magnetic fusion warships

[joeclark77 (OP)]

Hi all, new fleet here, critique away!

First, the Viking class Light Cruiser -- intended to be an all-purpose vessel for destroying NPR and spoiler ships in large or small groups.  I know the sensor and fire control ranges are far greater than the Arrow-V missile's capability, but I expect improved missile tech soon.  Did you know high power microwaves can't be turreted?  I learned this to my dismay in designing the Viking.  The mesons are meant to serve a dual role -- missile defense but also offensive energy combat -- and the HPM shares the latter role.

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Viking class Light Cruiser    12,000 tons     242 Crew     3483 BP      TCS 240  TH 525  EM 0
6250 km/s     Armour 15-46     Shields 0-0     Sensors 2/7/0/0     Damage Control Rating 4     PPV 38.46
Maint Life 1.8 Years     MSP 726    AFR 288%    IFR 4%    1YR 279    5YR 4191    Max Repair 230 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 18 months    Spare Berths 0    
Magazine 760    Cryogenic Berths 200    

250 EP Magnetic Fusion Cruising Engine (6)    Power 250    Fuel Use 45%    Signature 87.5    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 1,000,000 Litres    Range 33.3 billion km   (61 days at full power)

Quad R7.5/C3 Meson Cannon Turret (1x4)    Range 75,000km     TS: 16000 km/s     Power 12-12     RM 7.5    ROF 5        1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0
R7.5/C3 High Power Microwave (1)    Range 75,000km     TS: 6250 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 7.5    ROF 5        1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0
Turret Fire Control III S06 96-16000 (1)    Max Range: 192,000 km   TS: 16000 km/s     95 90 84 79 74 69 64 58 53 48
Magnetic Confinement Fusion Reactor 5P (3)     Total Power Output 15    Armour 0    Exp 5%

Compact Size 4 Missile Launcher (10)    Missile Size 4    Rate of Fire 70
Viking FAC Targeter III FC30-R15 (1)     Range 30.1m km    Resolution 15
Viking Missile Control II FC245-R160 (1)     Range 245.9m km    Resolution 160
Arrow-V (190)  Speed: 50,000 km/s   End: 34.5m    Range: 103.5m km   WH: 9    Size: 4    TH: 200/120/60

Viking FAC Detector III MR30-R15 (1)     GPS 648     Range 30.1m km    Resolution 15
Viking Missile Sensor III MR12-R1 (1)     GPS 72     Range 13.0m km    MCR 1.4m km    Resolution 1
Viking Search Sensor II MR245-R160 (1)     GPS 17280     Range 245.9m km    Resolution 160
Thermal Sensor TH0.4-2 (1)     Sensitivity 2     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  2m km
EM Detection Sensor EM0.4-7.2 (1)     Sensitivity 7.2     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  7.2m km
Next, the Centurion class, to provide squadron jump capability and AMM defense to three Vikings:

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Centurion class Jump Escort Cruiser    12,000 tons     273 Crew     2913 BP      TCS 240  TH 525  EM 0
6250 km/s    JR 4-250     Armour 10-46     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 4     PPV 30
Maint Life 1.59 Years     MSP 607    AFR 288%    IFR 4%    1YR 279    5YR 4178    Max Repair 218.75 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 18 months    Spare Berths 1    
Magazine 750    

J12000(4-250) Military Jump Drive     Max Ship Size 12000 tons    Distance 250k km     Squadron Size 4
250 EP Magnetic Fusion Cruising Engine (6)    Power 250    Fuel Use 45%    Signature 87.5    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 1,000,000 Litres    Range 33.3 billion km   (61 days at full power)

Renegade AMM Launcher (30)    Missile Size 1    Rate of Fire 5
Viking AMM Fire Control FC8-R1 (2)     Range 8.2m km    Resolution 1
Dart-II (750)  Speed: 78,000 km/s   End: 4.1m    Range: 19.3m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 260/156/78

Viking Missile Sensor III MR12-R1 (1)     GPS 72     Range 13.0m km    MCR 1.4m km    Resolution 1
Recently, I have encountered some aliens with far superior technology.  In particular, their ECM cuts the range of my fire controls down by a factor of 3.5 or so, and their missiles are so powerful that they destroy my ships of the line in single volleys.  In response, we've created the Renegade class specifically to target them.  It can detect their large vessels at almost 450 million km and with an incredibly oversized fire control, should be able to target them at that range.  The only tactic we know to work is to deplete their missiles (by sacrificing dozens of ships) and then close for a beam engagement -- but the Renegade should be able to destroy them with ASMs from outside of their own range.  If they use AMMs, it will be able to fire AMMs in offensive mode to get the aliens to deplete their own magazines.  (Also with the Dart-III AMM, I'm expecting a replacement with more range soon.)  With 18 layers of armor, the Renegade should even be able to survive a volley of the enemy's missiles.  Maybe.  This is an untested design, but seems promising.  

