But the WZT Skirmisher is full of surprises that make it a worthwhile investment for the cash-strapped military organization in need of some fast, cheap, reliable firepower.
The Skirmisher was conceived of as a light, fast, affordable aerospace fighter for planetary defense and escort duty. It uses many common, off-the-shelf systems, and incorporates little in the way of advanced systems, in order to keep production and maintenance costs down. However, the Skirmisher IS capable of amphibious operations, rare among most mass-market aerospacefighter designs. This is likely due to the fact that the Skrmisher is a Rebliss design, as the amphibians routinely design and produce aerospace craft capable of functioning in both the aerospace and underwater environs.
The Skirmisher has a flat, broad, saucer-shaped hull split down the forward axis. The main systems are mounted along the centerline; an ejectable crew module in the front, sensor systems core in the middle, and twin Picomor 1700 powerplant/propulsion systems aft. The armaments are mounted in two pods on the ends of a transverse armature, and are modular in nature, allowing for quick refit of the fighter to different tactical mission needs. The sensor suite is standard for a light fighter, with the bulk of the sensors mounted in the ‘roller bar’ just aft of the cockpit, and in two smaller avionics bays forward of the central fuselage. Armor is standard chobham-weave composite and light alloy plating, affording modest protection . A heavy mono-level forcefield provides additional protection from enemy fire and micrometeorite impacts(many buyers who intend to use the Skirmisher as an unmanned weapons system simply strip out the forcefield generator or request it not be installed in the first place).
For added versatility, by simply removing the crew module and sliding in a new AI-equipped avionic pod, the Skirmisher can be quickly converted into an unmanned drone fighter or semi-autonomous battlesatellite.
WZT has established several factories across the Three Galaxies to mass-produce the Skirmisher in anticipation of the demand(and the predicted high-attrition rate among drone units), though the largest production facilities continue to be in the Rebliss home system. The Free Worlds Council has already bought several thousand Skirmishers, both as manned snubfighters and as unmanned weapons platforms. Two recent well-publicized incidents featuring Skirmishers have bcome part of WZT’s promotional campaign for the battlecraft; the Seige of Arsos, and the FWC’s raid on the TGE garrison world of MiReckonan. In the latter battle, attacking FWC forces ‘seeded’ the waters of the TGE world with Skirmisher ‘sleeper’ drones which were activated when the FWC forces withdrew from the planet. For weeks afterwards, TGE efforts to mount pursuit efforts and restore the planet’s important spaceport facilities were hampered by squadrons of submerged Skirmisher ‘kill-buoys’ coming on-line and attacking ships overflying the water, as well as facilities near the coasts. Imperial forces were kept tied up and their attention divided while they swept the waters for any more rebel robot ‘presents’.
Type: WZT-LF69 Skirmisher
Class: Light Aerospace Fighter
Crew: One, or robotic control
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 460
Cockpit 100
Weapons Pods(2) 100 each
Forcefield 900
Height: 8 ft
Width: 30 ft
Length: 30 ft
Weight: 5.5 tons
Cargo: Minimal; small space behind pilot’s seat for a survival pack, sidearm, and a few small personal possessions
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ 35 year energy life
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 3; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 8
(Kitsune Values: 40% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 0.8% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) Not Possible
(Underwater) Can operate up to 720 ft deep, and move at 100 knots.
Market Cost: 24 million credits; 21 million without the forcefield generators.
Systems of Note:
Standard Starfighter Systems, plus:

*Sonar---The Rebliss engineers insisted on installing a basic sonar sensor system for underwater operations, Effective range of 25 miles

Weapons Systems:
1) Weapons Pods(2)---The Skirmisher mounts its weaponry on the ends of two armatures that have a 100-degree arc of fire. Typical configuration is one long ranged weapon(missile or energy) and a short-ranged weapons system(again, missile or energy). Each nacelle can be fitted with ONE of the following:
a) Mini-Missile Pod---64
b) Short Range Missile Pod---32
c) Medium Range Missile Pod---12
d) Long Range Missile Pod---6
e) Scatter-Pulse Laser
Range: 1.5 miles in atmosphere, 3 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 3 miles in atmosphere, 300 miles in space)
Damage: 5d6x10 MD per pulse burst, affects an 200 ft wide arc.
Rate of Fire: EPCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

f) Long Range Laser
Range:2 miles in atmosphere, 4 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 4 miles in atmosphere, 400 miles in space)
Damage: 3d6x10 MD per shot
Rate of Fire: EPCHH
Payload:Effectively Unlimited

g) Particle Beam Cannon
Range:1 mile in atmosphere, 2 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 2 miles in atmosphere, 200 miles in space)
Damage: 6d6x10 MD per shot
Rate of Fire: EPCHH
Payload:Effectively Unlimited

h) Tachyon Scatter Gun
Range: 1.5 miles (2,500 m) in atmosphere, 6 miles (10,000 m) in space w/ 3 mile wide arc*
(Kitsune Values: 6 miles in atmosphere, 600 miles in space)
* Scatter width is reduced to 1/4th in atmosphere
Damage:2d4x10 MD per single cannon firing
Rate of Fire: EPCHH
Payload:Effectively Unlimited

