The New Zentraedi Warship

[mech798]

Or rather an old warship from some preproduction art:



Bigger than a regular zentraedi flagship with about 2x the internal volume. Now, I have my ideas what it might be used for, but what would you use it for, keeping in mind that reusing production art is a grand old tradition in robotech rpgs.

[Jefffar]

If HG has the rights to use it, I could see a hybrid command/assault vessel optimized for delivering large bodies of troops to a battlezone and managing the battle.

[Seto Kaiba]

Bigger than a regular zentraedi flagship with about 2x the internal volume. Now, I have my ideas what it might be used for, but what would you use it for, keeping in mind that reusing production art is a grand old tradition in robotech rpgs.

Big freaking hangars? Seems like a slam dunk it's a larger version of the Quiltra Queleual-class LST designed to carry more reentry pods and other large craft like theater scouts.

[taalismn]

If HG has the rights to use it, I could see a hybrid command/assault vessel optimized for delivering large bodies of troops to a battlezone and managing the battle.

The large 'radome' would bear that out.

The drawback would be the putting of too many eggs in one expensive basket, rather than multiple smaller craft with greater tactical flexibility. After a few run-ins with forces that target the Big Hulking Target managing the battle, the Masters go back to the canonical fleet configuration.

[Jefffar]

If HG has the rights to use it, I could see a hybrid command/assault vessel optimized for delivering large bodies of troops to a battlezone and managing the battle.

The large 'radome' would bear that out.

The drawback would be the putting of too many eggs in one expensive basket, rather than multiple smaller craft with greater tactical flexibility. After a few run-ins with forces that target the Big Hulking Target managing the battle, the Masters go back to the canonical fleet configuration.

Perhaps this is an older model that was mostly phased out for just such a reason?

[taalismn]

Perhaps this is an older model that was mostly phased out for just such a reason?

Indeed. The survivors got shifted to the reserve fleets as their electronics and avionics became outmoded by newer developments, and the smaller, more easily constructed ships fitted with the newer tech.

If you're using the Disciples of Zor as an enemy, then these ships can prove particularly appetizing targets or vulnerable to hack attacks(and the DoZ make off with a number of these vessels after ripping their systems and scoring (relatively) bloodless coups in taking them over.

[glitterboy2098]

personally i think i'd go another way.. instead of a redundant class to do stuff we already have, i'd make it a massive supply ship, for carrying supplies for task forces that were going to be away from a factory sat for a long time. it would carry munitions, water, food, etc.. all the expendables such a task force might otherwise run low on. those large openings would be hangers for supply shuttles used for Unrep..

making it a zent equivalent of perhaps a Destroyer Tender or a Replenishment ship.. an auxiliary/support vessel, rather than a mainline combatant.

one would presume such vessels are not entirely common (since most fleets of zents would be operating close to a factory sat) but the master's would certainly be aware of the need to extend the duration of zent operations away from the factory sats, given the search for zor's ship.

[taalismn]

personally i think i'd go another way.. instead of a redundant class to do stuff we already have, i'd make it a massive supply ship, for carrying supplies for task forces that were going to be away from a factory sat for a long time. it would carry munitions, water, food, etc.. all the expendables such a task force might otherwise run low on. those large openings would be hangers for supply shuttles used for Unrep..

"The DoZ just destroyed our entire supply of toilet paper."
"THE BASTARDS!!!"

[Alpha 11]

personally i think i'd go another way.. instead of a redundant class to do stuff we already have, i'd make it a massive supply ship, for carrying supplies for task forces that were going to be away from a factory sat for a long time. it would carry munitions, water, food, etc.. all the expendables such a task force might otherwise run low on. those large openings would be hangers for supply shuttles used for Unrep..

"The DoZ just destroyed our entire supply of toilet paper."
"THE BASTARDS!!!"

Still, nice drawing.

[cobra73]

I kind read somewhere that humans thought that Zentraedi fleets were composed of one large combatant supported by smaller ships, so when i wrote stats for that ship i based it on that. The vessel served as the command vessel and carried supplies such as mecha, fuel, replacement personnel, etc for the rest of the fleet. The large side hangars (the dark areas) were to make transfers easier as the ships could even dock partially into them for transfers.
Basically as newer, more capable ships were introduced, the vessel was phased out and replaced by the Flagship that appears in the series. It is possible that ships of this type were stored on the Tirolian equivalent of a ship graveyard to be found later.

[taalismn]

I kind read somewhere that humans thought that Zentraedi fleets were composed of one large combatant supported by smaller ships, so when i wrote stats for that ship i based it on that. The vessel served as the command vessel and carried supplies such as mecha, fuel, replacement personnel, etc for the rest of the fleet. The large side hangars (the dark areas) were to make transfers easier as the ships could even dock partially into them for transfers.
Basically as newer, more capable ships were introduced, the vessel was phased out and replaced by the Flagship that appears in the series. It is possible that ships of this type were stored on the Tirolian equivalent of a ship graveyard to be found later.

Good enough. And the energy crisis afflicting the empire would have been an even bigger incentive not to bring the mothballed ships out of reserve even with attrition losses, since their fuel requirements would have been fairly high.

[jaymz]

I just use it as a old class of cruiser/destroyer....