Author Topic: Magnetoplasma era cruisers  (Read 6093 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline bankshot (OP)

  • Lieutenant
  • *******
  • b
  • Posts: 191
  • Thanked: 48 times
Magnetoplasma era cruisers
« on: July 23, 2019, 07:39:46 PM »
Thanks for all your replies on my prior Ion Cruiser thread.  Having made the decision to wait until I developed the next engine class before deploying my first fleet I was able to tweak the designs a bit with the other new technologies I discovered while waiting on engine research.  As before I'd love any critiques you'd care to give on my designs.  I have yet to encounter another species, so all of my designs are untested.

This fleet will be tasked with providing backup for my surveyors when I begin exploring a new system.  So my requirements were 5,000 km/s speed to have a chance of managing the range to opponents, 6 months on-station while a return jump gate is being built, engines that are fuel-efficient enough to not obliterate my fuel stockpiles on a deployment, and a similar design for the missile and anti-missile cruisers so the same shipyard can build both without retooling

Achilles Mark 2 Escort Cruiser

This is a gauss-based PD cruiser with a pair of railguns to hit fighters and two lasers for finishing off cripples. 

Edit: I downgraded an engineering space to a small space and swapped out the 3x 0.1HS reactors with a 1 HS reactor.  This gives me a bit more power than absolutely required as a hedge against damage

Code: [Select]
Achilles 2.1 class Escort Cruiser    19,200 tons     478 Crew     3091 BP      TCS 384  TH 1920  EM 540
5000 km/s     Armour 4-63     Shields 18-300     Sensors 11/14/0/0     Damage Control Rating 12     PPV 128.32
Maint Life 2 Years     MSP 1157    AFR 256%    IFR 3.6%    1YR 385    5YR 5770    Max Repair 256 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 18 months    Spare Berths 0   

80% 640 Power MP Drive (3)    Power 640    Fuel Use 14.31%    Signature 640    Exp 8%
Fuel Capacity 750,000 Litres    Range 49.1 billion km   (113 days at full power)
Delta R300/360 Shields (7)   Total Fuel Cost  105 Litres per hour  (2,520 per day)

20cm C4 UV Laser 15s (1)    Range 320,000km     TS: 5000 km/s     Power 10-4     RM 4    ROF 15        10 10 10 10 8 6 5 5 4 4
25cm C4 Spinal UV Laser 20s (1)    Range 320,000km     TS: 5000 km/s     Power 16-4     RM 4    ROF 20        16 16 16 16 12 10 9 8 7 6
Twin Gauss 20K 4x R3-85 Turret (8x8)    Range 30,000km     TS: 20000 km/s     Power 0-0     RM 3    ROF 5        1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
12cm Railgun V4/C3 10s (2x4)    Range 80,000km     TS: 5000 km/s     Power 6-3     RM 4    ROF 10        2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 0 0
PD Fire Control S03 60-20000 (2)    Max Range: 120,000 km   TS: 20000 km/s     92 83 75 67 58 50 42 33 25 17
Laser Fire Control S02 160-5000 (1)    Max Range: 320,000 km   TS: 5000 km/s     97 94 91 88 84 81 78 75 72 69
Stellarator 6 PB-1 (3)     Total Power Output 18    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Active Search MR2/320K R1 (1)     GPS 21     Range 2.9m km    MCR 320k km    Resolution 1
Thermal Sensor TH1-11 (1)     Sensitivity 11     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  11m km
EM Sensor EM1-14 (1)     Sensitivity 14     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  14m km

ECCM-1 (1)         ECM 10

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

The Patroclus Mark 2 AMM cruiser is next.  Due to improved missile reload technology allowing 5s reloads of size 1 launchers the number of launchers on the Patroclus class has been reduced.  I originally reduced it to 18 launchers but bumped it back up to 24 to allow it better odds against large but widely spaced volleys.  It holds 83.5 volleys using 6x 18HS cap 300 and 3x 4HS cap 60 magazines.  It can launch three times against an incoming volley of 30K speed missiles, waiting for results each time (at 1.2M, 600K, and 300K).  I decided against using a 11HS cap 180 magazine to keep the design close to the Ajax's