Options:
*AI Module---WZT has made this option available that replaces the cockpit nosecone with a faired-over module containing a combat Artificial Intelligence system. Has 9 attacks per melee, +1 Initiative, +4 to Strike w/ ranged weapons, +4 to Dodge, +2 Roll, and can identify over 35,000 different spacecraft, aircraft, astronomical and atmospheric objects, and other items of military importance. The combat module is fairly intelligent and can act alone or in conjunction with other drones or manned fighters, but its tactics can be recognized as rather predictable by an experienced opponent. Cost: 6 million credits

*Self-Destruct System---Typically used in conjunction with the AI unit, as a weapon of last resort, this ordnance package turns the entire fighter into a bomb, overloading its powerplant in conjunction with a large plasma munition. Does 1d6x100 MD to an 100 ft blast radius. Cost: 400,000 credits

Variants:
*WZT-LF69 F ‘Flexie’---Experimental model with weapons modules able to rotate a full 360-degrees. Also mounts additinal maneuvering thrusters, increasing agility, and giving the fighter an additional +1 to Dodge and Roll.

*WZT-LF69 M ‘Mechanauser’---Experimental model with heavier armor (700 MDC main body and weighs in at 7 tons now), a variable forcefield(200 each side, 1,200 MDC total), two small pulse lasers on either side of the cockpit that can pivot up 100-degrees; range of 1 mile in atmosphere, 2 miles in space, and do 3d6x10 MD per rapid-fire pulse blast each--6d6x10 MD for both cannons firing simultaneously), and two large fully-functional robotic arms on the weapon swivels(weapons are still mounted on the arms’ shoulders)...Arms have 200 MD C each, robotic P.S. of 50 (do 2d6 MD on a punch, 4d6 MD on a power punch, and 3d6 MD on a tear/crush/pry), and can be fitted with plasma torches and other hull breaching tools. Typically assumes a nose-down vertical position, with the engines swiveled to the underside/back when in ‘robot’ mode. Is expected to cost about twice as much as a regular Skirmisher if and when marketed.

[KLM]

"Captain, the UWW flagship scored a direct hit on us, with her main rift-cannon. Shields are
holding, hull integrity 100%"

"Sounds too good, I have a bad feeling about this".

[taalismn]

"Captain, the UWW flagship scored a direct hit on us, with her main rift-cannon. Shields are
holding, hull integrity 100%"

"Sounds too good, I have a bad feeling about this".

Latest wrinkle in Rift/Phase/Temporal weaponry...
Hits you so hard that you don't feel it...but everybody back home(friends, family...and especially your mother/father/parental units) feels it...

[taalismn]

so the cannon's blast does not do anything to the ship, but it causes the computer onboard to send out messages of the crew's death back home to all their families.... Wow!!!!!

No, but the crew later gets messages that their families just spontaneously combusted...Ain't that a morale-killer?

[KLM]

Not neccessarily.

This kind of retaliation just creates a bunch of death-defying enemies. Be they
from Coventry, Dresden, Kabul...

...but of course the possibility is a great deterrent.
----------------

Especially, when your superior has to count with the effect, when sending you
into battle

Adios
KLM

[taalismn]

Not neccessarily.

This kind of retaliation just creates a bunch of death-defying enemies. Be they
from Coventry, Dresden, Kabul...

...but of course the possibility is a great deterrent.
----------------

Especially, when your superior has to count with the effect, when sending you
into battle

Adios
KLM

"We're going to hit you so hard, your momma's going to feel it!"
....
"Admiral Lohso, your mother would like to have a word with you about her getting smacked upside the head at tea yesterday..."

[taalismn]

No, that's if the attack wipes out your house and car as well...thus causing your loans to default and your credit rating to suffer...

[taalismn]

well.... that is a big bummer... and that's why drives man to war!

Remember...Pillage, THEN Burn.

[Aramanthus]

ROFLMAO!!! Oh that was a great series of post! I just about fell out of my chair reading them. Great new pic Darkmax! I think that is a great fightwer Taalismn!

