The Concordance

[Theodidactus (OP)]

I'm calling on the entire community to help me with this next fleet. I need to get it right because once construction begins the fleet will likely consume the bulk of my resources.
the election of 2123 has been decided and a new era has begun. Every offworld colony has been liberated from oppressive national control to grow and develop as they choose...order will be maintained by a single, overwhelmingly powerful spacefleet, controlled by one man (The "Concordant").

I am going to start designing ships tonight, this is simply a way to plan out what I need (since I'm not at a computer that runs aurora and I really want to get started on this).

Doctrine
"The Starfleet" shall be the only military-hulled spacecraft of more than 2,000 tons in terran space. Spacecraft of the starfleet must be able to move in excess of 5,000 kps, must have a range of 90 days at maximum speed, and must be no more than 30,000 tons*.
The starfleet will employ all of the following design philosophies:
- single large broadside tactics: the primary offensive weapons of the starfleet will be numerous but slow-firing, with the aim of crippling or destroying the enemy with a single devastating broadside. The primary weapons of the fleet will be the "Eakins Turbolaser", a half-sized 30cm soft x-ray laser with a very long firing time, and the "cobalt torpoedo", a size 6 missile with a range of not more than 2.5 million kilometers fired from a scaled-down slow-reloading launcher. Ships may run dozens of banks of both.
- Advanced Intercept: with the exception of colonial defense frigates, ships will be designed for very long deployment*, to better serve the needs of distant colonies and intercept threats well beyond the reach of terran space.
- Zero Tolerance: Any non-starfleet military craft of more than 2,000 tons operating inside terran space is operating in direct violation of the Articles of the First Concordance and the Treaty of Achird. A kill order will be issued for any such ship within 24 hours of its detection by a tracking station or scout ship.

Colonial Defense ships

- Alceste Class Patrol Frigate: These will comprise the backbone of the Concordance's power in Terran space. The Alceste will be one of the few ships of the fleet that are cheap and easy to manufacture, as the concordance plans to station enough of these frigates around every colony to effectively control each population center. There will be perhaps fifty Alceste's in all. The Alceste will essentially be an interceptor, built for speed, and be relatively short-ranged, designed to operate with support from a planetary tracking system. Preliminary plans include 2 banks of 4 turbolasers and 2 10cm laser turrets, as well as to CIWS systems at the fore and aft of the ship, all of which should fit inside one 7,000 ton hull driven by cowled  "low signature" fusion engines. The Alceste is designed to be able to provide a supporting role for offensive fleets as well, primarily by running jump gates with support from larger destroyers and battle-cruisers.

- Concordance Class Light Carrier: 1 light carrier will be stationed in every system. The Concordance class will likely be quite slow, designed primarily as a launching platform for Luchador class interceptors and various AWACs and gunships. Brazil can currently manufacture interceptor craft so advanced that they pose a threat to even mid-sized cruisers and destroyers. The concordance will likely need to manufacture 10 of these carriers.

- Pride of Bangalore class light cruiser: the design actually predates the Concordance but these ships have such a successful military record that they will be kept in reserve, in orbit. This class is quite versatile, able to fill a variety of defensive roles and even fight in offensive campaigns if necessary. There are currently 8 of these cruisers in operation.

Battlegroups

- Ranikot Class Destroyer-Escort: starfleet battlegroups will consist of one or two capitol ships with a pair of destroyer escorts. These 10,000 ton escort craft will be armed with a battery of 10 10cm astrocannons and 6 cobalt torpedo tubes. their primary roll will be missile defense and the long-ranged destruction of small craft. They will also mount a powerful "tactical scanner" which should be able to detect 1 hs craft out to a radius of 15-20 million kilometers. The concordance will manufacture 20 of these destroyers.