Code: [Select]
Patroclus class Anti--Missile Cruiser    19,200 tons     365 Crew     2602.5 BP      TCS 384  TH 1920  EM 540
5000 km/s     Armour 3-63     Shields 18-300     Sensors 11/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 12     PPV 24
Maint Life 1.99 Years     MSP 1017    AFR 245%    IFR 3.4%    1YR 342    5YR 5129    Max Repair 256 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 18 months    Spare Berths 1   
Magazine 2004   

80% 640 Power MP Drive (3)    Power 640    Fuel Use 14.31%    Signature 640    Exp 8%
Fuel Capacity 750,000 Litres    Range 49.1 billion km   (113 days at full power)
Delta R300/360 Shields (7)   Total Fuel Cost  105 Litres per hour  (2,520 per day)

Size 1 Missile Launcher (R6 5s) (24)    Missile Size 1    Rate of Fire 5
Missile PD Fire Control FC12/1.3M R1 (3)     Range 12.3m km    Resolution 1

Active Search MR14/1.6M R1 (1)     GPS 105     Range 14.7m km    MCR 1.6m km    Resolution 1
Thermal Sensor TH1-11 (1)     Sensitivity 11     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  11m km

ECCM-1 (1)         ECM 10

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

it will be carrying the size 1 Testudo AMM:
Code: [Select]
Missile Size: 1 MSP  (0.05 HS)     Warhead: 1    Armour: 0     Manoeuvre Rating: 30
Speed: 33300 km/s    Engine Endurance: 2 minutes   Range: 4.1m km
Cost Per Missile: 1.056
Chance to Hit: 1k km/s 999%   3k km/s 330%   5k km/s 199.8%   10k km/s 99.9%
Materials Required:    0.25x Tritanium   0.806x Gallicite   Fuel x21.5

The Mark 2 Ajax Missile Cuiser most closely skirts the maintenance requirement.  It currently delivers 45x10 volleys using 5x 18HS cap 300 magazines and 2x 4HS cap 60.  I considered changing it to 42x11 but that was not enough extra space to make much difference.   

Code: [Select]
Ajax class Missile Cruiser    19,200 tons     298 Crew     2658.2 BP      TCS 384  TH 1920  EM 450
5000 km/s     Armour 3-63     Shields 15-300     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 9     PPV 59.4
Maint Life 1.51 Years     MSP 822    AFR 310%    IFR 4.3%    1YR 406    5YR 6093    Max Repair 256 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 16 months    Spare Berths 1   
Magazine 1800   

80% 640 Power MP Drive (3)    Power 640    Fuel Use 14.31%    Signature 640    Exp 8%
Fuel Capacity 750,000 Litres    Range 49.1 billion km   (113 days at full power)
Delta R300/360 Shields (6)   Total Fuel Cost  90 Litres per hour  (2,160 per day)

Size 4 Missile Launcher (33% 400s) (45)    Missile Size 4    Rate of Fire 400
Missile Fire Control FC141-R100 (1)     Range 141.1m km    Resolution 100

Active Sensor MR176-R100 (1)     GPS 12600     Range 176.4m km    Resolution 100

ECM 10

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

It will carry the Pilium size 4 ASM
Code: [Select]
Missile Size: 4 MSP  (0.2 HS)     Warhead: 9    Armour: 0     Manoeuvre Rating: 15
Speed: 28200 km/s    Engine Endurance: 75 minutes   Range: 126.6m km
Cost Per Missile: 4.0181
Chance to Hit: 1k km/s 423%   3k km/s 135%   5k km/s 84.6%   10k km/s 42.3%
Materials Required:    2.25x Tritanium   1.7681x Gallicite   Fuel x1146.75

