Aurora 4x
C# Aurora => C# Bureau of Design => Topic started by: liveware on May 21, 2020, 02:51:11 PM
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After stumbling on a hostile NPR, I've been developing a carrier task group to take them out. I came up with some FACs to launch from the carriers because fighters (at my existing tech level) seem too small and short ranged to be of any use. I'm wondering if anyone has any advice/feedback on my designs.
First, some basic explanation of how I want to use these ships. Each Columbus III jump tender is accompanied by 3x Lexington class escort carriers and carries 1x Fletcher supply craft and 1x Kentuck III tanker in onboard hangers. Each Lexington has 12000 hanger space and carries (nominally) 3x Perseus (armed with carronades), 3x Pericles (armed with particle beams), 3x Patroclus (armed with gauss cannons), 2x Artemis (armed with microwaves), and 1x Jackson II (armed with marine boarding parties). The idea is that each Columbus III jumps in with it's 3 escort Lexingtons and can operate somewhat independently, but can also be used in larger fleet formations. I currently have 8 fleets of these ships arranged as I've described here and plan on testing them soon.
I should note that I have been intentionally avoiding lasers, missiles, and railguns in this campaign. I wanted to try something less conventional so I decided to go with carronades and particle beams as my primary weapon systems. My intention is to use the Perseus (carronades) and Pericles (particle beams) as my primary offensive weapon platforms and support them with the Patroclus (gauss cannons) for anti-missile fire and the Artemis (microwaves) for messing with enemy electronics. If I am able to successfully disable any ships, I can send the Jackson II's in for hostile takeover purposes. The Fletchers and Kentuck II's ferry MSP and fuel around if necessary (surprisingly useful).
So, with that said, here are the designs:
Jump Tender
Columbus III class Jump Tender 50,000 tons 1,434 Crew 8,851.8 BP TCS 1,000 TH 1,125 EM 0
2250 km/s JR 4-100 Armour 3-120 Shields 0-0 HTK 367 Sensors 8/8/0/0 DCR 125 PPV 0
Maint Life 5.08 Years MSP 20,763 AFR 173% IFR 2.4% 1YR 1,341 5YR 20,116 Max Repair 3247.4 MSP
Hangar Deck Capacity 2,000 tons
Commander Control Rating 2 BRG AUX
Intended Deployment Time: 48 months Flight Crew Berths 40 Morale Check Required
Surrency & Weatherholtz J50100(4-100) Military Jump Drive Max Ship Size 50100 tons Distance 100k km Squadron Size 4
Surrency & Weatherholtz Ion Drive EP750.00 (3) Power 2250 Fuel Use 28.58% Signature 375.0 Explosion 10%
Fuel Capacity 4,506,000 Litres Range 56.8 billion km (291 days at full power)
Chamberlin Armaments CIWS-120 (24x6) Range 1000 km TS: 12,000 km/s ROF 5
Novick Warning & Control Active Search Sensor AS6-R1 (1) GPS 16 Range 6.4m km MCR 574.5k km Resolution 1
Novick Warning & Control Thermal Sensor TH1.0-8.0 (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 22.4m km
Novick Warning & Control EM Sensor EM1.0-8.0 (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 22.4m km
ECM 10
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Escort Carrier
Lexington class Carrier - Escort 50,000 tons 998 Crew 6,746.5 BP TCS 1,000 TH 1,125 EM 0
2250 km/s Armour 5-120 Shields 0-0 HTK 292 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 69 PPV 0
Maint Life 5.29 Years MSP 9,005 AFR 337% IFR 4.7% 1YR 538 5YR 8,075 Max Repair 562.5 MSP
Hangar Deck Capacity 12,000 tons
Commander Control Rating 3 BRG AUX PFC
Intended Deployment Time: 48 months Flight Crew Berths 240 Morale Check Required
Surrency & Weatherholtz Ion Drive EP750.00 (3) Power 2250 Fuel Use 28.58% Signature 375.0 Explosion 10%
Fuel Capacity 4,250,000 Litres Range 53.5 billion km (275 days at full power)
Chamberlin Armaments CIWS-120 (24x6) Range 1000 km TS: 12,000 km/s ROF 5
