Some Early Game Corvettes

[liveware (OP)]

With the release of v1.12, I've started a new campaign. Below are some early game corvettes I recently developed. I am just starting out and have only developed NPE drive tech thus far. I decided to use railguns as my primary point defense weapons this time around. This is my first attempt ever using railguns but after reading some of the other forum posts, they do seem promising for lower tech ships.


First, my survey corvette:

Seeking Glass class Survey Corvette      4,000 tons       110 Crew       672 BP       TCS 80    TH 32    EM 0
400 km/s    JR 3-50      Armour 2-22       Shields 0-0       HTK 27      Sensors 1/1/2/2      DCR 4      PPV 0.3
Maint Life 7.98 Years     MSP 500    AFR 32%    IFR 0.4%    1YR 14    5YR 209    Max Repair 100 MSP
Magazine 16   
Knight    Control Rating 1   BRG   
Intended Deployment Time: 48 months    Morale Check Required   

APL M-1 Corvette Transient Wormhole Stabilzer     Max Ship Size 4000 tons    Distance 50k km     Squadron Size 3

APL P-32E Corvette Resonant Atomic Drive (1)    Power 32    Fuel Use 19.76%    Signature 32    Explosion 5%
Fuel Capacity 283,000 Litres    Range 64.4 billion km (1864 days at full power)

AAL S-1R Ordnance Deployment System (1)     Missile Size: 1    Rate of Fire 3000
AISL Type 1 Point Defence Missile Targeting Computer (1)     Range 2.5m km    Resolution 1

AISL Type 1 Corvette Point Defence Gravimeter (1)     GPS 1     Range 1.3m km    MCR 113.5k km    Resolution 1
AISL S-1 Thermal Emission Detector (1)     Sensitivity 1     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  7.9m km
AISL S-1 Electromagnetic Wave Detector (1)     Sensitivity 1     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  7.9m km
AISL Basic Mass Spectrometer (2)   2 Survey Points Per Hour
AISL Basic Spacetime Metrometer (2)   2 Survey Points Per Hour

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

The Looking Glass class is intended to be self-sufficient and capable of performing both types of surveys in Sol and the surrounding systems. It mounts a jump drive capable of transiting 4k ton ships, which is the size limit I have imposed on 'corvette' class ships in my campaign. Thus, it can jump both of the other corvette designs listed below. It mounts dual geo and grav survey sensors for improved survey efficiency and utilizes a mid-size high fuel efficiency engine (at least for my current tech level). It is equipped with a small missile tube for launching scout missiles and survey buoys. This ship is not expected to participate in combat and it is hoped that it's armor, passive sensors will allow it to detect and flee from any potential threats and survive long enough for more capable ships to assist.

Next is my point defense corvette:

Sentinel class Point Defence Corvette      4,000 tons       88 Crew       356.9 BP       TCS 80    TH 400    EM 0
5001 km/s      Armour 3-22       Shields 0-0       HTK 18      Sensors 0/0/0/0      DCR 3      PPV 3
Maint Life 4.05 Years     MSP 327    AFR 43%    IFR 0.6%    1YR 32    5YR 479    Max Repair 100 MSP
Knight    Control Rating 1   BRG   
Intended Deployment Time: 1 months    Morale Check Required   

APL P-200 Corvette Resonant Atomic Drive (2)    Power 400    Fuel Use 63.25%    Signature 200    Explosion 10%
Fuel Capacity 57,000 Litres    Range 4.1 billion km (9 days at full power)

AAL M-1 100mm Magnetic Accelerator Cannon (1x4)    Range 10,000km     TS: 5,001 km/s     Power 3-1     RM 10,000 km    ROF 15        1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
AISL Type 1 MAC Targeting Computer (1)     Max Range: 20,000 km   TS: 5,000 km/s     88 75 62 50 38 25 12 0 0 0
AISL P-3 GCFR Power Plant (1)     Total Power Output 3    Exp 5%

AISL Type 1 Corvette Point Defence Gravimeter (1)     GPS 1     Range 1.3m km    MCR 113.5k km    Resolution 1

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Range bands are given in 2500 km increments against 5 km/s targets

The Sentinel is intended to be used primarily as a colonial defense ship in squadrons of size four or greater. The fire controls are intentionally oversized in order to avoid unnecessary refit once better engine tech is developed (also a slower fire control would only save about 25 tons of hulls space). The maximum tracking speed of 4k km/s is the best I could achieve for a ship this size at current engine tech (NPE). The railgun used is the most rudimentary possible, and research is underway to improve capacitor and range technologies. The Sentinel's range is quite limited but can be extended using tankers in times of war. While the Sentinel is small enough to accompany Seeking Glass corvettes on survey missions it's extremely short deployment time limits it's station keeping capability. Long range target acquisition will be provided by another, as yet-to-be-developed, scout/spotter corvette. As no hostiles have yet been encountered, this ship is considered adequate for current colonial defense needs.