[taalismn]

Syndian Justisis-class Frigate
“Unregistered T’Zee vessel. you are entering a Syndian Republic-governed system. Your failure to respond to previous requests for identification and warnings of your unauthorized trespass for the past 48 standard-hours have been noted. Know that your movements have been surveilled at all times and all actions monitored.
This is your last warning....Cut your engines, pull to, and identify yourselves, your destination, and your purpose in this system, IMMEDIATELY. Refusal to comply will result in a close-range demonstration of Syndian gunnery skills.”

The Justisis class came about when it became apparent that in any protracted future conflict, the humble Adris-class destroyers wouldn’t be able to hold their own for long. A larger and more robust design would be needed, and so the Justisis was prototyped. The Justisis resembles the aft engineering section of the smaller Adris, scaled up, with a completely re-designed prow and hangar bay configuration.
The Justisis addressed the two major complaints about the Adris---Armor and firepower. The thicker, sturdier, hull of the Justisis uses more advanced materials, and the larger power systen allows for a nearly two-fold increase in shield strength. The primary armament has also been upgraded to include a powerful one-two punch of particle beams and missile launchers. The advanced sensors of the Adris were not made integral to the Justisis(though its standard suite is still significantly better than that of contemporary vessels of the same class), but can instead be mounted semi-externally as mission demands require, thanks to the adoption of a modular construction system. In order to speed war-time construction and refits, with the anticipation of new technologies being brought to the fore by wartime, Syndian shipwrights adopted the use of modular hull sections to the Justisis’s fuselage...Two additional auxiliary hull sections can be added on and swapped off of the midships section, allowing the vessels to be quickly outfitted(with the facilities of a modest shipyard or fleet tender) for a variety of tasks(ironically, the Kadavists would copy this system for their own destroyer-fleet programmes).
The Justisis retains the two-squadron fighter complement of the Adrises, and adds a larger contingent of Marine boarding troops, allowing the ships to act quite ably as interdiction patrollers and raiders.
Unlike the previous Adrises, the Justisis-class CAN enter and maneuver in an atmosphere...but the hull configuration gives it a decidedly top-heavy posture when landing, and the onboard landing gear proved prone to failure on a number of occasions, resulting in one ship toppling over at a forward base, and several others forced to take off with damaged landing gear still locked in deployed condition(owing to the failure of the actuators under strain and subsequent crippling of their ability to properly retract). Most Syndian surface bases have since been equipped with special landing cradles or pits, but few Justisis crews like deploying surface-wise if they can avoid it.
The Justisis arrived in time to be deployed in numbers during the Syndian-ValarRyzellian War, where the frigates formed the bulk of capital warship squadrons. The ships came as an unpleasant surprise to the Valar-Ryzellians, despite the fact that the ships had been prototyped and tested before the war(it is rumored that the Syndian military deliberately leaked news of teething problems, cost-overruns, and contract scandals to mislead the Ryzellian intelligence services). The Justisises proved particularly effective against the Ryzellian ‘Loy’-class Heavy Destroyers, that had been having happy hunting against older Syndian Adris- and Tarnower-class vessels.
Post-War, the Justisis has become a standard ship-of-the-line, with multiple variants and versions of the ships serving in a variety of roles across Syndian space.
Type:SR-FG027
Class: Frigate
Crew: 50+50 marines and 18 pilots
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 8,000
Bridge 3,000
Long Range Missile Launchers(4) 500 each
Particle Beam Cannon(2) 500 each
Medium Laser Cannons(4) 300 each
Mini-Missile Launchers(4) 200 each
Point Defense Turrets(7) 200 each
Auxiliary Hull Pods(2)(Optional) 1,000 each
Hangar Bay 1,000
Variable Forcefields* 2,000 per side, 12,000 total

Shields regenerate at 20% per melee

Height: 120 ft
Width: 200 ft
Length: 550 ft
Weight: 13,000 tons
Cargo: 1,200 tons
Powerplant:Nuclear Fusion w/ 50 year energy life
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 3; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 10
(Kitsune Values: 60 % of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 0.0% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) 5 light years per hour
(Underwater) Not Possible
Market Cost: 600 million credits
Systems of Note:
Standard Starship Systems, plus:

*Superior Targetting---The Justisises’ superior sensors also give their weapons an additional +2 to strike.