- Ranger Class Light Cruiser: rangers will be fast ships designed for independent operation, and will primarily serve noncombat roles. They will be equipped with powerful thermal and electromagnetic sensors and, quite possibly, even a geological and gravitational scanning suite. They will have some light armaments, likely a pair of fast-firing cobalt torpedo tubes and/or a fast-moving doubled-barreled laser turret. The concordance expects to manufacture 7-10 of these cruisers

- Statesman Class Missile Cruiser: the statesman will be a 20,000 ton, long-ranged missile cruiser designed to detect and shoot down enemy capital ships at range. It will run 10 size 10 missile launchers and a sophisticated antimissile defense system, and contain ample storage space for its own missiles as well as cobalt torpedoes for the fleet it supports. As a capital ship, it will also have a jump engine capable of jumping a 20,000 ton craft. The statesman will also be one of two classes that support the powerful SCEPTRA systemwide scanning suite, an extremely long-ranged low resolution targeting system. The concordance will manufacture 7 of these cruisers

- Monticello class Battlecruiser: the monticello will be a 20,000 ton beam cruiser designed for "battle line" combat through jump gates. It will run 3 banks of 5 turbolasers, 5 25 cm astrocannons, and 5 10 cm astrocannons as well as a yet-undetermined number of cobalt torpedo tubes. The monticello will also have a 20,000 ton jump system. The concordance will manufacture 7 of these cruisers.

- Alexandre class Strike Carrier: the alexandre will be one of the largest and most sophisticated military ships in known space, and the primary weapon of the concordance. Initial design space calls for 12,000 tons of hull space assigned for fighters and gunboats, and 3 launching systems for fighter-sized missile drones. The Alexandre will also mount the SCEPTRA scanning suite and an advanced antimissile system. The hull will be approximately 30,000 tons and require a jump system capable of moving that. The concordance will manufacture 3 of these carriers. The Alexandre will be the primary "flagship" of an advance fleet and will carry reserves of fuel, supplies, and missiles

- Raphael class dreadnought/command cruiser: The concordance will not be based on a single world, as its commander should ideally be beholden to a council of all worlds...in practice, the concordant himself aims to control all worlds from space, by the power of a spacefleet alone. For these reasons, the Concordance will base most of its military governance out of a single powerful starship. Named for the patron saint of the first concordant, the Raphael will be armed like a battlecruiser with additional torpedo tubes and possibly more turrets for shooting down fighters and short ranged craft...it will also support a luxury cabin capable of housing 500 bureaucrats and civilian guests. It will likely be the permanent home of the Concordant, and an enduring symbol of his power.




* historian's note: both these provisions are also likely included to allow the fleet to easily deploy to non-compliant worlds without ready access to friendly maintenance bays.

[Zincat]

I am probably too much of a newbie to be able to help with the designs, but I will be sure to read them carefully I love how much RP you put in your designs.

[Theodidactus (OP)]

I am probably too much of a newbie to be able to help with the designs, but I will be sure to read them carefully I love how much RP you put in your designs.

I put an impractical amount of RP into my designs. I have no idea how tactically relevant a size-6 extremely fast, extremely short ranged torpedo would be, but I just want something called a "Cobalt Torpedo" that is fired into a maw of enemy warships to blow them apart just before they close into laser range.

[JacenHan]

Minor typo - Pride of Bangalore class is a cruiser, not a carrier, unless it was changed.

Looking forward to the designs for these.

[Theodidactus (OP)]

The Alceste Class Frigate. The Alceste class is the only class the Concordance will mass-produce. It is designed to be (relatively) cheap and easy to build, such that whole fleets can be put into orbit around every world the concordance controls. The Alceste will likely become an enduring symbol of the Concordance assuming it's built right:

You'll notice I had to compromise on some design plans: the turbolaser is 25 cm, but I can put more on that way. There is only one CIWS. I'm not entirely happy with the fuel capacity either.