Finally the Hector class beam cruiser.  For this design I was tempted to go with overdriven engines, but I decided to retain 5,000 km/s as a standard speed.  Or I suppose I could trim the armor, weapons, and shields back a bit to increase speed if required.   I also need to swap out the 10cm Railguns for the new 40K range model after that research completes.
Code: [Select]
Hector class Cruiser    19,200 tons     545 Crew     3059 BP      TCS 384  TH 1920  EM 900
5000 km/s     Armour 7-63     Shields 30-300     Sensors 11/14/0/0     Damage Control Rating 12     PPV 90
Maint Life 2.24 Years     MSP 1195    AFR 245%    IFR 3.4%    1YR 320    5YR 4799    Max Repair 256 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 18 months    Spare Berths 0   

80% 640 Power MP Drive (3)    Power 640    Fuel Use 14.31%    Signature 640    Exp 8%
Fuel Capacity 750,000 Litres    Range 49.1 billion km   (113 days at full power)
Delta R300/360 Shields (12)   Total Fuel Cost  180 Litres per hour  (4,320 per day)

20cm C4 UV Laser 15s (8)    Range 256,000km     TS: 5000 km/s     Power 10-4     RM 4    ROF 15        10 10 10 10 8 6 5 5 4 4
25cm C4 Spinal UV Laser 20s (1)    Range 256,000km     TS: 5000 km/s     Power 16-4     RM 4    ROF 20        16 16 16 16 12 10 9 8 7 6
10cm Railgun V3/C3 5s (3x4)    Range 30,000km     TS: 5000 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 3    ROF 5        1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
12cm Railgun V4/C3 10s (5x4)    Range 80,000km     TS: 5000 km/s     Power 6-3     RM 4    ROF 10        2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 0 0
Laser Fire Control S02.5 128-5000 (2)    Max Range: 256,000 km   TS: 5000 km/s     96 92 88 84 80 77 73 69 65 61
Stellarator 6 PB-1 (10)     Total Power Output 60    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Active Search MR2/320K R1 (1)     GPS 21     Range 2.9m km    MCR 320k km    Resolution 1
Active Sensor MR176-R100 (1)     GPS 12600     Range 176.4m km    Resolution 100
Thermal Sensor TH1-11 (1)     Sensitivity 11     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  11m km
EM Sensor EM1-14 (1)     Sensitivity 14     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  14m km

ECCM-1 (1)         ECM 10

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
« Last Edit: July 23, 2019, 08:14:46 PM by bankshot »
 

Offline Michael Sandy

  • Commodore
  • **********
  • M
  • Posts: 771
  • Thanked: 83 times
Re: Magnetoplasma era cruisers
« Reply #1 on: July 24, 2019, 06:39:58 AM »
I prefer 1 HS magazines, to increase the HtK of the magazines.  Also, I greatly prefer to rely on scouting than stationing a large fleet forward.  I like the explanation of why you have a 6 month minimum deployment.  Something that doesn't show on the tooltip is that Factory bonus naval officers increase the construction speed.  But I wouldn't start building a jump gate without having thoroughly scouted the system first anyway.  Different styles, I guess.

It is certainly a doctrine that is consistent with an interesting RP, and makes for an interesting playstyle.
 
The following users thanked this post: bankshot

Offline bankshot (OP)

  • Lieutenant
  • *******
  • b
  • Posts: 191
  • Thanked: 48 times
Re: Magnetoplasma era cruisers
« Reply #2 on: July 24, 2019, 07:55:07 AM »
I hadn't considered using 1HS magazines due to the risk of explosion.  Does the extra HTK make up for that?  If it matters I'm at 93% ejection chance for my magazines.  I had thought that using 1HS magazines would significantly increase the chance of a explosive chain reaction. 

I do have factory bonus officers commanding my two jump gate builders, so construction does take less than 6 months, but I should probably build a few scout fighter/FAC ships to give new systems the once-over before I send in the surveyors and gate constructor.   
 

