Rigellian Fighting Ships - Destroyers

[Steve Walmsley (OP)]

The ubiquitous destroyer has served in the Imperial Rigellian Navy since before the days of interstellar flight. Most famous is the Tribal class series which has fulfilled many roles, including battleline unit, fleet escort and system patrol, but many other Rigellian destroyer classes have performed admirable service. This is a complete list of all destroyers designed as warships up to the time of the Tribal Mod 8 but does not include support ships based on a destroyer hull. Note that since this edition of fighting ships was first published, there have been three more versions of the Tribal, with the Tribal Mod 11 only recently being intorduced.

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Tribal class DD (AC) 30 HS TL-1
[3] SSAAH(I)R(I)R(I)(I)RQLh(I)R(I)(I)RMg [7/3]
30 RCP 20 MCP Trg: 1 PV = 15 Cost = 300 / 45
HTK 20 Sx2 Ax2 Rx5 Mgx1The Tribal class destroyer was the largest Rigellian ship class when first built and formed the backbone of the fleet. Before recent improvements to the basic laser improved its range and damage capability, the missile launcher was the superior weapon of its day. With a battery of five launchers, the Tribal was designed to blast its opponents into submission. Although not realised at the time, it suffered from a lack of close range firepower and was unable to knife-fight with a faster beam armed opponent.

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Tribal Mod 1 class DD (AC) 30 HS TL-2
[3] SSAH(I)R(I)R(I)Db(I)RQLh(I)Db(I)(I)RMg [7/3]
30 RCP 20 MCP Trg: 1 PV = 16 Cost = 318 / 47.7
HTK 20 Sx2 Ax1 Dbx2 Rx4 Mgx1The Tribal Mod 1 was an update designed to incorporate the newly developed point defence system. Although the missile battery was reduced by 20% and the armour halved, the addition of the two point defence systems was intended to make the ship far more durable in a missile engagement. Combat against ships of the Roman Republic showed the weakness of the design against opponents with weapons capable of firing at very close range.

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Tribal Mod 2 class DD (AC) 30 HS TL-2
[3] SSAH(I)W(I)W(I)Db(I)WQLh(I)Db(I)(I)WMg [7/3]
30 RCP 20 MCP Trg: 1 PV = 18 Cost = 358 / 53.7
HTK 20 Sx2 Ax1 Dbx2 Wx4 Mgx1This model was developed to take advantage of the gun\missile launcher and remove the problems caused by the inability of the standard missile launcher to engage targets effectively at very close range. The gun\missile launcher provided the capability for good firepower at all ranges. At the time the Tribal Mod 2 arrived on the scene, light cruisers were rolling off the production line, relegating the Tribals to a secondary position during battleline combat.

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Tribal Mod 3 class DD (AC) 6 XO Racks 30 HS TL-2
[3] SSAH(I)(I)W(I)WDb(I)QLh(I)(I)WDb(I)WMg [7/3]
30 RCP 20 MCP Trg: 1 PV = 19 Cost = 376 / 56.4
HTK 20 Sx2 Ax1 Dbx4 Wx4 Mgx1The Mod 3 had two differences from its predecessor. Six external ordnance racks were added and the ship's internal systems were rearranged slightly to provide a little more protection for the weapons systems.

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Tribal Mod 4 class DD (AC) 6 XO Racks 30 HS TL-3
[3] SSAZH(I)(I)(I)LhQW(I)WD(I)WD(I)WMg [7/3]
30 RCP 20 MCP Trg: 1 PV = 22 Cost = 436 / 65.4
HTK 21 Sx2 Ax1 Dx2 Wx4 Mgx1         
As part of the changing Rigellian design philosophy at the time, even more protection for the weapons was built into the Mod 4 class. Second generation point defence was added, substantially enhancing the ship's defensive capabilities. Most importantly, datalink became available, enabling the Mod 3 to link with up to two other ships and provide coordinated firepower, overwhelming enemy point defence.