Finally, the supply ship:

Endurance class Replenishment Ship      4,000 tons       46 Crew       211.2 BP       TCS 80    TH 100    EM 0
1250 km/s      Armour 3-22       Shields 0-0       HTK 29      Sensors 1/1/0/0      DCR 1      PPV 0
MSP 2,033    Max Repair 25 MSP
Squire    Control Rating 1   BRG   
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months   

APL P-100E Commercial Resonant Atomic Drive (1)    Power 100    Fuel Use 11.18%    Signature 100    Explosion 5%
Fuel Capacity 918,000 Litres    Range 369.5 billion km (3421 days at full power)
Refuelling Capability: 50,000 litres per hour     Complete Refuel 18 hours

AISL Type 1 Navigation Gravimeter (1)     GPS 1000     Range 18.5m km    Resolution 100
AISL S-1 Electromagnetic Wave Detector (1)     Sensitivity 1     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  7.9m km
AISL S-1 Thermal Emission Detector (1)     Sensitivity 1     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  7.9m km

This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes

The Endurance is again limited to 4k ton displacement in order to allow it to work in tandem with the Seeking Glass survey corvettes. This ship provides basic refueling and resupply capability to other corvette sized ships and can also transfer fuel and supplies between colonies. It is slow, but well armored and equipped with a mid-range active sensor which can be used to assist Sentinels locate targets in emergencies.

I'm interested in seeing if other people have developed any similar sized early-game ships and also any suggestions for improving the ship's I've posted. I plan on using these designs until I reach ion drive engine tech at which point these ships will be scrapped/refitted with better engines and most likely other improved components. I also plant on developing larger 7-8 kton railgun frigates and 10-15 kton railgun cruisers down the road to provide ships with much better range and firepower.

[Garfunkel]

The only problem with your PD corvette is that it only carries a single RG. Sure, you get 4 shots but at tracking speed of mere 5001 km/sec, you're going to need all four to hit anything that spoilers throw your way. It's good that you're thinking of deploying them in squadrons of four - I'd at least double that to eight if not even more if you can.

[TheTalkingMeowth]

I'm curious if you'd be better off with a slightly slower PD corvette with 2 or 3 railguns. 5000km/s at NPE is really fast, and costs you a lot of tonnage.

Of course, if you want to fight spoilers in energy range, you need better than 5kkm/s anyways (or they get to dictate the range, which is bad if you are using railguns).

[nuclearslurpee]

For the Sentinel class, based on what I can re-create it looks like you're running size 25 NPEs with 100% boosting. You would almost definitely get better performance from even one level of boost modifier (125%) enabling you to get the same total EP from size 20 engines. That frees up a whole 10 hull spaces (out of 80 total, that's a lot!), and even if you put all of that into fuel (which you definitely don't have to) you already are getting better range/deployment time. Generally it's better to use boosting to get a high speed rather than sheer size, just because fuel tends to take less space than engines even though you'll need more of it.     

You probably want to use the extra space mount two more turrets, since your reactor can actually recharge that many optimally and it would give you far better PD capabilities. I'm not sure what the tonnage requirement would be for that offhand given your tech levels, but there should be room.   

[Barkhorn]

I don't like the survey corvette.  400kms is painfully slow.  I know surveying isn't a time-sensitive job, but you'll be spending a tremendous amount of time travelling to the next survey location.   You also have way more fuel than your deployment time is good for.  You have fuel for a little over 5 years, but only 4 years of deployment time.  I really don't understand the point of the missile suite.   ROF 3000 means it takes 3000 seconds to reload.  You will never get more than one shot off if you come under attack.  Maybe this is for dropping buoys or survey missiles?  But that doesn't make sense either because size 1 buoys or survey missiles suck.  And you don't need active sensors or an MFC larger than minimum size to drop buoys or fire sensor missiles at waypoints.