Alceste class Frigate    7 000 tons     228 Crew     1560.2 BP      TCS 140  TH 750  EM 0
5357 km/s     Armour 5-32     Shields 0-0     Sensors 14/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 13     PPV 46.96
Maint Life 2.34 Years     MSP 418    AFR 130%    IFR 1.8%    1YR 104    5YR 1562    Max Repair 187.5 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months    Spare Berths 0    

Concordance Council Standard Fusion Drive (2)    Power 375    Fuel Use 74.24%    Signature 375    Exp 12%
Fuel Capacity 1 000 000 Litres    Range 34.6 billion km   (74 days at full power)

Single Tyler Labs 10cm Laser  Turret (2x1)    Range 180 000km     TS: 10000 km/s     Power 3-4     RM 6    ROF 5        3 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 1
Thiel Turbolaser (10)    Range 256 000km     TS: 5357 km/s     Power 16-0.2     RM 6    ROF 400        16 16 16 16 16 16 13 12 10 9
Anjo Antimissile Weapons System (1x6)    Range 1000 km     TS: 16000 km/s     ROF 5       Base 50% To Hit
Norman Long-Ranged Laser Fire Control (1)    Max Range: 256 000 km   TS: 4000 km/s     96 92 88 84 80 77 73 69 65 61
Thiel Laboratories Fusion Coil (1)     Total Power Output 12    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Clarion EM-5 Naval Scanner (1)     GPS 28     Range 3.1m km    Resolution 1
Concordance Thermal Sensor (1)     Sensitivity 14     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  14m km

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

[Sematary]

The fuel capacity is pretty good. Assuming it will be used mainly for going out and then coming back, its range would effectively be 17.3 billion km which would be ~115.6 AU. To put that into context that is enough to go from the Sun to Neptune and back and then back out to Neptune and then 85% of the way back to the Sun again and that is just half of its fuel tanks. For most of the engagements I doubt the Alceste will use more than 5% of its fuel unless it changes from an interceptor with help from planet sensors.

[Theodidactus (OP)]

Each system will have one Concordance Class carrier to help the Alcestes and other defensive starships. The Concordance class will be mostly equipped with EWCs and Luchador interceptors

Concordance class Light Carrier    15 000 tons     259 Crew     2290.94 BP      TCS 300  TH 1500  EM 0
5000 km/s     Armour 7-54     Shields 0-0     Sensors 14/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 31     PPV 0
Maint Life 2.43 Years     MSP 1050    AFR 163%    IFR 2.3%    1YR 244    5YR 3660    Max Repair 187.5 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 6 months    Flight Crew Berths 2    
Hangar Deck Capacity 5000 tons     Magazine 120    

Concordance Council Standard Fusion Drive (4)    Power 375    Fuel Use 74.24%    Signature 375    Exp 12%
Fuel Capacity 2 150 000 Litres    Range 34.8 billion km   (80 days at full power)

Anjo Antimissile Weapons System (3x6)    Range 1000 km     TS: 16000 km/s     ROF 5       Base 50% To Hit
Clarion EM-5 Naval Scanner (1)     GPS 28     Range 3.1m km    Resolution 1
Concordance Thermal Sensor (1)     Sensitivity 14     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  14m km

ECM 20

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

*note*: The color scheme for the laminar composite armor on all these ships is teal, hunter green, and cyan. Just, you know, so you can imagine that.

[DTF]

Take out the CIWS and use the HS to:
- increase the deployment time
- increase the 10cm turret's tracking speed (~1HS)
- add a cheap final fire beam FC (4x speed, little range) (~2HS)
- might be room left over for ECCM

It looks as if this vessel will be the backbone of your fleet.  The combined PD of all ships will be more helpful than a single CIWS on each ship. 
If you really want to keep the CIWS, maybe drop a bit of fuel and MSP.

[Theodidactus (OP)]

Last one this evening:
The Ranikot destroyer-escort will protect battlegroups lead by capitol ships. It's designed to fill a variety of roles: primarily, torpedo and antimissile support for larger ships. It is equipped with a medium-ranged scanner to detect missiles and small craft. I'm particularly interested to see what people think of the cobalt torpedoes because they're going to be a staple of my cruisers and battlecruisers.