Offline misanthropope

  • Lt. Commander
  • ********
  • m
  • Posts: 273
  • Thanked: 73 times
Re: Magnetoplasma era cruisers
« Reply #3 on: July 24, 2019, 09:12:54 AM »
big picture, the fleet design looks ok.  two medium sized things i'd like to critique

from direct experience "ill just leave my fleet in a closet for a third of a year while i build a gate" at best will seriously mess with your expansion timetable, at worst is an existential threat waiting to happen. 

your fleet has a pretty serious vulnerability to fighters.  your sensors are res 1 and res 100, which makes you bad at spotting and engaging them, and both your anti missile designs have high ratios of weapon to fire control, making you bad at defending them, especially achilles whose 8 turrets are worth almost exactly the same as 2 turrets in this situation.

i would recommend, in addition to just getting more fc on the defensive units, producing a variant of ajax with a res4 or res5 active, and making sure all ajax have a second mfc in the smaller resolution.  your asm is pretty close to what i'd design as a specific anti-craft missile , and missile based fighter wings are pretty much inevitably glass cannon.
 
The following users thanked this post: bankshot

Offline Michael Sandy

  • Commodore
  • **********
  • M
  • Posts: 771
  • Thanked: 83 times
Re: Magnetoplasma era cruisers
« Reply #4 on: July 24, 2019, 05:38:29 PM »
Maybe I am misunderstanding the fleet doctrine:

Is the doctrine that your fleet has to be able to guard a jump construction ship while it constructs, while that fleet has the jump engines to get around without jump gates?  I like the idea of being ABLE to guard a construction ship in disputed space.  Where you are pretty sure you have smashed their mobiles forces, but there might still be some lurking about, but more might be constructed while you ship in troops.

I agree that your missile ships should have a res 10 fire control.  I am a believer in having a mix of missile types to deal with different targets.  So a long ranged missile with somewhat larger warhead for dealing with capital warships, and a faster, more accurate and shorter ranged missile for dealing with fighters.  And in extremis, one can be used against the other.

As far as chain detonations goes, the internal damage from explosions is randomly distributed, so a lot would go to engines or launchers.  Having a 1 HS magazine and sacrificing an MSP or 2 for extra HtK can help with the chain detonations as well.
 
The following users thanked this post: bankshot

Offline bankshot (OP)

  • Lieutenant
  • *******
  • b
  • Posts: 191
  • Thanked: 48 times
Re: Magnetoplasma era cruisers
« Reply #5 on: July 24, 2019, 11:31:09 PM »
My expansion timetable is currently on indefinite hold.  I explored the 16 systems within 2 jumps of Sol in the first 15 years, then encountered a wreck and and a ruin on the first system 3 jumps out.  At that point I put a hold on expansion while I developed what I had discovered and researched warship techs.  Over the next 20 years I have terraformed 13 worlds with 3 more in progress and another dozen in the queue, half cost two the others below 5.  Across the empire I have about 1,800 construction factories, 1,400 automines, 70 research labs, and 1.5 Billion population.  I'm setting up mineral relays back to Earth but I'm still working on mining infrastructure - at the moment they are only returning with holds 10% full.  I have large high-accessibility deposits of every mineral but corbomite - mostly I just need time to build more mines. So the only spur for expansion is my own impatience as I still have a lot of development to do on the systems I've already explored. 

My doctrine had been to build a jump gate then survey the system while the gate builder creates a return gate.  I'm going to revise that to sending in a few scout fighters first to check for unfriendlies. The fleet will be summoned to clear and hold the system while gates are built. 

Going with size 2 HTK/17 cap size 1 magazines will net me a small storage gain at the cost of making it harder to store an exact multiple of the volley size.  I designed magazines which held multiples of 60 to make that easier.  My current magazines 60cap/4HS, 180cap/11HS, and 300cap/18HS

Lack of res 10 sensors/fire control is a significant flaw, thanks for pointing that out.  Would 55M range be sufficient for detection (6HS, res 10) or should I push that all the way out to 120M (13HS)?  Or should I be looking at res 5?  6HS at res 5 gets me 39M range.  For the Achilles - it mounts three fire controls already so I'm not sure why it would need more.  The railgun is there to help punch out unarmored fighters but mostly it would rely on the lasers.  Not that it would be very good at the task as it is primarily anti-missile - the gauss cannons would probably have to sandblast for awhile to be effective. 