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Tribal Mod 4 Leader class DD (AC) 6 XO Racks 30 HS TL-3
[3] SSAAZH(I)(I)(I)Xr(I)LhQ(I)WD(I)WD(I)WMg [7/3]
30 RCP 20 MCP Trg: 1 PV = 24 Cost = 468 / 70.2
HTK 22 Sx2 Ax2 Dx2 Wx3 Mgx1         
Once heavy cruisers were being added to the Rigellian order of battle, destroyers moved to patrol and escort duties. Development of the long range sensor system also gave the Rigellian fleet a true system patrol ability rather than relying on planet based sensors. Due to the size of the new long range sensor system, requiring the removal of a gun\missile launcher, it was decided that only a proportion of destroyers would be upgraded to use the new equipment. Destroyers serving with main fleet units would continue to be the Mod 4 design. Patrolling destroyers would be deployed in squadrons of three ships with one of the ships upgraded to the new Tribal Mod 4 Leader design.

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Tribal Mod 5 class DD AM1 6 XO Racks 30 HS TL-5
[2] SAix8ZH(I)Wx2M4(I)(I)(I)(I)(I)QLhDD(I)WMg [7/3]
30 RCP 20 MCP Trg: 1 PV = 26 Cost = 520 / 78
HTK 27 Sx1 Aix8 Dx2 Wx3 Mgx1Significant changes were made for the next class in the Tribal series, the Mod 5. A new type of armour became available, twice as strong as the existing material. Shields were reduced and a substantial belt of the new armour was incorporated into the Mod 5. Passive defences were increased threefold compared to the Tribal Mod 4. This was also the first Tribal class to lack atmospheric capability. An increase in the number of available shipyards meant that planetary based construction was extremely rare. The addition of advanced manoeuvring reduced the destroyers turning circle by a third. Multiplex tracking gave the destroyer and any datalinked ships to ability to fire on multiple targets without serious degradation of fire control. All of the improvements resulted in the loss of one gun\missile launcher but the design team believed the additional protection and flexibility of the Mod 5 would more than compensate.

The main role of the Tribal Mod 5 was to provide close escort for the new Swordsman class capital missile battlecruisers. As the Swordsman was designed to engage a pursuing superior enemy force, emphasising the protection of engines rather than weapons, the Mod 5 followed a similar philosophy, reversing the trend of previous.

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Tribal Mod 6 class DD AM1 6 XO Racks 30 HS TL-6
[2] S0x5Aix5ZH(I)(I)(I)(I)(I)(I)WaWaM4QLhDD(I)WaMg [7/3]
30 RCP 20 MCP Trg: 5 PV = 32 Cost = 639 / 95.9
HTK 28 S0x5 Aix5 Dx2 Wax3 Mgx1The Tribal Mod 6 doubled the firepower of the previous class by replacing the gun\missile launchers with the faster firing advanced version. It also benefited from recent advances in shield technology, once again increasing the passive defences. Although the Swordsman class battlecruiser proved a very successful platform, its internal arrangement of weapons and engines did not prove as effective as was originally hoped and the design team decided to revert back to an engines first philosophy. As the Tribal's main fleet role was protection of the battlecruisers, the Tribal Mod 6 also incorporated maximum protection for its weapons.

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Tribal Mod 7 class DD AM2 6 XO Racks 30 HS TL-8
[1] S0x4Aix4ZH(I)(I)(I)Qs(I)(I)(I)M4WaQsWaDz?Dz(I)WaMg [7/3]
30 RCP 20 MCP Trg: 5 Def: - 3 PV = 50 Cost = 769 / 115.4
HTK 27 S0x4 Aix4 Dzx2 Wax3 Mgx1The Tribal Mod 7 contained three major improvements over the Mod 6. Electronic countermeasures, which made the ship far harder to hit, datalinked point defence, which allowed mutual missile defence for members of the same data group and second generation advanced manoeuvring which made the Mod 7 as manoeuvrable as a strikefighter. The existing life support and crew quarters were also replaced by two self contained crew quarter units. Even though the Tribal Mod 8 is now the standard missile destroyer design for the Imperial Rigellian Navy, fifty-eight Mod 7s are still in service.