Ranikot class Destroyer Escort    11 000 tons     259 Crew     2146.46 BP      TCS 220  TH 1125  EM 0
5113 km/s     Armour 7-44     Shields 0-0     Sensors 55/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 28     PPV 39
Maint Life 3.53 Years     MSP 976    AFR 121%    IFR 1.7%    1YR 120    5YR 1800    Max Repair 187.5 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 9 months    Spare Berths 0   
Magazine 276   

Concordance Council Standard Fusion Drive (3)    Power 375    Fuel Use 74.24%    Signature 375    Exp 12%
Fuel Capacity 2 500 000 Litres    Range 55.1 billion km   (124 days at full power)

Patel-Brusilov 10cm Astrocannon (7x4)    Range 50 000km     TS: 5113 km/s     Power 3-4     RM 5    ROF 5        1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0
Ecker Railgun Fire Control System (1)    Max Range: 96 000 km   TS: 5000 km/s     90 79 69 58 48 38 27 17 6 0
Thiel Laboratories Fusion Coil (3)     Total Power Output 36    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Cobalt Torpedo Tube (6)    Missile Size 6    Rate of Fire 180
Gavilon H.U.D.  (1)     Range 5.0m km    Resolution 1
Cobalt Torpedo (46)  Speed: 40 000 km/s   End: 2.1m    Range: 5.1m km   WH: 19    Size: 6    TH: 133/80/40

GRID Tactical Scanner (1)     GPS 84     Range 9.2m km    Resolution 1
Parekh-Mihos Thermal Observatory (1)     Sensitivity 55     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  55m km

ECCM-2 (1)         ECM 20

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

[DTF]

I like the idea of very powerful, but short-ranged torpedoes.  Played with with it myself to some extent - to say the least: it's not awfully practical.  The amount of fuel in a size 6 missile compared to warhead and engine is neglible.  Even with 6x modifier and pathetic fuel efficiency you can easily get to ~50mkm.
That said, with your current doctrine, you need to close to beam weapon range anyway to get anything done - so the torpedo design actually looks fine as it is, albeit a tad slow and not that agile.  They will help to thin out the numbers before the beam fight begins. . .  if it ever does because:
I still think your vessels are too slow altogether.  You carry quite a lot fuel, why not increase the engine power a tad - at least for the vessels that actually have to close the 200mkm or so to the enemy.
In my games, a beam warship with ion drive is way faster than your ships.  For me, a 12000 ton ship with a 2x modifier isn't unusual.  Sure, the pitiful range of <10bkm takes some time getting used to, but I need at least one ship class that is totally unfit for anything else but pure combat. 

You probably won't want to re-research your techs, but just let me ramble about the Ranikot for a bit:

Judging by the numbers, you are using a 15HS ICF engine with a 1. 25 power and a 0. 5 fuel modifier? Total engine size: 45.  If you instead use 2 30HS engines with 1. 5x you will achieve rougly 7600km/s (extra engine mass included) at a +20% fuel use.  7500km/s is 1. 5 times 5000km/s - your current tracking speed tech so that adds up nicely. 
50% faster in exchange for 25-ish% more fuel used? Yes, please.  Or just slap on another engine to get to about 6300km/s (1. 25 your tracking speed).  Add yet one more engine and you end up at 7500km/s again.
For my taste and for ICF tech, still too slow, but you said you didn't necessarily want the perfect design.
Carriers and other support ships can stay as slow as they are, they shouldn't come into the hot zone anyway.

[Theodidactus (OP)]

The fuel capacity is pretty good. Assuming it will be used mainly for going out and then coming back, its range would effectively be 17.3 billion km which would be ~115.6 AU. To put that into context that is enough to go from the Sun to Neptune and back and then back out to Neptune and then 85% of the way back to the Sun again and that is just half of its fuel tanks. For most of the engagements I doubt the Alceste will use more than 5% of its fuel unless it changes from an interceptor with help from planet sensors.

