Hit and Run Corvette

[CharonJr (OP)]

Hi,

a higher tech alien race shot down one of my diplomacy ships and they will have to pay for it (most of their observed likely warships moved at 8-9k).

Since I want to bring the fight to them sooner rather than later (without having the use missiles) I am designing a beam Corvette (really a oversized carrier based FAC). Main mission: Engage enemy beam ships with Hit and Run tactics - move in, have the shields/armor to get close - ideally to around 50kkm (less if they have good long range beams), hit the enemy hard, move out of range to recharge shields and the laser, repeat.

Obviously better armor/larger shields are helpful there, but those take space. And Shield Size 15 (S46) is my current max. The current carriers have 8k hangar space, but since anti-missile fighters and sensor craft are needed anyway this is not really important.

So what do you think, when the additional carrier space needed is no longer worth the added protection. Ideally this would be based on the enemy weapons, but I have no information about their longer ranged beam capabilites.

I am leaving missiles out of the equation here because if my anit-missile screen is unable to deal with them the fleet is doomed anyway.

At my current tech level I came up with 4 options:

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Lightning O1 class Corvette (P)      3 000 tons       147 Crew       1 079.2 BP       TCS 60    TH 1 200    EM 450
20004 km/s      Armour 4-18       Shields 15-257       HTK 14      Sensors 0/0/0/0      DCR 0      PPV 8
Maint Life 0.38 Years     MSP 822    AFR 720%    IFR 10.0%    1YR 2 173    5YR 32 599    Max Repair 600.00 MSP
Commander    Control Rating 1   BRG   
Intended Deployment Time: 3 days    Morale Check Required   

Magneto-plasma Drive  EP1200.00 (1)    Power 1200.0    Fuel Use 394.36%    Signature 1200.00    Explosion 30%
Fuel Capacity 33 000 Litres    Range 0.5 billion km (6 hours at full power)
Delta S15 / R257 Shields (1)     Recharge Time 257 seconds (0.1 per second)

31.250cm C1 Ultraviolet Laser (1)    Range 256 000km     TS: 20 004 km/s     Power 26-1     RM 40 000 km    ROF 130        26 26 26 26 20 17 14 13 11 10
Beam Fire Control R256-TS20000 (1)     Max Range: 256 000 km   TS: 20 000 km/s     96 92 88 84 80 77 73 69 65 61
Tokamak Fusion Reactor R1 (1)     Total Power Output 1    Exp 5%

Active Search Sensor AS5-R1 (1)     GPS 9     Range 5.4m km    MCR 488.1k km    Resolution 1

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Lightning O2 class Corvette (P)      3 600 tons       166 Crew       1 256.8 BP       TCS 72    TH 1 440    EM 870
20003 km/s      Armour 5-20       Shields 29-316       HTK 15      Sensors 0/0/0/0      DCR 0      PPV 8
Maint Life 0.26 Years     MSP 941    AFR 1036%    IFR 14.4%    1YR 3 674    5YR 55 108    Max Repair 720.00 MSP
Commander    Control Rating 1   BRG   
Intended Deployment Time: 3 days    Morale Check Required   

Magneto-plasma Drive  EP1440.00 (1)    Power 1440.0    Fuel Use 360.00%    Signature 1440.00    Explosion 30%
Fuel Capacity 31 000 Litres    Range 0.4 billion km (5 hours at full power)
Delta S29 / R316 Shields (1)     Recharge Time 316 seconds (0.1 per second)

31.250cm C1 Ultraviolet Laser (1)    Range 256 000km     TS: 20 003 km/s     Power 26-1     RM 40 000 km    ROF 130        26 26 26 26 20 17 14 13 11 10
Beam Fire Control R256-TS20000 (1)     Max Range: 256 000 km   TS: 20 000 km/s     96 92 88 84 80 77 73 69 65 61
Tokamak Fusion Reactor R1 (1)     Total Power Output 1    Exp 5%