Marrinan & Roma Active Search Sensor AS21-R1 (50%) (1) GPS 240 Range 21.4m km MCR 1.9m km Resolution 1
Marrinan & Roma Active Search Sensor AS99-R100 (50%) (1) GPS 24000 Range 99.4m km Resolution 100
ECM 10
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Carronade FAC
Perseus class Fast Attack Craft - Plasma Carronade 1,000 tons 34 Crew 151.2 BP TCS 20 TH 130 EM 0
6501 km/s Armour 2-8 Shields 0-0 HTK 8 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 0 PPV 6
Maint Life 2.01 Years MSP 49 AFR 80% IFR 1.1% 1YR 16 5YR 243 Max Repair 45 MSP
Lieutenant Commander Control Rating 1
Intended Deployment Time: 2.1 days Morale Check Required
Surrency & Weatherholtz Ion Drive EP65.00 (2) Power 130 Fuel Use 213.27% Signature 65 Explosion 13%
Fuel Capacity 3,000 Litres Range 0.3 billion km (10 hours at full power)
Washington Armaments 20 cm C3 Plasma Carronade (1) Range 72,000km TS: 6,501 km/s Power 10-3 RM 10,000 km ROF 20
Washington Armaments Beam Fire Control R72-TS10500 (50%) (1) Max Range: 72,000 km TS: 10,500 km/s 86 72 58 44 31 17 3 0 0 0
Twitchell Aeromarine Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor R3 (1) Total Power Output 3 Exp 5%
Marrinan & Roma Active Search Sensor AS2-R1 (50%) (1) GPS 2 Range 2m km MCR 181.7k km Resolution 1
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Particle Beam FAC
Pericles class Fast Attack Craft - Particle Beam 1,000 tons 40 Crew 166.8 BP TCS 20 TH 130 EM 0
6501 km/s Armour 2-8 Shields 0-0 HTK 8 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 0 PPV 6
Maint Life 1.79 Years MSP 50 AFR 80% IFR 1.1% 1YR 19 5YR 291 Max Repair 45 MSP
Lieutenant Commander Control Rating 1
Intended Deployment Time: 2.1 days Morale Check Required
Surrency & Weatherholtz Ion Drive EP65.00 (2) Power 130 Fuel Use 213.27% Signature 65 Explosion 13%
Fuel Capacity 3,000 Litres Range 0.3 billion km (10 hours at full power)
Washington Armaments Particle Beam-3 (1) Range 72,000km TS: 6,501 km/s Power 7-3 ROF 15
Washington Armaments Beam Fire Control R72-TS10500 (50%) (1) Max Range: 72,000 km TS: 10,500 km/s 86 72 58 44 31 17 3 0 0 0
Twitchell Aeromarine Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor R3 (1) Total Power Output 3 Exp 5%
Marrinan & Roma Active Search Sensor AS2-R1 (50%) (1) GPS 2 Range 2m km MCR 181.7k km Resolution 1
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Gauss FAC
Patroclus class Fast Attack Craft - Gauss 1,000 tons 31 Crew 172.4 BP TCS 20 TH 130 EM 0
6501 km/s Armour 2-8 Shields 0-0 HTK 8 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 0 PPV 6.69
Maint Life 1.60 Years MSP 50 AFR 80% IFR 1.1% 1YR 23 5YR 340 Max Repair 45 MSP
Lieutenant Commander Control Rating 1
Intended Deployment Time: 2.1 days Morale Check Required
Surrency & Weatherholtz Ion Drive EP65.00 (2) Power 130 Fuel Use 213.27% Signature 65 Explosion 13%
Fuel Capacity 6,000 Litres Range 0.5 billion km (21 hours at full power)
Washington Armaments Single Gauss Cannon R300-85.00 Turret (1x3) Range 30,000km TS: 11750 km/s Power 0-0 RM 30,000 km ROF 5
Washington Armaments Beam Fire Control R72-TS10500 (50%) (1) Max Range: 72,000 km TS: 10,500 km/s 86 72 58 44 31 17 3 0 0 0
Marrinan & Roma Active Search Sensor AS2-R1 (50%) (1) GPS 2 Range 2m km MCR 181.7k km Resolution 1
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Microwave FAC
Artemis class Fast Attack Craft - Microwave 936 tons 35 Crew 174.9 BP TCS 19 TH 130 EM 0
6948 km/s Armour 2-8 Shields 0-0 HTK 7 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 0 PPV 4
Maint Life 2.09 Years MSP 51 AFR 70% IFR 1.0% 1YR 16 5YR 235 Max Repair 45 MSP
Lieutenant Commander Control Rating 1
Intended Deployment Time: 2.1 days Morale Check Required
Surrency & Weatherholtz Ion Drive EP65.00 (2) Power 130 Fuel Use 213.27% Signature 65 Explosion 13%
Fuel Capacity 3,000 Litres Range 0.3 billion km (10 hours at full power)