Weapons Systems:
1) Long Range Missile Launchers(4)---These are the primary long range weapon of the Justisis-class.
Range: Varies by Missile Type
(Kitsune Values: 3,400 miles in atmosphere, 1,800,000 miles in space)
Damage:Varies by Missile Type
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-6
Payload: 60 missiles per launcher, 240 total; additional missiles may be carried and loaded from cargo, but will take at least 30 minutes(1 ton of cargo per 12 missiles)

2) Particle Beam Cannon(2)---Forward nose-mounted heavy energy weapons
Range: 7 miles in atmosphere, 14 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 14 miles in atmosphere, 14,000 miles in space)
Damage: 2d6x100 MD per shot
Rate of Fire: Three times per melee
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

3) Medium Laser Cannons(4)
Range:6 miles in atmosphere,12 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 12 miles in atmosphere, 12,000 miles in space)
Damage: 1d6x100 MD per single barrel, 2d6x100 MD for two cannons firing simultaneously(counts as one attack)
Rate of Fire:Three shots per melee
Payload:Effectively Unlimited

4)Mini-Missile Launchers(4)---Point defense mini-missile launchers, designed to hit incoming missiles and fighters with salvoes of interceptor-projectiles.
Range:Varies by Missile Type
(Kitsune Values: 2 miles in atmosphere, 100 miles in space)
Damage:Varies by Missile Type
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-8
Payload: 320 missiles each

5)Point Defense Turrets(7)----Standard laser-and-rail gun PDS turrets, arrayed to cover all approaches on the ship.
Range:(Lasers) 2 miles in atmosphere, 4 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 4 miles in atmosphere, 400 miles in space)
(Rail Cannon) 1 mile in atmosphere, 3 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 3 miles in atmosphere, 300 miles in space)
Damage:(Lasers) 2d4x10 MD per blast
(Rail Cannon) 2d6x10 MD per 20 rd burst
Rate of Fire:(Lasers) EGCHH
(Rail Cannon) EGCHH
Payload:(Lasers) Effectively Unlimited
(Rail Cannon) 500 bursts

6)(Optional) Auxiliary Hull Modules(2)---The Justisis can mount up to two large hull modules containing mission-specific avionics or extra armaments
a) Medium Range Missile Pod--_Typically used for anti-fighter/anti-missile picket work
Range:Varies by Missile Type
(Kitsune Values: 160 miles in atmosphere, 80,000 miles in space)
Damage:Varies by Missile Type
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-20
Payload: 200 missiles each launcher.

b) Long Range Missiles---These launchers are identical to those integral to the ship’s structure.
Range: Varies by Missile Type
(Kitsune Values: 3,400 miles in atmosphere, 1,800,000 miles in space)
Damage:Varies by Missile Type
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-6
Payload: 60 missiles per launcher, 240 total; additional missiles may be carried and loaded from cargo, but will take at least 30 minutes(1 ton of cargo per 12 missiles)

c) Cruise Missiles----Cruise Missile ordnance pods
Range:Varies by Missile Type
(Kitsune Values: 3,400 miles in atmosphere, 1,800,000 miles in space)
Damage:Varies by Missile Type
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-8
Payload: 32 each launcher

d)Mine Layer---Module meant to convert the ship into a mine deployer; typically to deny an enemy path of advance on a defended objective or to blockade them in their own systems.
Range: Electromagnetic catapults hurl mines out from the ship up to 10 miles before their own maneuvering thrusters activate
Damage: Varies by specific type, but most Syndian mines are equivalent to LRM warheads, but TRIPLE the blast radius
Rate of Fire: Can deploy in ‘bundles’ of 1-10
Payload: 400 mines

e) Mine Sweeper----Mine countermeasure module deploying a combination of both high intensity scanner systems and drones to remote detonate mines....Also uses ‘ghost’ projectors to create multiple sensor events at a remove from the ship, in hopes of triggering mines’ sensor thresholds. Against Ryzellian mines, these systems proved about 90% effective; against more advanced stealthed CCW and TGE systems, the current fleet-issue systems are only about 75% effective doing a ‘rough’ job.

f) Heavy Laser Cannon---Heavier than the secondary batteries mounted on the ship.
Range:8 miles in atmosphere, 16 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 16 miles in atmosphere, 16,000 miles in space)
Damage:2d4x100 MD per single barrel, 2d8x100 MD for two cannons firing simultaneously(counts as one attack)
Rate of Fire: Three times per melee
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

g) Particle Beam Cannon---Smaller, but faster recharging and firing, than those integral to the ship.
Range: 6 miles in atmosphere, 12 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 12 miles in atmosphere, 12,000 miles in space)
Damage: 2d6x100 MD per shot
Rate of Fire: Five times per melee
Payload:Effectively Unlimited