Active Search Sensor AS5-R1 (1)     GPS 9     Range 5.4m km    MCR 488.1k km    Resolution 1

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Lightning O3 class Corvette (P)      4 200 tons       185 Crew       1 439.9 BP       TCS 84    TH 1 680    EM 1 380
20004 km/s      Armour 6-23       Shields 46-368       HTK 15      Sensors 0/0/0/0      DCR 0      PPV 8
Maint Life 0.18 Years     MSP 1 061    AFR 1411%    IFR 19.6%    1YR 5 936    5YR 89 041    Max Repair 840.00 MSP
Commander    Control Rating 1   BRG   
Intended Deployment Time: 3 days    Morale Check Required   

Magneto-plasma Drive  EP1680.00 (1)    Power 1680.0    Fuel Use 333.30%    Signature 1680.00    Explosion 30%
Fuel Capacity 17 000 Litres    Range 0.2 billion km (3 hours at full power)
Delta S46 / R368 Shields (1)     Recharge Time 368 seconds (0.1 per second)

31.250cm C1 Ultraviolet Laser (1)    Range 256 000km     TS: 20 004 km/s     Power 26-1     RM 40 000 km    ROF 130        26 26 26 26 20 17 14 13 11 10
Beam Fire Control R256-TS20000 (1)     Max Range: 256 000 km   TS: 20 000 km/s     96 92 88 84 80 77 73 69 65 61
Tokamak Fusion Reactor R1 (1)     Total Power Output 1    Exp 5%

Active Search Sensor AS5-R1 (1)     GPS 9     Range 5.4m km    MCR 488.1k km    Resolution 1

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Lightning O4 class Corvette (P)      3 240 tons       160 Crew       1 123.3 BP       TCS 65    TH 1 296    EM 1 380
20001 km/s      Armour 1-19       Shields 46-368       HTK 15      Sensors 0/0/0/0      DCR 0      PPV 8
Maint Life 0.29 Years     MSP 741    AFR 840%    IFR 11.7%    1YR 2 596    5YR 38 947    Max Repair 648.00 MSP
Commander    Control Rating 1   BRG   
Intended Deployment Time: 3 days    Morale Check Required   

Magneto-plasma Drive  EP1296.00 (1)    Power 1296.0    Fuel Use 379.47%    Signature 1296.00    Explosion 30%
Fuel Capacity 6 000 Litres    Range 0.1 billion km (1 hours at full power)
Delta S46 / R368 Shields (1)     Recharge Time 368 seconds (0.1 per second)

31.250cm C1 Ultraviolet Laser (1)    Range 256 000km     TS: 20 001 km/s     Power 26-1     RM 40 000 km    ROF 130        26 26 26 26 20 17 14 13 11 10
Beam Fire Control R256-TS20000 (1)     Max Range: 256 000 km   TS: 20 000 km/s     96 92 88 84 80 77 73 69 65 61
Tokamak Fusion Reactor R1 (1)     Total Power Output 1    Exp 5%

Active Search Sensor AS5-R1 (1)     GPS 9     Range 5.4m km    MCR 488.1k km    Resolution 1

Which option would you prefer?

[Droll]

What is your ideal strike range? Right now im thinking version 2 but that one has an effective strike range below 200m kilometers (don't forget return and combat loiter time). That one is also nice because your carrier can fit 2 and have 800 tons to space for support.

The total lack of gauss is a bummer though im guessing with how fast they are you are relying to evasion as opposed to PD to survive.

Im curious as to what your carrier design is.

[CharonJr (OP)]

The idea is to deplete the enemy missiles before getting into beam range (the heavy lifters for missile defense are the Chicago Destroyer Escorts). But if they have to, Bee Gauss Fighters can mostly keep up with the Corvettes, same for the dedicated sensor craft.