Washington Armaments R40/C3 High Power Microwave (1) Range 40,000km TS: 6,948 km/s Power 4-3 ROF 10
Washington Armaments Beam Fire Control R72-TS10500 (50%) (1) Max Range: 72,000 km TS: 10,500 km/s 86 72 58 44 31 17 3 0 0 0
Twitchell Aeromarine Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor R3 (2) Total Power Output 6 Exp 5%
Marrinan & Roma Active Search Sensor AS2-R1 (50%) (1) GPS 2 Range 2m km MCR 181.7k km Resolution 1
Marrinan & Roma Thermal Sensor TH0.1-0.8 (50%) (1) Sensitivity 0.8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 7.1m km
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Boarding FAC
Jackson II class Fast Attack Craft - Boarding Transport 1,000 tons 25 Crew 98.7 BP TCS 20 TH 100 EM 0
5003 km/s Armour 2-8 Shields 0-0 HTK 6 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 0 PPV 0
Maint Life 8.12 Years MSP 70 AFR 16% IFR 0.2% 1YR 2 5YR 28 Max Repair 25 MSP
Troop Capacity 250 tons Boarding Capable
Lieutenant Commander Control Rating 1
Intended Deployment Time: 3.6 days Morale Check Required
Surrency & Weatherholtz Ion Drive EP50.00 (2) Power 100 Fuel Use 110.68% Signature 50 Explosion 10%
Fuel Capacity 13,000 Litres Range 2.1 billion km (4 days at full power)
Marrinan & Roma Active Search Sensor AS2-R1 (50%) (1) GPS 2 Range 2m km MCR 181.7k km Resolution 1
Marrinan & Roma EM Sensor EM0.1-0.8 (50%) (1) Sensitivity 0.8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 7.1m km
Marrinan & Roma Thermal Sensor TH0.1-0.8 (50%) (1) Sensitivity 0.8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 7.1m km
ECM 10
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Maintenance FAC
Fletcher class Fast Attack Craft - Maintenance 1,000 tons 33 Crew 92.9 BP TCS 20 TH 50 EM 0
2502 km/s Armour 1-8 Shields 0-0 HTK 6 Sensors 8/8/0/0 DCR 0 PPV 0
Maint Life 12.16 Years MSP 491 AFR 40% IFR 0.6% 1YR 6 5YR 92 Max Repair 25 MSP
Lieutenant Commander Control Rating 1
Intended Deployment Time: 3 days Morale Check Required
Surrency & Weatherholtz Ion Drive EP50.00 (1) Power 50 Fuel Use 110.68% Signature 50 Explosion 10%
Fuel Capacity 1,000 Litres Range 0.2 billion km (18 hours at full power)
Ordnance Transfer Rate: 40 MSP per hour
Novick Warning & Control Active Search Sensor AS6-R1 (1) GPS 16 Range 6.4m km MCR 574.5k km Resolution 1
Novick Warning & Control Thermal Sensor TH1.0-8.0 (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 22.4m km
Novick Warning & Control EM Sensor EM1.0-8.0 (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 22.4m km
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Tanker FAC
Kentuck II class Fast Attack Craft - Tanker 1,000 tons 32 Crew 81.9 BP TCS 20 TH 50 EM 0
2502 km/s Armour 1-8 Shields 0-0 HTK 7 Sensors 8/8/0/0 DCR 0 PPV 0
Maint Life 5.99 Years MSP 90 AFR 40% IFR 0.6% 1YR 4 5YR 64 Max Repair 25 MSP
Lieutenant Commander Control Rating 1
Intended Deployment Time: 3 days Morale Check Required
Surrency & Weatherholtz Ion Drive EP50.00 (1) Power 50 Fuel Use 110.68% Signature 50 Explosion 10%
Fuel Capacity 51,000 Litres Range 8.3 billion km (38 days at full power)
Refuelling Capability: 50,000 litres per hour Complete Refuel 1 hours
Novick Warning & Control Active Search Sensor AS6-R1 (1) GPS 16 Range 6.4m km MCR 574.5k km Resolution 1
Novick Warning & Control Thermal Sensor TH1.0-8.0 (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 22.4m km
Novick Warning & Control EM Sensor EM1.0-8.0 (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 22.4m km
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Feedback is always appreciated :-)
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It might be good to have a larger-resolution active sensor on some of the classes? 2m km is pretty weak for ship-detection, and probably not all your classes need to have missile-spotting capability?