My ASM are 9 damage, so I don't think they will be overkill for fighters, but one hit may mission kill a fighter.  I don't think it is feasible to design a 4 damage size 1 missile at my current tech.  I should certainly put a res 10 fire control on the Ajax, and two on the Patroclus will only be .2HS each for 5M range so that's an easy add.  I don't see the need for more than one on the Ajax though - 400s reload time on the launchers means I could fire each tube individually and still have to wait for them to reload.   Am I missing something?
 

Offline misanthropope

  • Lt. Commander
  • ********
  • m
  • Posts: 273
  • Thanked: 73 times
Re: Magnetoplasma era cruisers
« Reply #6 on: July 25, 2019, 07:46:10 AM »
res10 is not the right number.  imho.  16 if you're worried about FAC, between 3 and 6 if you're worried about fighters (depending on who your opponent is, mostly).   the vision game with enemy fighters is pretty high-stakes; the AARs are full of "mwa ha ha behold our might... oh smeg we're inside their envelope!".  they can't be run down, you aren't in a good position to absorb their attack, and so your last out is being able to lay hands on them before their missiles reach you. 

when i'm in the scrimping and saving phase of the game, res1 res40 and the biggest res4 i can manage are my minimum sensor suite.  a big thermal is handy, but usually is lower on the research priority list and so comes even after i have the physical resources where a second capital sensor ship would be cost-effective.  there are just so many critical sensor projects!

 
The following users thanked this post: bankshot

Offline bankshot (OP)

  • Lieutenant
  • *******
  • b
  • Posts: 191
  • Thanked: 48 times
Re: Magnetoplasma era cruisers
« Reply #7 on: July 25, 2019, 09:58:55 AM »
I guess that's the primary issue then.  I don't have any opponents yet, so I don't know what I will be facing.  And as I have no combat experience I don't have any real intuition about what I should be worried about.  As an example - the Achilles fire control decision assumes that 16x 85% gauss shots would not be overkill for swatting fighters, as I would expect any fighter which closes to that range to have at least 2 layers of armor.  I went with Res 100 sensors assuming that ships which were less than a quarter of the size of my own would not be a major threat - which I know now is invalid. 

And of course I have the impossible to fulfill expectation of being able to build a fleet that can handle everything without bankrupting my empire and which doesn't simply handle everything equally badly.

So I guess what I'm realistically shooting for is a general purpose fleet without any glaring weaknesses as a core.  I'll send a few stealthy fighter scouts in to try to get a feel for what I'm facing, then build supplemental specialty ships or fighters to address whatever I can glean from the scouting report, or from how the scout was destroyed.
 

Offline Michael Sandy

  • Commodore
  • **********
  • M
  • Posts: 771
  • Thanked: 83 times
Re: Magnetoplasma era cruisers
« Reply #8 on: July 25, 2019, 03:05:04 PM »
One thing you can do vs missile fighters is have some excessively fast gauss fighters.  You basically soak the missile fighter damage, then sic your fighters on the empty missile fighters.  Then, the question isn't whether you can engage them effectively with missiles, but if you can detect them, and then follow them with faster beam weapon fighters or ships, while something keeps them in sensor range.

If you have picked up advanced lasers from ruins, you can design a 2 HS laser, maybe even smaller, which also allows for fighters with very high engine ratios.
 
The following users thanked this post: bankshot

Offline bankshot (OP)

  • Lieutenant
  • *******
  • b
  • Posts: 191
  • Thanked: 48 times
Re: Magnetoplasma era cruisers
« Reply #9 on: July 26, 2019, 10:59:47 PM »
If the enemy uses missiles that are similar in range to my own I don't think I have a realistic shot of detecting/engaging missile fighters unless I create a dedicated sensor/flagship.  I'm at Grav 21, EM 14 sensor tech.  My current AMM res1 radar will spot anything bigger than a missile at 14.7M, equivalent to a 2.25 size res 5 sensor.  Swapping my size 6 res 100 sensor for size 8 res 40 reduces range to a still-adequate 148M but will only detect 250 tons at 2.3M.  Going for size 10 res 20 gives 131M range, with 250 tons detected at 8M. 