h) Plasma Torpedo Launcher---An experimental weapon that fires a packet of plasma encased in a deteriorating ‘wrapper’ of magnetic force
Range: 5 miles in atmosphere, 10 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 10 miles in atmosphere, 10,000 miles in space)
Damage: 3d6x100 MD to a 200 ft blast radius
Rate of Fire:Three times per melee
Payload:Effectively Unlimited

i) Gravity-Cannon---Heavy projectile cannon
Range: 8 miles in atmosphere, 16 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 16 miles in atmosphere, 16,000 miles in space)
Damage: 1d6x100 per burst
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: 300 burst magazine

k) Massdriver---A surface assault weapon
Range: 10 miles in atmosphere, 25 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 25 miles in atmosphere, 25,000 miles in space)
Damage: 1d4x100 MD in space, but does 3d6x1,000 MD against surface targets, 100 blast radius, plus an additional 1d4x100 MD to another 300 ft beyond that...
Rate of Fire: Twice per melee
Payload: 150 shot magazine

l) Long Range Sensor Module---Enhanced sensors that make the Justisis equivalent to (and even slightly better than) the previous Adris-class pickets; The sensors can pick up on vessels moving at FTL up to 21.4 light years away, and vessels moving through normal space up to 0.93 light years away.

Auxiliary Craft:
12 Aerospace Fighters
2 Shuttles

[Aramanthus]

That is one wicked ship! I always enjoy the variants of the material you come up with Taalismn! Just one thing..... In the minesweeper version does it include superior short ranged sensors to be able to target the mines?

[Aramanthus]

You'd still need the overall awesome sensors to coordinate the sweep of the drones. Since drones will probably be cheap and quickly replaceable.

[Aramanthus]

Drone are still cheap compared to ships anyday.

[KLM]

For my part mines to be effective at all, they need to be stealthy, smart enough to
engage vessels in sufficient numbers coordinated and of course able to move
or at least attack from a range (because space is HUGE).

This makes them more like sentry guns or missile launchers.

So cleaning them requires a special sensors - ie. detect the mines before
they lock on you.

Just my two cents.

Adios
KLM

[Aramanthus]

I agree with you sentiment on mines in Phase World too KLM.

[KLM]

Good for any space setting, for that matter.

Adios
KLM

[Aramanthus]

And there are probably a lot of them in vast fields thru out Phase World where battles were fought maybe even centuries ago.

[taalismn]

That is one wicked ship! I always enjoy the variants of the material you come up with Taalismn! Just one thing..... In the minesweeper version does it include superior short ranged sensors to be able to target the mines?

Yep....no bonuses to tactical systems like PDS...it's more like a slow wide-area scan to detect stealthed hardware..

Hmmm...maybe I should add bonuses to detect passively-stealthed vessels?

Mine warfare in space is a tough call to stat out...especially countermeasure success...

[taalismn]

So cleaning them requires a special sensors - ie. detect the mines before
they lock on you.

Just my two cents.

Adios
KLM

Especially since you can expect to be sifting through a LOT of space debris, rocks, and other stuff that could send your sensors into a tizzy over it being a mine, when it's just a cold hard rock...

[Aramanthus]

Most military gear in our world is protected against EMP. Germanium/arsenide circuitry is nearly immune to EMP. I would say that most militaries in Phase world would be nearly immune to it. The civilian gear would be most likely effected by EMP. It is in our world too.

[Aramanthus]

Yes, that is true. I would say that most military grade equipment can shrug off most emps pretty easily. Except for one that is maybe right on top of the gear. Of course if one goes off inside of one, who knows. But I'd still say the effects are minimalized with military vehicles. Like against the Protector class battleship could probably ignore most if not all EMP attacks.

[KLM]

For my part, EMP - as any energy attack - has to first deplete the shields before
doing any damage or disturbance in actual hardware.

Adios
KLM

[KLM]

Not exactly.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_pulse

In short, the EMP generates current (ie. electricity) in the target, with the
aim to overload electronics with current and voltage surges.

But in essence, EMP is electromagnectic radiation, same as lasers, masers,
gamma rays, you name it - and since shield do protect against them, they
would protect the ship against EMP too.

However, as EMP aims to burn out the fine and vulnerable electronics, it
is a comparatively low energy attack - therefore it is possible to affect
an area with limited energy use.

Directed energy weapons (f.ex: lasers) however put the same amount of
energy into a focused point.

All this is important for one reason: if the GM wants to apply some amount
of reality, area effect EMP weapons do rather small damage on shields.

Once shields are down, however... One can iimplement defenses in
electronics against power surges - but the more "micro" is that
microelectronics (say, in our computers) the less defense can be built
in without seriously hampering its capabilities.