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Ah, I have a separate scout class with it's own jump drive that operates independently and drops a whole bunch of sensor buoys in the combat zone prior to jumping the main fleet in. The scout has much wider sensor coverage and assists the main fleet.
As for the missile detection, I'm still not sure I know what I'm doing when it comes to properly detecting missiles, so I probably do have some excessive thermal sensor coverage. However, most of those sensors are only about 5 tons, so removing them doesn't change much.
I did just notice that the Artemis has an extra reactor... that was a design oversight. I was messing around with a different size microwave cannon and forgot to remove the extra reactor when I was done.
Having now had the chance to stare at these designs for a while, I think that for the next design iteration I will try to include a larger long range active sensor on the Columbus or Lexington class which more closely matches the practical engagement range of the FACs.
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Well, as far as shooting at the incoming missiles only the active sensors matter. What are you trying to get out of the tiny passives? I wouldn't expect those to spot anything the scout ship won't. (Though given how tiny they are you're probably right that it doesn't hurt any to include them even if they don't do anything.)
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Mostly I just didn't want ships that were totally blind (maybe the scout gets ambushed and blown up? or something). 2m km isn't that much range, but it's better than being blind. Also, the sensors are tiny so I figured why not?
I am also relying heavily on sensor buoy coverage for the anticipated upcoming battle with the NPR. I have their system well covered with buoys.
For the gauss FACs at least I want them to be able to see their own targets. These ships will be used for missile defense purposes and need to be able to target missiles.
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There are probably way too many CIWS on your carrier such that a 50kt slow carrier only has 12kt hanger space, which can only hold 12 of your FACs.
Your FACs are very slow for Ion tech, and their BFCs are way overengineered for their speed, perhaps except for the Gauss variant, whose turret speed is overengineered (it is easier to match turret speed to BFC speed than the other way around).
FACs tends to operate in swarms, so sensor on every one of them is kind of wasteful to me.
For small ships like FACs, I would not bother giving them 2 engines for redundancy. They got shot in the engine they are dead anyway. The smaller engine size definitely kills the fuel efficiency in C# much more than in VB6.
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I was struggling with the BFCs due to I think technological limitations. If I go smaller, they are too short ranged/too slow for the particle beams and plasma carronades. The result shown is a compromise which is limited by ship speed and weapon range instead of BFC performance. I probably should redesign the BFCs again since I have better technology now.
Fair point about the engines. I'm still on the fence about single engine designs but I may be overly constraining myself. The FACs only have <10 HTK anyway, so you're probably right that if they get hit they are pretty much dead anyway. My fastest opponent is a 7k km/s scout ship and most opponents appear to operating at around 5k km/s, so that was my primary design goal for ship speed.
Fair point also about the CIWS on the carriers. I forgot to go back and reassess that trade off I think because I hadn't designed my gauss FAC yet. Now I should re-evaluate.