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Tribal Mod 8 class DD AM2 6 XO Racks 30 HS TL-9
[1] S0S0Acx9ZHQsM4(I)(I)(I)(I)(I)(I)WaQsWaDz?Dz(I)WaMg [7/3]
30 RCP 10 MCP Trg: 5 Def: - 3 PV = 47 Cost = 786 / 117.9
HTK 30 S0x2 Acx9 Dzx2 Wax3 Mgx1The Tribal Mod 8 destroyer improves only slightly on the venerable Mod 7. The new composite armour improves the passive defences by over thirty-five percent and a re-arrangement of the internal systems provides a little more protection for the engines, albeit at the cost of losing multiplex tracking and half the crew quarters earlier than in the previous design. With one hundred and forty-eight Tribal Mod 8s in service, this is most numerous of any Rigellian warship class.

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River class DD 6 XO Racks 30 HS TL-4
[3] SSAAZH(I)(I)(I)(I)(I)LhQ(I)FFDD(I)F [7/3]
30 RCP 20 MCP Trg: 1 PV = 23 Cost = 456 / 68.4
HTK 20 Sx2 Ax2 Dx2 Fx3First entering service around the time of the Tribal Mod 4, the River class destroyers were designed to take advantage of the new force beam technology. They were ahead of the Tribals in incorporating the engines first philosophy which now dominates Rigellian designs. Equipped with three force beams, they were formidable ships up close but lacked the weapon range of the Tribals. Primarily used as fleet units rather than in patrol squadrons.

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River Mod 1 class DD (AC) AM 6 XO Racks 30 HS TL-5
[2] Aix6ZH(I)(I)(I)(I)(I)(I)FFM3DLhQD(I)F [7/3]
30 RCP 20 MCP Trg: 4 PV = 28 Cost = 555 / 83.2
HTK 23 Aix6 Dx2 Fx3This update to the basic River added advanced manoeuvring and multiplex tracking plus a belt of the latest armour. The lack of shields was controversial but the performance of the ship in combat silenced the critics. It also added atmospheric capability at a time when most designers were discarding this feature. All River Mod 1s have now been updated to the far superior Mod 2.

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River Mod 2 class DD AM2 6 XO Racks 30 HS TL-8
[1] SSAAH(I)R(I)R(I)(I)RQLh(I)R(I)(I)RMg [7/3]
30 RCP 20 MCP Trg: 4 Def: - 3 PV = 46 Cost = 694 / 104.1
HTK 21 S0x2 Aix2 Dzx2 (HET)x2A significant improvement over the Mod 1, this design included electronic countermeasures, datalinked point defence and second generation advanced manoeuvring. It also replaced the three force beams with two hetlasers. The debate within the Rigellian Fleet over the merits of the hetlaser vs the capital force beam was long and heated. Eventually it was decided to equip all capital units with capital force beams due to their longer range. As the smaller and faster River Mod 2 class destroyers were able to close the range on larger ships, the range advantage of the capital force beam was less important, resulting in the choice of the hetlaser. One weakness in this class is the light shields and armour. Given their heavy armament and their intended role as screening the fleet against enemy light units, this was deemed an acceptable risk. Fifty-one are currently in service.

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System Patrol Ship class DD (AC) AM 6 XO Racks 30 HS TL-5
[2] Aix6ZH(I)(I)(I)(I)(I)DD(I)QLhRcRcMgXr(I) [7/3]
30 RCP 20 MCP Trg: 1 PV = 27 Cost = 535 / 80.2
HTK 23 Aix6 Dx2 Rcx2 Mgx1During the early stages of the Bug War, many system governors requested fleet units to guard their systems. As no fleet units could be spared, this design was put together in record time and the systems were allowed to build it using planetary industry, hence the atmospheric capability. Equipped with long range sensors and armed with two capital missile launchers, the SPS class was designed to surprise and eliminate intruders or to follow them back to their point of origin. The glaring weakness was a complete lack of close range armament. However, the class proved surprisingly successful in combat. All of the System Patrol Ships have now been upgraded to Tribal Mod 8s.