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Renegade class Destroyer    12,000 tons     208 Crew     3599.5 BP      TCS 240  TH 525  EM 0
6250 km/s     Armour 18-46     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 4     PPV 32
Maint Life 1.89 Years     MSP 750    AFR 288%    IFR 4%    1YR 270    5YR 4051    Max Repair 218.75 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 18 months    Spare Berths 1    
Magazine 768    

250 EP Magnetic Fusion Cruising Engine (6)    Power 250    Fuel Use 45%    Signature 87.5    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 1,000,000 Litres    Range 33.3 billion km   (61 days at full power)

Compact Size 4 Missile Launcher (8)    Missile Size 4    Rate of Fire 70
Renegade AMM Launcher (16)    Missile Size 1    Rate of Fire 5
Renegade AMM Fire Control III FC34-R1 (1)     Range 35.0m km    Resolution 1
Renegade LR Targeting Controller III FC1515-R300 (1)     Range 1,515.2m km    Resolution 300
Arrow-V (88)  Speed: 50,000 km/s   End: 34.5m    Range: 103.5m km   WH: 9    Size: 4    TH: 200/120/60
Dart-III (416)  Speed: 80,000 km/s   End: 12.7m    Range: 61.1m km   WH: 1    Size: 1    TH: 266/160/80

Renegade Missile Sensor III MR32-R1 (1)     GPS 180     Range 32.4m km    MCR 3.5m km    Resolution
Finally, for when the enemy's magazines are depleted, two beam FACs will close and disable or destroy them: the Raptor and the Avenger.  These replace 800-ton designs from a previous generation, offering greater speed and greater weapons range.

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Raptor class Fast Attack Craft    380 tons     5 Crew     183.875 BP      TCS 7.6  TH 43.75  EM 0
16447 km/s     Armour 1-4     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 3
Maint Life 0 Years     MSP 0    AFR 76%    IFR 1.1%    1YR 20    5YR 304    Max Repair 109.375 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 0.1 months    Spare Berths 5    

125 EP Magnetic Fusion Overdrive (1)    Power 125    Fuel Use 484.22%    Signature 43.75    Exp 25%
Fuel Capacity 20,000 Litres    Range 2.0 billion km   (33 hours at full power)

R7.5/C3 Meson Cannon (1)    Range 75,000km     TS: 16447 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 7.5    ROF 5        1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0
Raptor Fire Control S01 64-4000 (FTR) (1)    Max Range: 128,000 km   TS: 16000 km/s     92 84 77 69 61 53 45 37 30 22
Magnetic Confinement Fusion Reactor 3P (1)     Total Power Output 3    Armour 0    Exp 5%

FAC Sensor MR2-R16 (1)     GPS 168     Range 2.5m km    Resolution 16

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Avenger class Fast Attack Craft    380 tons     4 Crew     227.875 BP      TCS 7.6  TH 43.75  EM 0
16447 km/s     Armour 1-4     Shields 0-0     Sensors 1/1/0/0     Damage Control Rating 0     PPV 3
Maint Life 0 Years     MSP 0    AFR 76%    IFR 1.1%    1YR 29    5YR 441    Max Repair 109.375 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 0.1 months    Spare Berths 6    

125 EP Magnetic Fusion Overdrive (1)    Power 125    Fuel Use 484.22%    Signature 43.75    Exp 25%
Fuel Capacity 20,000 Litres    Range 2.0 billion km   (33 hours at full power)

R7.5/C3 High Power Microwave (1)    Range 75,000km     TS: 16447 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 7.5    ROF 5        1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0
Raptor Fire Control S01 64-4000 (FTR) (1)    Max Range: 128,000 km   TS: 16000 km/s     92 84 77 69 61 53 45 37 30 22
Magnetic Confinement Fusion Reactor 3P (1)     Total Power Output 3    Armour 0    Exp 5%

FAC Sensor MR2-R16 (1)     GPS 168     Range 2.5m km    Resolution 16
We have also designed a new carrier to transport the FACs into battle (and also to enable fleet training of FAC crews), the Arizona:

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Arizona class Light Carrier    24,000 tons     434 Crew     4980 BP      TCS 480  TH 1050  EM 0
6250 km/s    JR 3-50     Armour 4-74     Shields 0-0     Sensors 6/14/0/0     Damage Control Rating 13     PPV 0
Maint Life 1.75 Years     MSP 1686    AFR 354%    IFR 4.9%    1YR 673    5YR 10092    Max Repair 397 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 18 months    Flight Crew Berths 159    
Hangar Deck Capacity 8000 tons    

J24000(3-50) Military Jump Drive     Max Ship Size 24000 tons    Distance 50k km     Squadron Size 3
250 EP Magnetic Fusion Cruising Engine (12)    Power 250    Fuel Use 45%    Signature 87.5    Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 3,250,000 Litres    Range 54.2 billion km   (100 days at full power)

Thermal Sensor TH1-6 (1)     Sensitivity 6     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  6m km
EM Detection Sensor EM1-14 (1)     Sensitivity 14     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  14m km

Strike Group
18x Raptor Fast Attack Craft   Speed: 16447 km/s    Size: 7.6
3x Avenger Fast Attack Craft   Speed: 16447 km/s    Size: 7.6

[83athom]

Not much to say, but your engines could use a bit more work, meaning for your bigger ships it would be wise to us 2 engines 3x the size for the cruisers and destroyer, and either 4 3x the size, 3 4x the size, or 2 6x the size for your carrier to keep the power but increase efficiency. But that might be against your doctrine. It also might be wise to add some AM capability to the carrier.