Fuel capacity is important for actually reaching its destination too. Shipbuilding is pretty centralized and thanks to the election of 2123 it will remain that way, likely for centuries. This means that ships built on Earth have to be able to make the flight to the outer reaches of terran space, and space-based infrastructure is so sparse that currently, there aren't reliable places to refuel...this will likely change pretty quickly, now that national control of offworld colonies has ended. However, you are correct, these ships seem to have more than enough fuel to get where they need to go.

Take out the CIWS and use the HS to:
- increase the deployment time
- increase the 10cm turret's tracking speed (~1HS)
- add a cheap final fire beam FC (4x speed, little range) (~2HS)
- might be room left over for ECCM

It looks as if this vessel will be the backbone of your fleet.  The combined PD of all ships will be more helpful than a single CIWS on each ship.
If you really want to keep the CIWS, maybe drop a bit of fuel and MSP.

Good suggestions. You're right that a single CIWS isn't going to do very much, however, as these frigates are built pretty heavily around interception, I felt like they needed some missile defense. Invalid?

I like the idea of very powerful, but short-ranged torpedoes.  Played with with it myself to some extent - to say the least: it's not awfully practical.  The amount of fuel in a size 6 missile compared to warhead and engine is neglible.  Even with 6x modifier and pathetic fuel efficiency you can easily get to ~50mkm.

Yeah....I realized that myself. In previous games my strategy was always "take 'em out at range" but that seemed impractical for a nascient high-sci-fi dictatorship, so now I'm only using one ship with a range greater than 5mkm.

For my taste and for ICF tech, still too slow, but you said you didn't necessarily want the perfect design.

Well actually I do, the whole idea with these guys is supposed to be military dominance through a complete monopoly on advanced military technology. The ships need to be absolutely terrifying because the bureaucracy has been dissolved, and fear will be necessary to keep the local systems in line.

however you are correct in your assessment that I'm a pretty slothful man and I don't want to redesign my engine. I experimented with size 30 engines and it was too hard to balance across multiple ships (IE, 1 was too little for midrange ships, 2 was WAY too much). Obviously the thing to do then is research different engine models but frankly I didn't have the time  

Obviously if I was working for the Concordance I'd be shot, or disappear or whatever they do. Fransa is a nice guy but I don't think he'd suffer fools who would rather watch "lillyhammer" than design a bunch of different engines.

n my games, a beam warship with ion drive is way faster than your ships.  For me, a 12000 ton ship with a 2x modifier isn't unusual.  Sure, the pitiful range of <10bkm takes some time getting used to, but I need at least one ship class that is totally unfit for anything else but pure combat.

I AM a little worried about speed, so it's good you brought this up. The entire point of this fleet is supposed to be having the captain strike a mighty pose on the foredeck and cry out "full broadside" while a line of frigates and battlecrusiers unleashes solar death radiance barrage on those who dare defy the will of the Concordant...but I'm a bit worried that it's just going to turn into upstarts pelting my ships at range with missiles. i guess that's what the coronado is for...I just have to make extra-good long-ranged bombers.

Carriers and other support ships can stay as slow as they are, they shouldn't come into the hot zone anyway.

Well actually the Ranikot is supposed to go into the hot zone, as it were. Each battlegroup of the larger ships is going to be flanked by two of these, and I imagine my primary "beam battlegroup" is going to be two Monticello class Battlecruisers and two Ranikot destroyer-escorts. I figure with a battle line with that as the lead formation will be able to straight-up devour any missiles before they hit the rest of the fleet behind them.

[DTF]

First off, I'm amazed about the level of RP you can bring to something as pragmatic as ship design.  Whenever I try to add a bit of 'spice' to my games, I just end up doing the same thing I always did eventually.

Good suggestions.  You're right that a single CIWS isn't going to do very much, however, as these frigates are built pretty heavily around interception, I felt like they needed some missile defense.  Invalid?