Anoher bad news are, that future computers do not have to be the
same semiconductor based stuff we use today. Optical computers...

Adios
KLM

[KLM]

Yes I heard about that. But if one then targets the generator's power distribution center or transport medium, then the EMP would do just the same, but of course shields must again be brought down first

Actually, it looks like not the high-powered are vulnerable, but more like computer and sensory systems.

A Ford T-model for example, with its mechanical ingition-distribution system will shrug off EMP, as
well as elecron tube or even relay based elecronics.

Adios
KLM

[taalismn]

Yes I heard about that. But if one then targets the generator's power distribution center or transport medium, then the EMP would do just the same, but of course shields must again be brought down first

Actually, it looks like not the high-powered are vulnerable, but more like computer and sensory systems.

A Ford T-model for example, with its mechanical ingition-distribution system will shrug off EMP, as
well as elecron tube or even relay based elecronics.

Adios
KLM

So those E.E. 'Doc' Smith superdreadnoughts which use old fashioned tubes are going to be immune to EMP...
Start designing starships with vac tubes, folks!

[KLM]

Just install a force field protecting the computer core, and invest
some more in shields.

Mind you, to reproduce the performance of YOUR tabletop computer
with vacuum tubes-based design...It would take the better half of
- say - Manhattan. And maintenance crew of thousands, who currently
change faulty tubes.

Adios
KLM

[KLM]

And a nuclear power plant to feed it, of course.

[taalismn]

Sure it would be clumsy...but...hmmmm...maybe a race that has an insect-like undercaste whose sole purpose is to change vacuum tubes aboard ship....
The ships would be huge and bulky, but perhaps the species that builds them has no choice...imminent supernova, crude technology, but a few flashes of inspiration, workable theory, but lagging tech, spurred by the need to do SOMETHING...

[taalismn]

may be they feed on whatever's left in a burnt vacuum tube....

Maybe they ARE the vacuum tubes...like honeybottle ants...

[KLM]

imminent supernova, crude technology, but a few flashes of inspiration, workable theory, but lagging tech, spurred by the need to do SOMETHING...

Which makes me wonder, how catyrs managed information
science without semiconductors.

Adios
KLM

[taalismn]

imminent supernova, crude technology, but a few flashes of inspiration, workable theory, but lagging tech, spurred by the need to do SOMETHING...

Which makes me wonder, how catyrs managed information
science without semiconductors.

Adios
KLM

Steampunk, babbage engines, the Calculor, lots of quick fingers and abaccuses?

[KLM]

Abacus and slide rule are more potent toys
than then look like.

However, for FTL travels, one needs "proper"
computers. Maybe optical-based ones in case
of catyrs.

Adios
KLM

[taalismn]

Could be...lot of novel new 'alternate' technologies coming out both in sci-fi and in reality to play around with...

[KLM]

Open a soda can to turn the ship, another to stop the rolling, start opening
soda cans now facing forward...

However, unless the idea is backed by Inglix (no self-respecting other
Techno Wizard would do it), it is a bit "physically challenged" to say so.


Adios
KLM

[KLM]

Even if the cargo also contains some menthol pastilles, it would take AGES to reach a starport.

[taalismn]

Kishandral Mogaidas-class Cruiser
“You’re not going to believe that hhogda-excrement the Legors are dishing out about the Commune sending in a cruiser and mercilessly blasting the Legor-Slyis colony domes open, exposing helpless fem-mots and hundreds of Kishlings to cold vacuum? The Legors write a fine sensationalist story for people who weren’t there, but it’s hardly the truth! We didn’t park the -Rantiss Shield- next to a small unarmed asteroid community and start bullying the elders and the families there before openning fire in hot kill-rage on a hapless cluster of rock-huggers! The Commune sent the -Rantiss Shield- there because it was a heavy cruiser, and had the armor and firepower to deal with what we knew was REALLY there...a Legor clan arms factory that was churning out isotopic warheads in violation of the treaty we’d signed with them...’Fragile agro-domes filled with verdant life’ my inflammed excretory nodes! We found out about the place by tracking the food and supply shipments! No bunch of ‘peaceful subsistance minders’ needs six breeder reactors! And the moment we came in and challenged them...which we didn’t HAVE to do, I remind you...those domes openned up on us with gigawatt x-ray lasers....Those things scored the ship’s hull and almost melted through...Blessed be the Yard, that made the -’Shield- tough as her name!....We gave as good as we got, in return...better, because we were prepared..But we had no choice but to rake the place once they showed their true colors...Breached their reactors and scattered enough fissionables...not babies...around that place that it’s STILL glowing with rad-stink....
Of course, the Legors are claiming they’re the victims here...They lost eight months of fissionable production and a few hundred warheads...but can you honestly expect those treaty breakers to tell the truth for ONCE?”
-Kril Kalgosia Mopha, Essendro Commune Warship (ECW)-Rantiss Shield-.