[TheTalkingMeowth]

At NPE tech, you can build a decent little size 1, billion klick range active sensor probe to check for nasty spoilers around juicy planets. And size 1 passive buoys for jump points aren't amazingly reliable, but they can give you a sense of who is coming to visit.

My latest playthrough is using size 2 probes, not size 1, but all that really does is make the probe faster (and thus suitable for combat use as well as survey). I call them my ten foot poles (and the bigger version is a 39 and 1/2 foot pole).

[TallTroll]

>> You also have way more fuel than your deployment time is good for.  You have fuel for a little over 5 years, but only 4 years of deployment time.

I almost always do this for my survey ships, except maybe my very first if I leave Sol unexplored (I've always thought having your start system explored just makes things a lot easier as you can plan your early expansion from day 1, instead of having to wait a couple of years, and doing exactly the same things anyway). Running out of deployment time on a surveyor is the "it's time to go home " signal, and your increasingly cranky crew will appreciate having some fuel left in the tank at that point in time.

[liveware (OP)]

After a few decades of gameplay and design revisionism, I've come up with some new designs.

The Seeking Glass class remains unchanged. Yes, it is slow. However, it is fuel efficient, which I value greatly in the early game. It's missile launcher is also worth it's weight in gallicite. The attached screenshot shows how it can be used effectively with scout missiles. Ion drive tech is about 10 years out, at which point this class will be hit with the upgrade stick.

The Sentinel class has received some upgrades:

Sentinel IV class Point Defence Corvette      4,000 tons       127 Crew       543 BP       TCS 80    TH 403    EM 0
5031 km/s      Armour 5-22       Shields 0-0       HTK 25      Sensors 0/0/0/0      DCR 4      PPV 9
Maint Life 5.35 Years     MSP 419    AFR 32%    IFR 0.4%    1YR 25    5YR 368    Max Repair 201.25 MSP
Shipmaster    Control Rating 1   BRG   
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months    Morale Check Required   

APL P-402.5 Resonant Nuclear Drive (1)    Power 402.5    Fuel Use 240.42%    Signature 402.5    Explosion 17%
Fuel Capacity 398,000 Litres    Range 7.4 billion km (17 days at full power)

AAL M-2 Microwave Impulse Cannon (1)    Range 15,000km     TS: 5,031 km/s     Power 3-3    ROF 5        1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0
AAL M-2 100mm Magnetic Accelerator Cannon (2x4)    Range 20,000km     TS: 5,031 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 20,000 km    ROF 5        1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
AISL Type 1 Point Defence Targeting Computer (1)     Max Range: 128,000 km   TS: 5,000 km/s     98 97 95 94 92 91 89 88 86 84
APL P-3 GCFR Power Plant (3)     Total Power Output 9    Exp 5%

AISL Type 1 Point Defence Gravimeter (1)     GPS 1     Range 1.3m km    MCR 113.5k km    Resolution 1

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Range bands are given in 2 km increments against 5 km/s targets

The range is still less than what I would like but this class has proven itself useful against some NPR scouting parties (in groups of 4-5 with tanker support). It is not terribly expensive and provides adequate PPV. I decided that the microwave cannon was worth the equivalent weight of a railgun since it has the potential to blind a target. Since most opponents will mount only a couple of sensors and targeting computers, the microwave cannon can easily pay for itself. It also serves as a 'warning shot' weapon.

I created a frigate and cruiser to accompany the Sentinel corvettes. They displace 8k tons and 15k tons respectively. The Vanguards mount heavy railguns and carronades for extra damage compared to the Sentinels. The Guardians mount heavy railguns, carronades, and microwave cannons. A standard fleet is 1x Guardian, 2x Vanguard, and 4x Sentinel:

Vanguard II class Point Defence Frigate      8,000 tons       241 Crew       1,089.6 BP       TCS 160    TH 805    EM 0
5031 km/s      Armour 6-35       Shields 0-0       HTK 62      Sensors 3/3/0/0      DCR 8      PPV 24
Maint Life 5.34 Years     MSP 861    AFR 64%    IFR 0.9%    1YR 51    5YR 759    Max Repair 201.25 MSP
Shipmaster    Control Rating 2   BRG   AUX   
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months    Morale Check Required   