I'd say a 10cm laser isn't probably the best missile defense weapon - but it certainly is the most flexible and customizable one.
Unlike a CIWS, a 10cm dual turret helps other ships in the fleet, both offensively and defensively.  It is HIGHLY unlikely that every one of your frigates gets targeted by missiles at the same time.  Let's assume you have 5 frigates, and one of them is the target of a decent size salvo with ordinary speed.  4 CIWS in the fleet will just be a waste of space, while the other one is hopelessly overcharged.  Now replace those CIWS with another dual turret (which is about the same HS), max out the turret speed matching your max tracking speed.  You now have 10(!!) shots going off trying to protect the targeted vessel.  And believe me, if something REALLY nasty comes into your systems with WH30 speed 60000+ km/s missiles, you'll want every bit of firepower to protect your precious battlecruisers. 
When the enemy comes up to you to give you a hug, a barrage of 10cm lasers will do a hefty amount of damage.  The 10cm laser, along with the 10cm railgun, is the most versatile beam weapon there is.
In short: in my humble opinion, CIWS isn't designed for frigates like yours that work in packs - it is for the lonely carrier away from the battlegroup awaiting the return of its fighters.

however you are correct in your assessment that I'm a pretty slothful man and I don't want to redesign my engine.  I experimented with size 30 engines and it was too hard to balance across multiple ships (IE, 1 was too little for midrange ships, 2 was WAY too much).  Obviously the thing to do then is research different engine models but frankly I didn't have the time  

I AM a little worried about speed, so it's good you brought this up.  The entire point of this fleet is supposed to be having the captain strike a mighty pose on the foredeck and cry out "full broadside" while a line of frigates and battlecrusiers unleashes solar death radiance on those who dare defy the will of the Concordant. . . but I'm a bit worried that it's just going to turn into upstarts pelting my ships at range with missiles. 

Yeah 30HS was a bad example.  I usually go for 20 or 25 - I just noticed you value range so highly that I didn't want to confront you with the fuel guzzler engines I usually design.
Here's a design of a PD frigate, with about the same tech level as yours:

Code: [Select]

Valiant II class Frigate    5,000 tons     157 Crew     1403 BP      TCS 100  TH 750  EM 630
7500 km/s     Armour 4-26     Shields 21-300     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 22     PPV 23.34
Maint Life 2.06 Years     MSP 395    AFR 88%    IFR 1.2%    1YR 124    5YR 1855    Max Repair 375 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months    Spare Berths 0   

MIL Capital Ship ICF Drive 750-1.5x (1)    Power 750    Fuel Use 82.67%    Signature 750    Exp 15% 
Fuel Capacity 500,000 Litres    Range 21.8 billion km   (33 days at full power)
Epsilon R300/288 Shields (7)   Total Fuel Cost  84 Litres per hour  (2,016 per day)

PD Dual Laser Turret 25000 (3x2)    Range 144,000km     TS: 25000 km/s     Power 6-6     RM 6    ROF 5        3 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 1
Hybrid Fire Control R72/S25000 (1)    Max Range: 144,000 km   TS: 25000 km/s     93 86 79 72 65 58 51 44 37 31
Tokamak Fusion Reactor P8 (2)     Total Power Output 16    Armour 0    Exp 5%
Tokamak Fusion Reactor Mini (2)     Total Power Output 1.6    Armour 0    Exp 5%

MSS 7840k (1)     GPS 56     Range 7.8m km    MCR 854k km    Resolution 1

Compact ECCM-1 (1)         ECM 20Engine is 25HS.  One for frigates (5000t), 2 for destroyers, 3 for cruisers, etc. . .
Having only one engine isn't a good thing at all, the bigger the engine is, the more MSP it costs to repair it in battle (f. ex.  this frigate couldn't).  But I find anything below 20HS both too weak and fuel ineffecient.

I almost feel like 7500km/s is the holy grail of speed for the ICF era.  Very few ships will be able to outrun you - and for those that do, well, you should be running away from them.  Oh wait, yours is a dictatorship.  Tactical advance in the enemy's opposite direction, yes.  Not running.  No.

