I've been lurking these forums for a while as I play my first serious game of Aurora. (6. 10) I played a TN start, and followed along more-or-less with the tutorials.
I took to heart the advice to standardize hull sizes and speeds in order to simplify logistics and not leave excess capability on the table. I picked 7500t as my 'destroyer' weight. I had bought my own techs as part of the start, and had ion drive tech. Consequently, I wound up with the following design:
Hermes class Destroyer 7,500 tons 193 Crew 1103.8 BP TCS 150 TH 600 EM 0
4000 km/s Armour 4-34 Shields 0-0 Sensors 12/12/0/0 Damage Control Rating 4 PPV 29.7
Maint Life 4.68 Years MSP 368 AFR 112% IFR 1.6% 1YR 27 5YR 411 Max Repair 44 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months Spare Berths 2
60 EP Ion Drive (10) Power 60 Fuel Use 66.5% Signature 60 Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 550,000 Litres Range 19.8 billion km (57 days at full power)
15cm C3 Near Ultraviolet Laser (3) Range 180,000km TS: 4000 km/s Power 6-3 RM 3 ROF 10 6 6 6 4 3 3 2 2 2 1
Twin 10cm C3 Near Ultraviolet Laser Turret (2x2) Range 90,000km TS: 15000 km/s Power 6-6 RM 3 ROF 5 3 3 3 2 1 1 1 1 1 0
Fire Control S04 96-3000 (1) Max Range: 192,000 km TS: 3000 km/s 95 90 84 79 74 69 64 58 53 48
Fire Control S04 24-12000 (1) Max Range: 48,000 km TS: 12000 km/s 79 58 38 17 0 0 0 0 0 0
Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor Technology PB-1 (10) Total Power Output 45 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Active Search Sensor MR9-R100 (1) GPS 1600 Range 9.6m km Resolution 100
Active Search Sensor MR0-R1 (1) GPS 16 Range 960k km Resolution 1
Thermal Sensor TH2-12 (1) Sensitivity 12 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 12m km
EM Detection Sensor EM2-12 (1) Sensitivity 12 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 12m km
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
I went for the high speed because I figured a beam warship would need the initiative to attack or break contact quickly.
The first extrasolar system I explored had no bodies, just dozens of prospective jump points.
The second system I lucked out - one planet and one moon very very close to my habitability requirements. I sent a pair of terraforming ships through the gate -- and then found out that the planet had inhabitants.
Despite reversing my course, the alien warships quickly caught up with the Terraforms, and after following along for a few weeks, blew them out of the skies with a huge missile barrage.
I had sent the two destroyers out to meet the returning ships, so they arrived on scene shortly thereafter. Due to my initial clumsiness with the time step controls, fire control, and so on, I wound up eating two missile salvos with my first destroyer. It survived, mostly due to the 4 armour I'd put on it. While it limped away, I brought in the second destroyer more circumspectly.
This is where I discovered my massively lucky design decision: The enemy race's AMM design speed was. . . . 4000kps. Same as my destroyer. By flying circles around their fleet, I could shoot down missiles in droves while throwing the 15cm weapons against the launchers. I fought a missile/beam engagement at about 100,000km. In the end, once the first destroyer had repaired and returned, I think I shot down over 10,000 AMMs. Once I got good at the turn & burn, none of them hit.
If my design speed had been 3900kps, or the missiles' 5000kps, I'd have been wiped out in the first engagement.
I now have a much greater respect for missile tech! I've just fielded my first missile escorts. I've learned from my enemy's mistakes - my missiles go 24,000kps.
(edit - inserted the code for the ship design, since this is, after all, the Bureau of Ship Design)