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Bee class Fighter      500 tons       25 Crew       170.3 BP       TCS 10    TH 192    EM 0
19224 km/s      Armour 1-5       Shields 0-0       HTK 7      Sensors 0/0/0/0      DCR 0      PPV 4
Maint Life 5.06 Years     MSP 61    AFR 20%    IFR 0.3%    1YR 4    5YR 60    Max Repair 48 MSP
Lieutenant Commander    Control Rating 1   
Intended Deployment Time: 1.5 days    Morale Check Required   

Magneto-plasma Drive  EP96.00 (2)    Power 192    Fuel Use 1394.27%    Signature 96    Explosion 30%
Fuel Capacity 6 000 Litres    Range 0.2 billion km (2 hours at full power)

Mulqueen Precision Arms Gauss Cannon R400-17.00 (4x4)    Range 32 000km     TS: 19 224 km/s     Accuracy Modifier 17.00%     RM 40 000 km    ROF 5       
Chenevert-Theroux Beam Fire Control R32-TS20000 (1)     Max Range: 32 000 km   TS: 20 000 km/s     69 38 6 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and planetary interaction

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Chicago class Destroyer Escort      8 000 tons       216 Crew       1 507.5 BP       TCS 160    TH 640    EM 0
4000 km/s      Armour 2-35       Shields 0-0       HTK 88      Sensors 0/0/0/0      DCR 12      PPV 80.32
Maint Life 1.63 Years     MSP 635    AFR 256%    IFR 3.6%    1YR 282    5YR 4 233    Max Repair 320 MSP
Captain    Control Rating 3   BRG   AUX   CIC   
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Morale Check Required   

Magneto-plasma Drive  EP640.00 (1)    Power 640    Fuel Use 25.00%    Signature 640    Explosion 10%
Fuel Capacity 292 000 Litres    Range 26.3 billion km (76 days at full power)

Quad Mulqueen Precision Arms Gauss Cannon R400-17.00 Turret (16x16)    Range 40 000km     TS: 20000 km/s     Power 0-0     RM 40 000 km    ROF 5       
Chenevert-Theroux  Beam Fire Control R128-TS20000 (2)     Max Range: 128 000 km   TS: 20 000 km/s     92 84 77 69 61 53 45 38 30 22

Active Search Sensor AS9-R1 (1)     GPS 21     Range 9.7m km    MCR 870.6k km    Resolution 1

The (escort) carrier is just a hangar with an engine and double the usual deployment time of my fleet.

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Wasp Mk2 class Escort Carrier      16 000 tons       252 Crew       2 105.7 BP       TCS 320    TH 1 280    EM 0
4000 km/s      Armour 4-56       Shields 0-0       HTK 76      Sensors 0/0/0/0      DCR 6      PPV 0
Maint Life 1.88 Years     MSP 1 293    AFR 341%    IFR 4.7%    1YR 469    5YR 7 039    Max Repair 320 MSP
Hangar Deck Capacity 8 000 tons     
Commander    Control Rating 2   BRG   PFC   
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months    Flight Crew Berths 220    Morale Check Required   

Magneto-plasma Drive  EP640.00 (2)    Power 1280    Fuel Use 25.00%    Signature 640    Explosion 10%
Fuel Capacity 777 000 Litres    Range 35 billion km (101 days at full power)

[xenoscepter]

On the Lightnings:

You could get away with smaller sensors, I'm not sure what the ones you have mounted weigh, but even with an Active Strength of 10 and an EM Strength of 5 you could easily get away with a 5 Ton sensor @ Resolution 1 for the purposes of Target Acquisition when using a beam weapon. Right now your Active Sensors have 20x the range of your guns AND your FCS. Range is too short, even for carrier-based craft. You want about 1 billion km total range. Remember that for the purposes of A to B transit, divided your total range by two, but for combat divided it by three as you have A to B, fight at B, (hopefully) return to A.