And as the polar opposite of an 'economic' design:

Code: [Select]

Gorgon II class Cruiser    11,500 tons     391 Crew     4070.8 BP      TCS 230  TH 3344  EM 2880
14539 km/s     Armour 5-45     Shields 96-300     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 24     PPV 33
Maint Life 1.13 Years     MSP 996    AFR 235%    IFR 3.3%    1YR 795    5YR 11920    Max Repair 836 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months    Spare Berths 2   

MIL Infernal ICF Drive 1672-2.2x (2)    Power 1672    Fuel Use 178.04%    Signature 1672    Exp 22%
Fuel Capacity 1,000,000 Litres    Range 8.8 billion km   (6 days at full power)
Epsilon R300/288 Shields (32)   Total Fuel Cost  384 Litres per hour  (9,216 per day)

Heavy Mount Laser 30cm/R20 (1)    Range 384,000km     TS: 14539 km/s     Power 24-6     RM 6    ROF 20        24 24 24 24 24 24 20 18 16 14
20cm C6 Soft X-ray Laser (4)    Range 384,000km     TS: 14539 km/s     Power 10-6     RM 6    ROF 10        10 10 10 10 10 10 8 7 6 5
CIWS-500 (1x12)    Range 1000 km     TS: 50000 km/s     ROF 5       Base 50% To Hit
Anti-Ship BFC R192k/S12500 (1)    Max Range: 384,000 km   TS: 12500 km/s     97 95 92 90 87 84 82 79 77 74
Tokamak Fusion Reactor P8 (4)     Total Power Output 32    Armour 0    Exp 5%

MSS 7840k (1)     GPS 56     Range 7.8m km    MCR 854k km    Resolution 1

ECCM-7 (1)         ECM 20Only 3 prototypes were built (Medusa, Stheno, Euryale. . .  you get it) since I only managed to salvage 3 ECCM 7.  Designed to take out invader ships.  The group destroyed 2 invader ships - which is 2 more than my missile fleet could take out (seriously though, I spent a years-worth of missile production pummeling a couple of invader ships, but they are like space-volvos.  Indestructable. ) before succumbing to the enemy's 65 damage lasers.
And yes, I used stolen CIWS - this ship is too fast to be accompanied by PD escorts.
In your scenario, this ship's role will probably be filled by fighters, but I wanted to give you some pointers as to what I consider a real beam warship.  Maybe keep a similar design as a top secret prototype only to be used when things go REALLY south.

[Erik L]

I've usually used CIWS as a last-ditch defense. Put a couple on any ship, and they get a last couple of shots to take out missiles. CIWS are not meant to replace a normal AM umbrella. They are just the smallest, inner-most ring.

[Theodidactus (OP)]

I'd say a 10cm laser isn't probably the best missile defense weapon - but it certainly is the most flexible and customizable one.
Unlike a CIWS, a 10cm dual turret helps other ships in the fleet

Why dual? I long ago gave up trying to understand the mathematics on whether or not a dual laser turret can hit two missiles...can provide double the chance of hitting a single missile, ect...but maybe I shouldn't have. Currently the Alceste has 2 single-barreled turrets. Should they be double-barreled? I think it makes more sense to up the gear so these things can REALLY hit missiles (as opposed to just fighters and FAC which was sorta their original purpose) and strap a third one on there. I'm probably going to do that. 

The 10cm laser, along with the 10cm railgun, is the most versatile beam weapon there is.

Yeah I really like having a nice solid line of 10cm railguns in every fleet I run. Both the Ranikot and the Monticello are going to have 7 10cm railguns.

I almost feel like 7500km/s is the holy grail of speed for the ICF era.  Very few ships will be able to outrun you - and for those that do, well, you should be running away from them.  Oh wait, yours is a dictatorship.  Tactical advance in the enemy's opposite direction, yes.  Not running.  No.