Assuming tech parity - fighters that are 50% 2x overcloked MP engines should have a speed of about 12-13K.  If I'm facing beam fighters that are closing at that rate I'll get one full 400s ASM salvo off for every 5M detection range, or one salvo per 3M if I try to hold the range open after detection.  So if I can spot them 30M out I can empty the magazines before they get in range.  At my current tech this would require a 4.5 size res 5 sensor.  And in this scenario I would need multiple fire controls on the Ajax as dividing my fire by delaying it would allow the fighters to maximize their point defense.  Whereas not dividing my fire would result in massively expensive overkill.

Based on my chosen ship size/speed/range I have 155-165 HS of payload (sensor, eccm, fire control magazine, launches) and 218-228 HS of overhead.  I'm not sure allocating this much tonnage to sensors is a good idea, and researching large sensors is really expensive.  So I may create shell versions of the missile ships (no fire control or sensor) and push research of Grav sensor 28 then refit the sensors in after the base ships are built.  This should cut sensor size down to 75% of what I need with current tech which is as good as I can get any time soon.  And that way I won't have to wait before starting construction, nor will I have to double-buy the sensors.

Given my ASM range of 126M is ship detection at 150M and fighter detection at 30M reasonable?

 

Offline misanthropope

  • Lt. Commander
  • ********
  • m
  • Posts: 273
  • Thanked: 73 times
Re: Magnetoplasma era cruisers
« Reply #10 on: July 27, 2019, 08:52:58 AM »
its breaking up into a lot of little topics

first, you only need one res5 active in your fleet, no matter how many ships are being supported.  many res 5 MFC, but anyway those are a lot smaller and cheaper.

you can definitely accomplish your scouting/ spotting needs with fighters.  i myself loathe the amount of clicking involved but some people actively enjoy it.  i would still maintain a variant of ajax with a res 5 because fighters really do occasionally just disappear.

i don't feel like beam fighters are your principal concern.  since you seem to have found a weakness there is no reason to not address it, but missile fighters are in my view more dangerous by far. 

size 4 missiles can probably afford to mount a small active sensor.  the overkill/ underkill dilemma plays out in more scenarios than just shooting at fighters, and if you're going for high range having multiple mfc in multiple resolutions is an extravagance. 

155 spaces of goodies vs 220 spaces of carcass doesn't mean all that much; underpowered engines use a lot of space but not a lot of resources.  i would say that ratio is maybe a little on the fatty side considering your engine power is as high as it is, but not unreasonably so and you made a conscious decision regarding range and endurance.

you definitely dont want a size 10 active on each of your ships, but having res 1,5,40,and 100 in your fleet is worth some expense.  if it were me, i'd pick a class i intended to have ~8 of per fleet, just find the space for a size 8-12 active, and have 3-5 variant classes (the res 40 is good but optional, a thermal is good but optional).  when your sensors are so big that this just doesnt work (ie the variants require a retool) it's time to bust out specialist sensor classes with their own shipyard.  or, you know, clickety clickety click with dozens of individual AWAC type fighters everywhere you go :-X

at 19000 tons, if your opponent has actives tuned to your size, yeah he's going to see you first and there is nothing you can do about it.  in a first contact scenario (...which is where all of my battles happen) he's probably using res 100 or smaller, and so a fighter strike providing its own spotting has a pretty good chance of being detectable.  (size 10 res 5) > (size 2 res 100).
 
The following users thanked this post: bankshot

Offline bankshot (OP)

  • Lieutenant
  • *******
  • b
  • Posts: 191
  • Thanked: 48 times
Re: Magnetoplasma era cruisers
« Reply #11 on: July 28, 2019, 02:42:23 PM »
Quote
if it were me, i'd pick a class i intended to have ~8 of per fleet, just find the space for a size 8-12 active, and have 3-5 variant classes (the res 40 is good but optional, a thermal is good but optional).