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Salvo class DD AM 6 XO Racks 30 HS TL-6
[2] S0S0AiAiZH(I)Qs(I)(I)(I)(I)(I)WaWaM5DQsWaD(I)WaMg [7/3]
30 RCP 10 MCP Trg: 6 PV = 35 Cost = 684 / 102.6
HTK 23 S0x2 Aix2 Dx2 Wax4 Mgx1Several members of the Salvo class, design by the Utopian Brotherhood, came into Rigellian service as a result of the Rigellian - Utopian Amalgamation. A contemporary of the Tribal Mod 6, it emphasised firepower over protection, having one third more gun\missile launchers than its Rigellian counterpart but only forty percent of the Mod 6's passive defences. Although most of the Salvo class have been converted to the later Tribal versions, eight are still in service.

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Tempest class DD AM2 6 XO Racks 30 HS TL-8
[1] S0S0S0AiAiAiZH(I)Qs(I)(I)(I)(I)(I)M2QsDzFcDz(I)Fc [7/3]
30 RCP 10 MCP Trg: 3 PV = 34 Cost = 664 / 99.6
HTK 22 S0x3 Aix3 Dzx2 Fcx2This is a Lorentian-designed destroyer which was in service when the Rigellians first entered the Communion of Loren's home system. Unusually for a Lorentian-designed warship, the Tempest class destroyer is less expensive than similar ships of other races as it lacks electronic countermeasures. The majority of Tempests were upgraded to the B variant by the Communion before the Rigellian - Lorentian Amalgamation but six were never refitted and now are on active Rigellian service.

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Tempest B class DD AM2 6 XO Racks 30 HS TL-9
[1] S0Acx6ZHsQs(I)(I)(I)(I)(I)(I)M2QsDzFc?Dz(I)Fc [7/3]
30 RCP 10 MCP Trg: 3 Def: -3 PV = 47 Cost = 720 / 108
HTK 24 S0x1 Acx6 Dzx2 Fcx2
A much needed update to the Tempest which added electronic countermeasures and upgraded the armour to the latest type. This Lorentian design resulted in a very similar ship to the Rigellian River Mod 2 DD, although it is armed with capital force beams instead of hetlasers. As a result of the Rigellian - Lorentian Amalgamation, nine are in service with the Imperial Rigellian Navy.

Steve

[crucis]

System Patrol Ship class DD   (AC)   AM   6 XO Racks   30 HS   TL-5
[2]   Aix6ZH(I)(I)(I)(I)(I)DD(I)QLhRcRcMgXr(I)   [7/3]
30 RCP 20 MCP   Trg: 1   PV = 27   Cost = 535 / 80.2
HTK 23   Aix6 Dx2 Rcx2 Mgx1

Very interesting and unique design.  No shields on a missile ship, and 2 Rc launchers, rather than W's.  Very intriguing.  This design should be nasty against other small ships with its ability to engage at CM range.

Why no Shields?  Cost?

[ocie]

IMO...
The ship was designed to placate the governors of backwater systems and to provide tripwires in outlying areas. however, they handled themselves well when they were in action. the long range missiles and speed allowed them to snipe and run. And the lack of shields was a trade off for armor that might be effective and allowed the other systems to fit a DD hull.

[ZimRathbone]

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River Mod 2 class DD       AM2   6 XO Racks   30 HS   TL-8
[1]   SSAAH(I)R(I)R(I)(I)RQLh(I)R(I)(I)RMg   [7/3]
30 RCP 20 MCP   Trg: 4 Def: - 3   PV = 46   Cost = 694 / 104.1
HTK 21   S0x2 Aix2 Dzx2 (HET)x2



I think that there's a slight error here - design line is  from an early Tribal, but the rest is River 2.

Otherwise nice work - well done

[ocie]

edited the entry. On my update that is