I don't know what direction the concordance is going to go yet, in fact that's the main reason I'm so anxious to get design out of the way, cause I want to know. However, they do not strike me as the type of guys who would include a lot of honesty in their after-action reports.

Gorgon II class Cruiser    11,500 tons     391 Crew     4070.8 BP      TCS 230  TH 3344  EM 2880
14539 km/s     Armour 5-45     Shields 96-300     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 24     PPV 33
Maint Life 1.13 Years     MSP 996    AFR 235%    IFR 3.3%    1YR 795    5YR 11920    Max Repair 836 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months    Spare Berths 2   
...

So you built a 11,000 thousand ton cruiser that moves faster than the fighters and bombers I'm planning to make? That is horrifying.

In your scenario, this ship's role will probably be filled by fighters, but I wanted to give you some pointers as to what I consider a real beam warship.  Maybe keep a similar design as a top secret prototype only to be used when things go REALLY south.

This is really the second generation of "unified terran" spacecraft, due to replace the UNOE fleet sometime around 2131-2132. I'm hoping that this fleet will remain viable in our sector of space until 2160 or so, giving me a good long time to build a heritage and tradition around them, before they are slowly replaced. Scientific progress isn't going to be THAT much more dramatic than it is now, because there's not nearly as much incentive to mass produce laboratories left and right.

 The Raphael will probably never be replaced because it's going to be an enduring symbol of the concordance's military might and all that jazz. I'm starting to get a bit concerned about its size. 30,000 tons is well in excess of any military spacecraft I've built, but it's not that big, it's like the size of a light aircraft carrier...I'm not sure you can run a government out of it...but since it's an autocracy, I guess things are a bit more streamlined.

[Theodidactus (OP)]

Okay updates:


#1: Changed the design of the Cobalt Torpedo by retooling its engine. Same size, but more terrifying in pretty much every way:

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Cobalt Torpedo (46)  Speed: 50 000 km/s   End: 1.7m    Range: 5.2m km   WH: 20    Size: 6    TH: 250/150/75

#2: Alceste is rebuilt along a sorta compromise trajectory:

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Alceste class Frigate    7 000 tons     249 Crew     1665.2 BP      TCS 140  TH 750  EM 0
5357 km/s     Armour 5-32     Shields 0-0     Sensors 14/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 15     PPV 50.44
Maint Life 4.35 Years     MSP 743    AFR 78%    IFR 1.1%    1YR 63    5YR 947    Max Repair 187.5 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months    Spare Berths 0    

Concordance Council Standard Fusion Drive (2)    Power 375    Fuel Use 74.24%    Signature 375    Exp 12%
Fuel Capacity 850 000 Litres    Range 29.4 billion km   (63 days at full power)

Single Tyler Labs 10cm Laser  Turret (3x1)    Range 180 000km     TS: 10000 km/s     Power 3-4     RM 6    ROF 5        3 3 3 3 3 3 2 2 2 1
Thiel Turbolaser (10)    Range 256 000km     TS: 5357 km/s     Power 16-0.2     RM 6    ROF 400        16 16 16 16 16 16 13 12 10 9
Roar Starworks Turret Guide Center (1)    Max Range: 128 000 km   TS: 8000 km/s     92 84 77 69 61 53 45 37 30 22
Norman Long-Ranged Laser Fire Control (1)    Max Range: 256 000 km   TS: 4000 km/s     96 92 88 84 80 77 73 69 65 61
HuoDian Protonic Power Pack (2)     Total Power Output 2.64    Armour 0    Exp 10%
Thiel Laboratories Fusion Coil (1)     Total Power Output 12    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Clarion EM-5 Naval Scanner (1)     GPS 28     Range 3.1m km    Resolution 1
Concordance Thermal Sensor (1)     Sensitivity 14     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  14m km

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

It is now less fuel efficient, and has 3 10cm turrets instead of 2 and a CIWS. I also added a secondary turret fire control and dramatically increased its maintenance life, which allows it to play guard duty for much, much longer.