You don't have to divide it equally mind you... 0.3 Billion for transit to the OpFor, 0.1 Billion for Combat Maneuvers, and another 0.3 Billion for RTB gives you 0.7 billion km. 1 Billion is nice to have though... especially when using only Fighter Sized Tanks for fuel. Each tank confers 1 HTK, despite it saying 0 HTK, as the tank itself is destroyed when hit so it is it's own HTK. Anything with 0 HTK has 1 HTK, anything with 1 HTK has 2, etc. Using only Fighter-Sized tanks makes it harder for the enemy to chew through your fuel reserves if they score internal hits. it is expensive though...

I'd go with the Lightning 01, bring it up to 0.7 ~ 0.1 Billion km range. Drop a layer of armor if you have to. You should need 50,000 litres of fuel to get that range, and you already have 33,000 of those so you just need to fit 17,000 more somehow. If you can reduce the weight of the Active Sensors, that'd do nicely... might even free up some crew while you're at it if the senor is over 10 Tons. Those Corvettes are ridonkulously fast for Magento-Plasma BTW, so well done to you there! All they really need is a little more range, and arguably they are too tough for their mission profile. I like the 04 the best, just add 44,000 litres of fuel and good to go, but I think the 01 is the best choice out of the bunch since armor is good to have. I'd be tempted to halve that though... but I run my ships with really light armor, like suicide levels of thin armor... so maybe don't do what I do, eh? 

[CharonJr (OP)]

Thx for the input, I already had constructed the 5ton sensor (AS3-R1), but have forgotten to put it in.

500mkm range should be OK I think - since the fleet will try to lure out enemy missiles before the Corvettes will charge in anyways - and was the intended range form the beginning, but I failed to notice that I took away from this over time.

Depending on the enemy movement I can expect at least a 10k speed advantage, so in order to get into a good range the Corvettes might have to spend 4-8 ticks inside the enemy weapon range. Depending on the enemy recharge speed and hit rate this might mean 1-4 hits (maybe a bit less since 20k speed is nice vs. large beam weapons).

This is why I think they have to be fairly sturdy (shields prefered for more attack runs - which lead to Option4), maybe a slightly heavier O4 with 2 layers of armor and a bit more fuel might be good.

With the next iteration of armor and laser size reduction it will get easier to make them smaller again (but both are 7 years away).

Option 5:

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Lightning O5 class Corvette (P)      3 391 tons       162 Crew       1 164.5 BP       TCS 68    TH 1 344    EM 1 380
19822 km/s      Armour 2-20       Shields 46-368       HTK 15      Sensors 0/0/0/0      DCR 0      PPV 8
Maint Life 0.25 Years     MSP 741    AFR 919%    IFR 12.8%    1YR 3 018    5YR 45 269    Max Repair 672 MSP
Commander    Control Rating 1   BRG   
Intended Deployment Time: 3 days    Morale Check Required   

Magneto-plasma Drive  EP1344.00 (1)    Power 1344    Fuel Use 372.64%    Signature 1344    Explosion 30%
Fuel Capacity 35 000 Litres    Range 0.5 billion km (6 hours at full power)
Delta S46 / R368 Shields (1)     Recharge Time 368 seconds (0.1 per second)

Majercin Ordnance 31.250cm C1 Ultraviolet Laser (1)    Range 256 000km     TS: 19 822 km/s     Power 26-1     RM 40 000 km    ROF 130       
Gruber-Golding Beam Fire Control R256-TS20000 (1)     Max Range: 256 000 km   TS: 20 000 km/s     96 92 88 84 80 77 73 69 65 61
Bergey-Stephanie Tokamak Fusion Reactor R1 (1)     Total Power Output 1    Exp 5%

Active Search Sensor AS3-R1 (1)     GPS 3     Range 3.1m km    MCR 275.3k km    Resolution 1

And I just saw that Epsilon Shields will be completed in 2 month for some added protection.

[Droll]

I second the Idea for longer range parasites, the carrier dream is to have the ability to conduct strikes while the carrier itself remains hidden outside of enemy sensor coverage.