Total hull mass for all FAC sensors (thermals, EM, and active) are only 15 tons/FAC. I probably won't change this until I get the other component designs closer to a final design.
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Alright, so I designed some new versions of my ships using my latest tech based on the feedback provided. I think these are considerable improvements, but still far from ideal.
Jump Tender: This ship got improved engines at the cost of reduced range. This is probably ok but testing is required. I have also removed all CIWS as this ship should not be in targeting range of enemy ships. If it is targeted, I did something wrong (or need a larger ship).
Columbus IV class Jump Tender 50,100 tons 1,482 Crew 9,301.3 BP TCS 1,002 TH 5,000 EM 0
4990 km/s JR 4-100 Armour 2-121 Shields 0-0 HTK 310 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 124 PPV 0
Maint Life 5.50 Years MSP 29,228 AFR 176% IFR 2.4% 1YR 1,626 5YR 24,390 Max Repair 3247.4 MSP
Hangar Deck Capacity 2,000 tons
Captain Control Rating 3 BRG AUX ENG
Intended Deployment Time: 48 months Flight Crew Berths 40 Morale Check Required
Surrency & Weatherholtz J50100(4-100) Military Jump Drive Max Ship Size 50100 tons Distance 100k km Squadron Size 4
Aegis Ion Drive EP2500.00 (2) Power 5000.0 Fuel Use 107.33% Signature 2500.00 Explosion 20%
Fuel Capacity 12,051,000 Litres Range 40.3 billion km (93 days at full power)
Aegis Active Search Sensor AS2-R1 (50%) (1) GPS 3 Range 2.7m km MCR 244k km Resolution 1
Aegis Active Search Sensor AS141-R50 (50%) (1) GPS 21000 Range 141.3m km Resolution 50
ECM 10
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Escort Carrier: The Lexington received the same treatment as the Columbus, receiving improved engines, worse range, and loss of all CIWS capability. Her gauss fighters are her sole protection.
Lexington II class Carrier - Escort 50,100 tons 1,234 Crew 7,249.1 BP TCS 1,002 TH 5,000 EM 0
4990 km/s Armour 3-121 Shields 0-0 HTK 296 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 114 PPV 0
Maint Life 6.23 Years MSP 13,405 AFR 193% IFR 2.7% 1YR 593 5YR 8,899 Max Repair 1250.00 MSP
Hangar Deck Capacity 12,000 tons
Captain Control Rating 6 BRG AUX ENG CIC FLG PFC
Intended Deployment Time: 48 months Flight Crew Berths 240 Morale Check Required
Aegis Ion Drive EP2500.00 (2) Power 5000.0 Fuel Use 107.33% Signature 2500.00 Explosion 20%
Fuel Capacity 12,015,000 Litres Range 40.2 billion km (93 days at full power)
Aegis Active Search Sensor AS141-R50 (50%) (1) GPS 21000 Range 141.3m km Resolution 50
Aegis Active Search Sensor AS2-R1 (50%) (1) GPS 3 Range 2.7m km MCR 244k km Resolution 1
ECM 10
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Carronade FAC: The Perseus received several improvements. New engines have almost doubled her speed and a new BFC improves her targeting. She has a smaller weapon, but with her larger engines will hit enemies with greater reliability. She also boasts improved repair capabilities and significantly improved range.
Perseus II class Fast Attack Craft - Plasma Carronade 1,000 tons 38 Crew 279.3 BP TCS 20 TH 72 EM 0
10319 km/s Armour 2-8 Shields 0-0 HTK 8 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 1 PPV 4
Maint Life 10.26 Years MSP 262 AFR 5% IFR 0.1% 1YR 5 5YR 68 Max Repair 180.46875 MSP
Lieutenant Commander Control Rating 1
Intended Deployment Time: 1 days Morale Check Required
Aegis Ion Drive EP206.25 (1) Power 206.2 Fuel Use 209.83% Signature 72.1875 Explosion 16%
Fuel Capacity 12,000 Litres Range 1 billion km (27 hours at full power)
Aegis 15 cm C4 Plasma Carronade (1) Range 60,000km TS: 10,319 km/s Power 6-4 RM 10,000 km ROF 10 6 3 2 1 1 1 0 0 0 0
Aegis Beam Fire Control R64-TS10000 (50%) (1) Max Range: 64,000 km TS: 10,000 km/s 84 69 53 38 22 6 0 0 0 0
Aegis Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor R4-PB60 (1) Total Power Output 4 Exp 30%
Aegis Active Search Sensor AS2-R1 (50%) (1) GPS 3 Range 2.7m km MCR 244k km Resolution 1
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Particle Beam FAC: The Pericles received many of the same upgrades as the Perseus. In particular, an upgraded BFC and smaller particle beam allow for more consistent long-range attacks and improved speed and range allow for generally greater combat utility.