And THAT is the idea I really needed to solve this.  I can make 3 variants of the Ajax class, each with a one size 8-12 sensor of varying resolutions.  The Patroclus already has a res 1 sensor, I can beef that up slightly which would also allow me to push out AMM intercepts a bit.

Missile sensors is probably the proper solution to the overkill issue, as that will also reduce the number of missiles I waste in fleet engagements.  How much range is required for re-targeting?  Or more precisely - is re-targeting instant or is there a 5s lag?  All targets would presumably be in the same task group/same location, so if it is instant I assume 10K range is enough otherwise I guess I'd need  5*target speed range (30-60K).  With current tech I can get 60K range at res 5 for .323 MSP.  I may also want to increase my missiles to size 5, as the missile calculator shows a big reduction in hit chance if I include 60K active sensors. 
 

Offline misanthropope

  • Lt. Commander
  • ********
  • m
  • Posts: 273
  • Thanked: 73 times
Re: Magnetoplasma era cruisers
« Reply #12 on: July 28, 2019, 08:53:17 PM »
if you make a second class of missile, you can take off one point of warhead (8 seems pretty solid against fighters anyhow) and probably some fuel.

i personally haven't run into trouble with having minimal range on-board sensors.  i feel like a human opponent would abuse it, but probably i have a dozen fatal flaws that would show up in pvp.

being able to refit sensors and fire controls is probably my favorite perk (other than less clicking) of building big ships.  with new missiles and new fire controls a missile boat goes a GOOD LONG TIME before accumulating crew grade ceases to make up for tech obsolescence.

 
The following users thanked this post: bankshot

Offline Garfunkel

  • Registered
  • Admiral of the Fleet
  • ***********
  • Posts: 2781
  • Thanked: 1048 times
Re: Magnetoplasma era cruisers
« Reply #13 on: July 29, 2019, 01:06:03 PM »
If you have 3 scout fighters - one res5, one res20, one res100 - it's not too much micro to put them in a Scout Wing under their Mothership in the Naval ORG tab and then launch/retrieve them with a single button. If you can learn how to use the escort commands to make them always fly X amount of km ahead of the main fleet and then save that order, you've reduced the micro even further. That can give you very good early warning of what sort of threats are coming your way in a very cheap manner. A human could mislead you on purpose but the VB6 AI will not.
 
The following users thanked this post: bankshot

Offline bankshot (OP)

  • Lieutenant
  • *******
  • b
  • Posts: 191
  • Thanked: 48 times
Re: Magnetoplasma era cruisers
« Reply #14 on: August 16, 2019, 09:59:12 PM »
Here are the final MP cruiser designs after a bit more research to get the sensors and missiles where I wanted them.

The Achilles mk 3 escort cruiser

Code: [Select]
Achilles mk3 class Escort Cruiser    19,200 tons     479 Crew     3107 BP      TCS 384  TH 1920  EM 540
5000 km/s     Armour 4-63     Shields 18-300     Sensors 11/14/0/0     Damage Control Rating 12     PPV 128.32
Maint Life 2.15 Years     MSP 1214    AFR 245%    IFR 3.4%    1YR 351    5YR 5263    Max Repair 256 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 18 months    Spare Berths 1   

80% 640 Power MP Drive (3)    Power 640    Fuel Use 14.31%    Signature 640    Exp 8%
Fuel Capacity 750,000 Litres    Range 49.1 billion km   (113 days at full power)
Delta R300/360 Shields (7)   Total Fuel Cost  105 Litres per hour  (2,520 per day)