The Mogaidas is the Kishandral answer to the Warshield cruiser; a stark, slab-sided, gun-heavy warship that can take a beating and dish one out. They are among the heaviest ships the Kishandral can currently build.
The Mogaida is a long, tall, narrow, starkly angular vessel of box-slab construction, its sides broken by the octagonal plates of phased-array sensors and semi-recessed gun and missile turrets. The bridge is well forward, hidden behind bunker-like armored slits; a secondary bridge hides in a ‘dogtooth’ notch in the lower hull, just aft of the deployment bay for the ship’s complement of shuttles and boarding launches. By CCW and TGE standards, the Mogaidas is big, slow, and more than a few centuries out of date in its avionics and systems. However, the ships are heavily reinforced in their construction and can take a beating, and their weapons batteries, though outdated, are numerous enough that their massed fire can do a fair amount of damage, even to modern shields. Their normal space propulsion is equally dated, but still capable of a respectable turn of speed, just below that of a CCW Warshield’s, but their FTL systems are quite slow for a modern combat unit. Internally, Mogaidas are described as rather roomy....without access to the advanced automation used by other stellar powers, the Kishandral need large crews and plenty of room to service the various systems. The ships tend to be rather low on creature comforts, however, except in the officer quarters.
The Mogaidas is an old design that has been around for several centuries, so, despite its cost and operating expenses, a few have drifted into private hands(not many, but a few). However, only the largest and most prosperous Kishandral clans can afford to maintain one of these giants, and they frequently make the ships their flagships. The largest number of Mogaidas serve the Kishandral planetary governments, like the Essendro Commune and the Kil-Sta Republic,which have several dozen ‘Mogas’ each in their fleet forces.
Type: HKF-CG10
Class: Medium Cruiser
Crew: 320 +50 troops/passengers
MDC/Armor by Location:
Main Body 48,000
Bridge 9,000
Secondary Bridge 8,000
Hangar Bay 3,000
Heavy Laser Turrets(3) 1,000 each
Long Range Missile Launchers(4) 800 each
Secondary Laser Batteries(6) 500 each
Tri-Laser Clusters(10) 250 each
Swarmguns(8) 400 each
Variable Forcefields ---3,000 per side(18,000 total)*

*Shields regenerate at 15% per melee

Height: 130 ft
Width: 280 ft
Length: 750 ft
Weight: 180,000 tons
Cargo: 15,000 tons
Powerplant: Nuclear Fusion w/ 40 year energy life
Speed:
(Atmosphere) Hover to Mach 3; transatmospheric.
(Sublight) Mach 8
(Kitsune Values: 60% of light speed; Accelerates/decelerates at 0.8% of light speed per melee)
(FTL) 2 light years per hour
(Underwater) Not Possible
Market Cost: 2.8 billion credits
Systems of Note:
Standard Starship Systems:
Weapons Systems:
1) Heavy Laser Turrets(2x3)----The Mogaidas carries a heavy energy armament of six heavy long-range lasers in three turrets; one in the nose, and two aft, in ventral and dorsal positions. These weapons use an older brute-force lasing technology, using meter-thick crystals of galitinium arsenide, still seen among many older Kittani designs(which is where presumably the Kish copied them). Though inexpensive to produce (compared to more advanced proccesses), the GA-crystals tend to become unstable after an estimated one hundred shots, and begin subliming into toxic tosgen gas. While the gas doesn’t pose a problem for power-armored Kittani guncrews and for the Kish, who are immune to tosgen, the breakdown of the crystals, if unnoticed and unchecked, can lead to sudden and catastrophic flash-feedbacks, destroying the weapon adn often the entire turret(especially if the tosgen gas hasn’t been vented, adding to the combustion effects). Standard procedure is to replace the entire weapons core after eighty shots(takes a well trained guncrew about twenty minutes), and run in a fresh lasing crystal, but that isn’t always done in the heat of protracted battle; several Mogaidas have been known to have been crippled from flash-explosions of their own main armament.
Range: 20 miles in atmosphere, 60 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 60 miles in atmosphere, 60,000 miles in space)
Damage: 4d6x100 MD per single barrel, 8d6x100 MD for both cannons firing simultaneously
Rate of Fire: Twice per barrel
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