Pericles II class Fast Attack Craft - Particle Beam 1,000 tons 48 Crew 389.2 BP TCS 20 TH 74 EM 0
10501 km/s Armour 2-8 Shields 0-0 HTK 6 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 1 PPV 5
Maint Life 7.56 Years MSP 243 AFR 8% IFR 0.1% 1YR 7 5YR 112 Max Repair 183.7500 MSP
Lieutenant Commander Control Rating 1
Intended Deployment Time: 1 days Morale Check Required
Aegis Ion Drive EP210.00 (1) Power 210.0 Fuel Use 428.70% Signature 73.5000 Explosion 21%
Fuel Capacity 23,000 Litres Range 1 billion km (25 hours at full power)
Aegis Particle Beam-2 (1) Range 192,000km TS: 10,501 km/s Power 5-4 ROF 10 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2
Aegis Beam Fire Control R192-TS10000 (50%) (1) Max Range: 192,000 km TS: 10,000 km/s 95 90 84 79 74 69 64 58 53 48
Aegis Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor R4-PB60 (1) Total Power Output 4 Exp 30%
Aegis Active Search Sensor AS2-R1 (50%) (1) GPS 3 Range 2.7m km MCR 244k km Resolution 1
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Gauss FAC: The Patroclus has been improved in the same manner as the Perseus and the Pericles. In particular, the turret has been replaced by a more efficient conventionally mounted gauss cannon. This upgrade was facilitated by the substantial speed improvement provided by the new engine design.
Patroclus II class Fast Attack Craft - Gauss 1,000 tons 38 Crew 280.2 BP TCS 20 TH 72 EM 0
10314 km/s Armour 2-8 Shields 0-0 HTK 7 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 1 PPV 5
Maint Life 11.90 Years MSP 306 AFR 5% IFR 0.1% 1YR 4 5YR 60 Max Repair 180.46875 MSP
Lieutenant Commander Control Rating 1
Intended Deployment Time: 1 days Morale Check Required
Aegis Ion Drive EP206.25 (1) Power 206.2 Fuel Use 209.83% Signature 72.1875 Explosion 16%
Fuel Capacity 13,000 Litres Range 1.1 billion km (30 hours at full power)
Levenstein-Heling Gauss Cannon R300-85.00 (1x3) Range 30,000km TS: 10,314 km/s Accuracy Modifier 85.00% RM 30,000 km ROF 5 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Aegis Beam Fire Control R48-TS10000 (50%) (1) Max Range: 48,000 km TS: 10,000 km/s 79 58 38 17 0 0 0 0 0 0
Aegis Active Search Sensor AS2-R1 (50%) (1) GPS 3 Range 2.7m km MCR 244k km Resolution 1
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Microwave FAC: The Artemis has received upgrades commensurate with the other new FAC designs. In particular, it's firing range has been substantially improved and it's new BFC is much more appropriate for this weapon platform.