APL P-402.5 Resonant Nuclear Drive (2)    Power 805.0    Fuel Use 240.42%    Signature 402.5    Explosion 17%
Fuel Capacity 850,000 Litres    Range 8 billion km (18 days at full power)

AAL M-2 200mm Plasma Cannon (1)    Range 100,000km     TS: 5,031 km/s     Power 10-3     RM 10,000 km    ROF 20       
AAL M-2 150mm Magnetic Accelerator Cannon (1x4)    Range 60,000km     TS: 5,031 km/s     Power 9-3     RM 20,000 km    ROF 15       
AAL M-2 100mm Magnetic Accelerator Cannon (4x4)    Range 20,000km     TS: 5,031 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 20,000 km    ROF 5       
AISL Type 1 Point Defence Targeting Computer (1)     Max Range: 128,000 km   TS: 5,000 km/s     98 97 95 94 92 91 89 88 86 84
APL P-7 GCFR Power Plant (4)     Total Power Output 28    Exp 5%
APL P-3 GCFR Power Plant (1)     Total Power Output 3    Exp 5%

AISL Type 1 Point Defence Gravimeter (1)     GPS 1     Range 1.3m km    MCR 113.5k km    Resolution 1
AISL Type 1 Navigation Gravimeter (1)     GPS 1000     Range 18.5m km    Resolution 100
AISL S-3 Electromagnetic Wave Detector (1)     Sensitivity 3     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  13.7m km
AISL S-3 Thermal Emission Detector (1)     Sensitivity 3     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  13.7m km

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

Guardian II class Point Defence Cruiser      15,000 tons       485 Crew       2,067.9 BP       TCS 300    TH 1,610    EM 0
5366 km/s      Armour 6-54       Shields 0-0       HTK 117      Sensors 15/15/0/0      DCR 26      PPV 48
Maint Life 4.94 Years     MSP 1,378    AFR 112%    IFR 1.6%    1YR 94    5YR 1,405    Max Repair 201.25 MSP
Shipmaster    Control Rating 2   BRG   AUX   
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months    Morale Check Required   

APL P-402.5 Resonant Nuclear Drive (4)    Power 1610.0    Fuel Use 240.42%    Signature 402.5    Explosion 17%
Fuel Capacity 1,614,000 Litres    Range 8.1 billion km (17 days at full power)

AAL M-2 200mm Plasma Cannon (2)    Range 100,000km     TS: 5,366 km/s     Power 10-3     RM 10,000 km    ROF 20       
AAL M-2 150mm Magnetic Accelerator Cannon (2x4)    Range 60,000km     TS: 5,366 km/s     Power 9-3     RM 20,000 km    ROF 15       
AAL M-2 100mm Magnetic Accelerator Cannon (6x4)    Range 20,000km     TS: 5,366 km/s     Power 3-3     RM 20,000 km    ROF 5       
AAL M-2 Microwave Impulse Cannon (2)    Range 15,000km     TS: 5,366 km/s     Power 3-3    ROF 5       
AISL Type 1 Point Defence Targeting Computer (2)     Max Range: 128,000 km   TS: 5,000 km/s     98 97 95 94 92 91 89 88 86 84
APL P-2 GCFR Power Plant (1)     Total Power Output 2    Exp 5%
APL P-30 GCFR Power Plant (2)     Total Power Output 60    Exp 5%

AISL Type 1 Point Defence Gravimeter (1)     GPS 1     Range 1.3m km    MCR 113.5k km    Resolution 1
AISL Type 1 Navigation Gravimeter (1)     GPS 1000     Range 18.5m km    Resolution 100
AISL S-15 Thermal Emission Detector (1)     Sensitivity 15     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  30.6m km
AISL S-15 Electromagnetic Wave Detector (1)     Sensitivity 15     Detect Sig Strength 1000:  30.6m km

This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes

Again, range is not so great and tankers are a requirement for most practical engagements. The frigates remain untested. The cruisers have proven extremely useful for jump point defence due to their high speed and substantial armament. A single Guardian has proven capable of besting a pair of 23k ton NPR military craft in my current campaign (and a multitude of smaller craft in separate engagements) , so I am satisfied with their performance. Once ion drive tech is available, they will be getting a range upgrade.