2)Secondary Laser Batteries(6)--These are lower-caliber/power weapons with a faster rate of recharge and fire. The Kish engineers use a different lasing system from the galitinium arsenide cores used in the main batteries, so they don’t suffer the same crystal deterioration problem. They do have a lower damage spread than equivalent CCW weapons, though they have slightly better atmospheric penetration capabilities.
Range: 8 miles in atmosphere, 16 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 16 miles in atmosphere, 16,000 miles in space)
Damage: 1d6x100 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: Twice per melee.
Payload:Effectively Unlimited

3) Long Range Missile Launchers(4)---The Mogaidas carry a heavy armament of long range missiles in four massive box-turrets; two forward on lateral mounts, and two aft on dorsal and ventral mounts.
Range: Varies by Missile Type
(Kitsune Values: 3,400 miles in atmosphere, 1,800,000 miles in space)
Damage:Varies by Missile Type
Rate of Fire: Volleys of 1-20
Payload: 100 missiles each launcher, 400 total; additional missiles may be carried and loaded from cargo, but will take at least 30 minutes(1 ton of cargo per 12 missiles)

4) Laser Point Defense Clusters(10)----The Kish use light ball-mount lasers mounted in clusters of three as their standard PDS energy weapons; a system believed to be copied from old Kittani designs.
Range: 3 miles in atmosphere, 10 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 10 miles in atmosphere, 100 miles in space)
Damage: 1d6x10 MD per blast
Rate of Fire: EGCHH
Payload: Effectively Unlimited

5) SwarmGuns(8) ---’Swarmguns’ are essentially massive multi-barrel calliope-style ‘shotguns’, similar in concept to the terrestrial ‘Metalstorm’ gun concept, that throw huge volleys of flying metal at targets, essentially sandblasting missiles and fighters with hypervelocity shrapnel. The Kish have decided on the use of swarmguns as a low-cost low-tech point defense system over conventional rail- and gravitic-cannons .
Range: 2 miles in atmosphere, 6 miles in space
(Kitsune Values: 6 miles in atmosphere, 600 miles in space)
Damage: 5d6x10 MD per blast to a 100 ft area
Rate of Fire: Up to 10 volley-blasts per melee
Payload: Each battery consists of 40 tubes, each loaded with 10 charges(for a total of 400 shots!). Once spent, the battery is upended and reloaded from inside the ship, a process that takes about 2 minutes(8 melees).

Auxiliary Craft:
3 Heavy Shuttles
10-50 Power Armors
Up to four heavy fighters can be docked externally

Variants:
*HKF-CG10-K’Kaidos’---An upgunned version seen fielded by the Kano-Flenn Clan(and named for one of their great founders), the Kaidos-model mounts THREE heavy lasers in each of the three turrets, for a total of nine heavy lasers.

[Aramanthus]

Excellent new ship! Another one to fill the vast void! Cool! I like how you indicate that some of them could be in the hands of pirates and mercs!

[taalismn]

...... BORGS!!!!

Not quite as square, but definitely not winning any beauty contests....

This is starkly functional, we're-too-poor-to-afford-aesthetics-on-a-warship, design typical of what you see in the smaller worlds that haven't yet starting buying most of their technology from the general market, or are too prideful to adopt other people's designs...

[KLM]

As I said earlier functionality alone can result in aesthetically
pleasing ships.

For my part, I find Kreeghor ship illustrations... Well, let's
just say less than satisfactory.

Even organic hulls aren't a good enough excuse for them.

But well... tastes differ.

-----------------
As for squarish ships... I think one of the most cramped and
claustrophobic vehicle type is the MBT - however, current
designs all feature angular shapes.

Adios
KLM

[gaby]

The ships in Startrek,Starwars,Farscape,Babylon5 look much better.

Do you keep with canon of Phase world books or from a another source?

Known any Good spaceship art sites?

[taalismn]

The ships in Startrek,Starwars,Farscape,Babylon5 look much better.

Do you keep with canon of Phase world books or from a another source?

Known any Good spaceship art sites?

I use Kitsune's rules mainly, but include canon stats....
But I figure there's gotta be far more than the paltry number of Battleships listed for the CAF for a power projection capability that holds sway over THREE galaxies....
I also figure there's a lot of little shipbuilders serving the independents or the smaller contracts for the TGE, CCW, and UWW... For the TGE it's the assimilated space navies of conquered peoples and IMperial subjects, for the CCW it's various affiliated member states, for the UWW, it's people like the Rhilith of the Gear, who are grateful members of the UWW...