Artemis II class Fast Attack Craft - Microwave 1,000 tons 48 Crew 387.7 BP TCS 20 TH 73 EM 0
10413 km/s Armour 2-8 Shields 0-0 HTK 8 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 1 PPV 4
Maint Life 13.95 Years MSP 424 AFR 5% IFR 0.1% 1YR 4 5YR 61 Max Repair 182.1050 MSP
Lieutenant Commander Control Rating 1
Intended Deployment Time: 1 days Morale Check Required
Aegis Ion Drive EP208.12 (1) Power 208.1 Fuel Use 294.41% Signature 72.8420 Explosion 18%
Fuel Capacity 16,000 Litres Range 1 billion km (26 hours at full power)
Aegis R120/C4 High Power Microwave (1) Range 120,000km TS: 10,413 km/s Power 6-4 ROF 10 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1
Aegis Beam Fire Control R120-TS10000 (50%) (1) Max Range: 120,000 km TS: 10,000 km/s 92 83 75 67 58 50 42 33 25 17
Aegis Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor R4-PB60 (1) Total Power Output 4 Exp 30%
Aegis Active Search Sensor AS2-R1 (50%) (1) GPS 3 Range 2.7m km MCR 244k km Resolution 1
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Boarding FAC: The new Jackson is an incremental improvement over the previous design, differing primarily in it's improved speed and range and lack of ECM.
Jackson III class Fast Attack Craft - Boarding Transport 1,000 tons 31 Crew 230.4 BP TCS 20 TH 72 EM 0
10314 km/s Armour 2-8 Shields 0-0 HTK 5 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 1 PPV 0
Maint Life 12.04 Years MSP 266 AFR 4% IFR 0.1% 1YR 3 5YR 51 Max Repair 180.46875 MSP
Troop Capacity 250 tons Boarding Capable
Lieutenant Commander Control Rating 1
Intended Deployment Time: 1 days Morale Check Required
Aegis Ion Drive EP206.25 (1) Power 206.2 Fuel Use 209.83% Signature 72.1875 Explosion 16%
Fuel Capacity 14,000 Litres Range 1.2 billion km (32 hours at full power)
Aegis Active Search Sensor AS2-R1 (50%) (1) GPS 3 Range 2.7m km MCR 244k km Resolution 1
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Maintenance FAC: The new Fletcher is an incremental improvement on the previous design.
Fletcher II class Fast Attack Craft - Maintenance 1,000 tons 36 Crew 156.9 BP TCS 20 TH 43 EM 0
6189 km/s Armour 1-8 Shields 0-0 HTK 4 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 1 PPV 0
Maint Life 20.83 Years MSP 658 AFR 8% IFR 0.1% 1YR 3 5YR 43 Max Repair 108.28125 MSP
Lieutenant Commander Control Rating 1
Intended Deployment Time: 1 days Morale Check Required
Aegis Ion Drive EP123.75 (1) Power 123.8 Fuel Use 270.89% Signature 43.3125 Explosion 16%
Fuel Capacity 17,000 Litres Range 1.1 billion km (50 hours at full power)
Ordnance Transfer Rate: 40 MSP per hour
Aegis Active Search Sensor AS2-R1 (50%) (1) GPS 3 Range 2.7m km MCR 244k km Resolution 1
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Tanker FAC: The new Kentuck is another incremental improvement.
Kentuck III class Fast Attack Craft - Tanker 1,000 tons 39 Crew 146.8 BP TCS 20 TH 43 EM 0
6189 km/s Armour 1-8 Shields 0-0 HTK 6 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 1 PPV 0
Maint Life 12.72 Years MSP 146 AFR 5% IFR 0.1% 1YR 2 5YR 25 Max Repair 108.28125 MSP
Lieutenant Commander Control Rating 1
Intended Deployment Time: 1 days Morale Check Required
Aegis Ion Drive EP123.75 (1) Power 123.8 Fuel Use 270.89% Signature 43.3125 Explosion 16%
Fuel Capacity 62,000 Litres Range 4.1 billion km (7 days at full power)
Refuelling Capability: 50,000 litres per hour Complete Refuel 1 hours
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
These designs might actually be able to damage the NPR. Still paper armor, but they might be able to do some damage before they get destroyed.
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Minor engineering nitpick: You've got a bunch of 5 and 6 power beam weapons designed with recharge rate 4. I believe you'll find that rolling back to recharge rate 3 would be an all-around improvement!
-Same rate of fire, because it's 10 seconds either way.
-Lower weapon cost.
-Lower power demand, so you could use a smaller cheaper reactor. (Probably negligible, for small reactors in small ships like this.)