20cm C5 UV Laser 10s (1)    Range 320,000km     TS: 5000 km/s     Power 10-5     RM 4    ROF 10        10 10 10 10 8 6 5 5 4 4
25cm C4 Spinal UV Laser 20s (1)    Range 320,000km     TS: 5000 km/s     Power 16-4     RM 4    ROF 20        16 16 16 16 12 10 9 8 7 6
Twin Gauss 20K 4x R3-85 Turret (8x8)    Range 30,000km     TS: 20000 km/s     Power 0-0     RM 3    ROF 5        1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
12cm Railgun V4/C3 10s (2x4)    Range 80,000km     TS: 5000 km/s     Power 6-3     RM 4    ROF 10        2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 0 0
PD Fire Control S03 60-20000 (2)    Max Range: 120,000 km   TS: 20000 km/s     92 83 75 67 58 50 42 33 25 17
Laser Fire Control S02 160-5000 (1)    Max Range: 320,000 km   TS: 5000 km/s     97 94 91 88 84 81 78 75 72 69
Stellarator 6 PB-1 (3)     Total Power Output 18    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Active Search MR3/350K R1 (1)     GPS 18     Range 3.2m km    MCR 353k km    Resolution 1
Thermal Sensor TH1-11 (1)     Sensitivity 11     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  11m km
EM Sensor EM1-14 (1)     Sensitivity 14     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  14m km

ECCM-1 (1)         ECM 10

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

The Patroclus mk 2 AMM cruiser

Code: [Select]
Patroclus mk 2 class Anti--Missile Cruiser    19,200 tons     428 Crew     2786 BP      TCS 384  TH 1920  EM 540
5000 km/s     Armour 3-63     Shields 18-300     Sensors 11/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 13     PPV 24
Maint Life 2.51 Years     MSP 1179    AFR 226%    IFR 3.2%    1YR 260    5YR 3906    Max Repair 256 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 18 months    Spare Berths 1   
Magazine 1944   

80% 640 Power MP Drive (3)    Power 640    Fuel Use 14.31%    Signature 640    Exp 8%
Fuel Capacity 750,000 Litres    Range 49.1 billion km   (113 days at full power)
Delta R300/360 Shields (7)   Total Fuel Cost  105 Litres per hour  (2,520 per day)

Size 1 Missile Launcher (R6 5s) (24)    Missile Size 1    Rate of Fire 5
Missile PD Fire Control FC38/4.2M R1 (3)     Range 38.9m km    Resolution 1

Testudo v3 S1 m38 r5.3 AMM (1944)  Speed: 33,300 km/s   End: 2.6m    Range: 5.3m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 421/253/126

Active Search MR38/4.2M R1 (1)     GPS 216     Range 38.9m km    MCR 4.2m km    Resolution 1
Thermal Sensor TH1-11 (1)     Sensitivity 11     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  11m km

ECCM-1 (1)         ECM 10

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

The Ajax mk 2 ASM cruiser - variant A

Code: [Select]
Ajax - A class Missile Cruiser    19,200 tons     361 Crew     2909.46 BP      TCS 384  TH 1920  EM 540
5000 km/s     Armour 3-63     Shields 18-300     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 12     PPV 55.44
Maint Life 2.46 Years     MSP 1160    AFR 240%    IFR 3.3%    1YR 266    5YR 3985    Max Repair 288 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 18 months    Spare Berths 1   
Magazine 1680   

80% 640 Power MP Drive (3)    Power 640    Fuel Use 14.31%    Signature 640    Exp 8%
Fuel Capacity 750,000 Litres    Range 49.1 billion km   (113 days at full power)
Delta R300/360 Shields (7)   Total Fuel Cost  105 Litres per hour  (2,520 per day)

Size 4 Missile Launcher (33% 400s) (42)    Missile Size 4    Rate of Fire 400
Missile Fire Control FC119-R6 (2)     Range 0k km    Resolution 6
Pilium mk3 S4 m21 r131 ASM (420)  Speed: 28,200 km/s   End: 77.2m    Range: 130.6m km   WH: 9    Size: 4    TH: 197/118/59

Active Search MR518-R100 (1)     GPS 28800     Range 518.4m km    Resolution 100

ECM 10

Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

Variant B replaces the res 100 Active Search sensor with a MR327-R40 model, and Variant C has a MR126-R6

And thanks to everyone who helped me design my first fleet!