[Brian Neumann]

For training your FAC squadrons you might try removing everything expensive and just leaving the crew quarters, hanger bays and only a couple of engines.  A lot of times this ship can be built in the same shipyard, but for a much cheaper price, and while training it will not use anywhere near as much fuel.

Brian

[joeclark77 (OP)]

For training your FAC squadrons you might try removing everything expensive and just leaving the crew quarters, hanger bays and only a couple of engines.  A lot of times this ship can be built in the same shipyard, but for a much cheaper price, and while training it will not use anywhere near as much fuel.

Brian

I thought about that, or civilian engines, but ultimately I also want the carriers to ferry the FACs around.  The new design is faster than the old ones, but has much shorter range (only 2 billion km).  I can afford the fuel.

[Brian Neumann]

I thought about that, or civilian engines, but ultimately I also want the carriers to ferry the FACs around.  The new design is faster than the old ones, but has much shorter range (only 2 billion km).  I can afford the fuel.

I wasn't actually suggesting that you not build the current design.  What I was referring to was the way that shipyards can build multiple designs of ships if they are close enough in cost.  The key here is that removing items from a design rarely makes the refit cost more than the 20% mark.  Because of this you might well be able to build a few cheap ships for your homeworld that are only good for training the squadrons up.  As they are cheaper to build they tend to be built a little bit faster so you can start training the squadrons sooner.  Use the design posted above for everything else.  The training ships are also a place you can store extra defenses for the planet they orbit without having maintenance costs once they are to obsolete (i.e. their hanger space is not big enough for your standard squadron size). 

This may be a moot point for you if the roleplaying considerations are against it, but I thought that it might be something that you, or others looking at this might not have considered.

Brian

[joeclark77 (OP)]

Ah, clever!  I've rarely been able to profit from the fact that shipyards can make multiple models.  Although in this case, the Viking and Centurion models can be made at the same yard, and it has 4 slipways, so I can make them in the 3-1 ratio I want very conveniently.  Your idea is a good one.  I do already happen to have several large planetary fighter bases with big hangars, so that takes care of the need to stash fighters before or after their duty lives aboard a mothership, in this game.

[Jorgen_CAB]

You will have allot to gain by harmonizing ships into similar sized and equipped ships with slight variations. Some you might be able to build in the same shipyards but even if you don't the time and resources needed to switch production will go down significantly.

There are also many reasons for why you should not always look at the most efficient engine design either. You need to understand that the ONLY thing you gain by designing a bigger engine is better fuel economy. The drawbacks are plenty more such as more research intensive, require more engineering for its size on ships, less flexible in ship design... etc..

The number of military engines that my factions builds are completely based on their availability of research facilities, research team skill and potential enemies capabilities for the same. The most important thing is to stay ahead of their competition or at least to keep up. For that to work most of the time engines need to be standardized as much as possible. I rather different engines by power/efficiency and stealth capability rather than size as one example. Am I in need of a stealthy stardrive and if so on what type of ships and what size can I make this drive in order to not fall behind in overall engine technology.

Overall your ship designs look pretty solid and built with sound reasoning.

One general advice that I would like to state, not only to your designs but for design in general is think economy. Military efficiency is one thing but it is not equal economical efficiency in the long run. Never build ships because they look strong on paper, look at how you are suppose to support, upgrade, refit, replace them in the future. What is their purpose and how many do you need and afford to keep at any one time. You must look at the resources you use to build these ships and how that correlates to your resource income versus resources you intend to spend on expanding your empire.
Many times a less military efficient design can be much smarter to build on the grounds you can afford so many more of them or build them in huge quantities at a short terms notice. The more types of resources you use in your ships means that each mine you have will contribute more to each ship.

Also, remember that the military efficiency you "loose" by building multi-purpose ships you gain almost two fold in production efficiency. The reasoning you can mix specialized ships in squadrons based on needs is lost on the grounds you are limited to the numbers of each you can produce and having dedicated shipyards for refit/upgrading as well as building new models. Which will become a bigger burden on the economical side of the military. Keep only small ships as pure single purpose and the bigger they become make them more multi-purpose, you will benefit greatly from both a logistical and economical perspective for a very small military efficiency decrease.

These tips are only as a guide line and there can be many reason to break them. Either through knowledge of an enemy or through strategical considerations. Just make sure your ships are built on sound economical and/or logistical grounds first unless you have a really great strategic foresight and know you will need a specific type of ship.