I decided it was too much effort messing around with the Explorers
IIRC, one of the primary missions of the B5 Explorer ships was to build jump gates in remote areas. Perhaps a gate stabilization module?
I went back to my post-setup DB backup, used Regen JP and Regen Minerals and then replaced the explorers with a dozen 12,500-ton survey cruisers and four maintenance bases. Now I'm playing the restarted campaign.I've just finished designing a ship for my new Babylon 5 campaign, inspired by the Explorer class. It is intended as a very long duration survey vessel that can operate far from home. It can harvest its own fuel and support a strikegroup of up to 40,000 tons, including 32,000 military tons. As well as six 4000-ton jump-capable survey ships, it carriers an 8000-ton light troop transport, a 1000-ton AEW craft to overcome the limitations of commercial sensors, twenty energy-armed fighters, two recon shuttles that can launch drones, 60+ drones and buoys in storage and 30,000 tons of various ground force formations. I did consider adding a stabilisation module but decided that was a step too far.
I'm not sure how efficient it will be, but it was fun to design
Magellan class Explorer 500,000 tons 3,739 Crew 14,022.4 BP TCS 10,000 TH 16,000 EM 0
1600 km/s JR 3-50(C) Armour 1-561 Shields 0-0 HTK 866 Sensors 8/8/0/0 DCR 1-0 PPV 0
MSP 25,017 Max Repair 1,250 MSP
Hangar Deck Capacity 40,000 tons Troop Capacity 30,000 tons Magazine 400 / 0 Tractor Beam
Captain Control Rating 2 BRG AUX
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months Flight Crew Berths 800
Fuel Harvester: 25 modules producing 1,000,000 litres per annum
Maintenance Modules: 20 module(s) capable of supporting ships of 32,000 tons
Orpheus-5000C Jump Drive Max Ship Size 500000 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 3
Beigie-Bryant-400C Particle Thrust Engine (40) Power 16000 Fuel Use 2.24% Signature 400 Explosion 4%
Fuel Capacity 8,179,000 Litres Range 131.4 billion km (950 days at full power)
Refuelling Capability: 50,000 litres per hour Complete Refuel 163 hours
Theia Sensor Buoy (46) Speed: 0 km/s End: 0m Range: 0m km WH: 0 Size: 6 TH: 0 / 0 / 0
Argus Sensor Drone (20) Speed: 4,000 km/s End: 6.3d Range: 2,173.5m km WH: 0 Size: 6 TH: 400 / 800 / 1,600
Oracle-30N Active Sensor (1) GPS 1920 Range 31.5m km Resolution 120
EM-8 Passive Sensor (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 22.4m km
TH-8 Passive Sensor (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 22.4m km
Strike Group / Ground Forces
2x Kestrel Shuttle Speed: 3200 km/s Size: 10
20x SF-1A Starfury Fighter Speed: 10001 km/s Size: 6
1x Charon Light Troop Transport Speed: 1000 km/s Size: 160
6x Icarus Survey Ship Speed: 1750 km/s Size: 80
1x Delphi Early Warning Craft Speed: 4000 km/s Size: 20
1x Engineer Battalion
2x Geosurvey Detachment
1x Marine Battalion
2x Xenoarchaeology Detachment
Icarus class Survey Ship 4,000 tons 109 Crew 870.2 BP TCS 80 TH 140 EM 0
1750 km/s JR 3-50 Armour 1-22 Shields 0-0 HTK 28 Sensors 8/8/3/3 DCR 2-5 PPV 0
Maint Life 3.43 Years MSP 271 AFR 64% IFR 0.9% 1YR 35 5YR 526 Max Repair 100 MSP
Commander Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 24 months Morale Check Required
Orpheus-40M Jump Drive Max Ship Size 4000 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 3
Beigie-Bryant-140E Particle Thrust Engine (1) Power 140 Fuel Use 20.29% Signature 140 Explosion 7%
Fuel Capacity 419,000 Litres Range 92.9 billion km (614 days at full power)
Oracle-30N Active Sensor (1) GPS 1920 Range 31.5m km Resolution 120
EM-8 Passive Sensor (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 22.4m km
TH-8 Passive Sensor (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 22.4m km
Gravitational Survey Sensors (3) 3 Survey Points Per Hour
Geological Survey Sensors (3) 3 Survey Points Per Hour
I've just finished designing a ship for my new Babylon 5 campaign, inspired by the Explorer class. ...
Another cool RP moments:
Unsuccessful coup attempt?
Another cool RP moments:
Lovers quarrel ending in tragedy, covered up by authorities..Another cool RP moments:
Unsuccessful coup attempt?
Another cool RP moments:
Similar to many other fictional dimensions, The United Commonwealth of Earth is struggling in the early years of its expansion out of Sol due to the presence of occasional alien 'Raiders' lurking in both of its colonised systems, like sharks preying on commercial shipping. Unfortunately, until now the UCN simply hasn't been able to produce ships with sufficient speed to chase them down, and the cloaking systems of these aliens have been sufficient to enable them to disappear quickly into the vastness of the system spaces. Initially the Navy formed convoys and guarded them with frigate escorts, but even this would have been no more than symbolic if the Raiders had not been so risk adverse - the Navy's Frigates were all beam armed and lacked the weapon range/speed to properly engage had the Raiders pursued their attacks. Indeed the only early successes occured when the Navy was able to lure a Raider using a lone commercial ship as bait to a colony with STO, which made short work of the poorly armoured aliens.
Finally now the UCN has found a strategy that works. Building ships of the line, or even frigates with sufficient speed are still some years off, but the development of the new Ares Intercepter FAC and its counterpart the Artemis EWACS enables engagement with the aliens with a significant speed advantage. However, the tradeoff of such speed with a viable weapons platform requires a tradeoff with range, and so the challenge remained to get the FACs to a position to intercept the Raiders within their limited engagement window. Mobile hanger bases have been developed to allow the interceptors to lie in wait for significant periods, but a trap still needs intelligence to allow placement of it. Painstaking plotting of Raider entry and exit vectors has enabled Fleet Command to identify Ceres as close to the likely entry vector for ongoing Raider attacks, and so FAC MobileBase Polruan was deployed at Ceres, all sensors powered down, waiting for Sol Planetary Sensors to identify a potential target.
Three days after New Year celebrations in 2030, disaster almost struck. Fleet command had underestimated the efficiency of the alien's cloaking technology, and the first Earth new of a return of the aliens was a number of energy detonations on the thin skin of the MobileBase. Fortunately no FACs were damaged and all launched immediately. The Artemis FAC fired up its powerful sensor suite and Raider was lit up like never before, the Ares craft commanders struggled to get their weapons systems to full power. Capt Taylor Dunn of Ares 27 was the first to fire and at point blank range, his laser hit and burnt straight through the thin alien armoured skin. The Raider kicked its engines to full power in an effort to escape the unexpected threat, but this time the speed advantage was with the home side. Ares-25 was the first UCN military ship ever to be destroyed by enemy fire in the next exchange of fire, hit by multiple railgun pellets, but now two more of the Intercepter lasers were ready and the subsequent volley again blew through the armour and detonated the Raider's powerplant. Now the Raider had only the option to ram, but the next Intercepter volley left her dead in space until Ares-29 under Capt Ross Sharp finally caused her disintergration - becoming the first UCN Commander to claim an enemy kill.
Now that the Navy has found a way to kill its enemy, it will begin is search for ways to hunt down and destroy the alien raiders before they can threaten civilian shipping ever again.