Generally, you want to pick as low a recharge rate as possible for the desired rate of fire.
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My understanding of energy weapons is that the indicated X-Y rating for a given weapon is X energy is required to fire and Y energy per second is required to charge. So a 5-3 rated energy weapon would require 5 energy total to fire and 3 energy per second to charge. So this hypothetical weapon would fire (alpha strike style) once every 10 seconds.
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My understanding of energy weapons is that the indicated X-Y rating for a given weapon is X energy is required to fire and Y energy per second is required to charge. So a 5-3 rated energy weapon would require 5 energy total to fire and 3 energy per second to charge. So this hypothetical weapon would fire (alpha strike style) once every 10 seconds.
Per tick rather than per second (as you know) but yes, quite so.
My point was that that that 5-3 (or 6-3) gun performance is the same as the performance of the 5-4 (or 6-4) guns the designs use. But it's cheaper to construct, and only draws 3 power instead of 4 when recharging.
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Ah, you are quite right. I perhaps had too much whiskey during my previous post. I should re-design with this in mind...
Furthermore, I designed new power 4 reactors with 30% explosion chance. If I had stuck instead with my previous power 3 reactors they would have had only 5% (or whatever the minimum is) explosion chance.
I think I was transposing X-Y in the power rating during design for some silly reason.
Actually I think the silly reason was that I was thinking that for whatever energy per second Y value the weapon required, I needed to provide a minimum of Y energy per second. That is not the case according to Mr Ulzgoroth? I only need to meet the energy / 5 second requirement?
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I don't think the game has any 'and now you secretly need to multiply by 5' moments? (Multiply or divide by 50, sometimes...) Or any mechanics that work in seconds rather than 5-second ticks. You literally can't provide energy per second! If it helps, think of the total energy required as being in units of power point-ticks.
That, um, doesn't really change anything? If your weapon draws 4 power you need to give it 4 power, exactly the way you did in your designs. (The designer will give you a warning if you don't.) It's just that there's no incentive to make the weapon draw 4 power when that results in the same rate of fire as if it drew 3.
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The 5 second thing throws me off at times.
So if I am understanding things correctly, again, using my hypothetical 5-3 weapon, I need a reactor with minimum of 3 power to charge the weapon, and that reactor will allow that 5-3 weapon to fire once every 10 seconds (assuming alpha strike calculations). By alpha strike calculation I mean that every calculation of weapon charging and/or firing period is based on the assumption that the weapon capacitor initially starts the time period with zero energy.
The paragraph above describes concisely my occasional foolishness regarding 'per second' or 'per increment' calculations. 1 Joule per 5 seconds is rather different than 1 Joule per month!
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You do not need an reactor providing 3 power. 3 is the maximum power the capacitator can accept in an 5s-intervall.
If you would provide only 1 power per tick, it would simply be slower to recharge(25s).
Which also means that a 5-4 weapon coupled with a power 3 reactor works the same as a 5-3 weapon.
It also means that if you have two energy weapons on a ship, eg. one PD railguns 3-3 and one 40cm x-3 railgun, you could theoretically have only one power 3 reactor if you do not need to charge both simultaniously. However, as reactor are cheap and small I don't think this would be worthwhile.
At least it did work like that in VB and afaik nothing did change here.
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I think I confused myself because I always try to design my reactors to provide the maximum amount of power my weapons can accept, without going over.
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After thinking more deeply about the utility of FACs, it occurred to me that I can dock larger ships than FACs in my carriers. I would still receive the benefit of not having to equip jump drives to all of my ships and might benefit from larger, longer range weapons and possibly faster ships with larger engines.
I might mess around with some larger ship designs and see if I can come up with anything useful.
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After thinking more deeply about the utility of FACs, it occurred to me that I can dock larger ships than FACs in my carriers. I would still receive the benefit of not having to equip jump drives to all of my ships and might benefit from larger, longer range weapons and possibly faster ships with larger engines.
I might mess around with some larger ship designs and see if I can come up with anything useful.
...You're already not equipping your carrier with jump drives, so clearly you know that you don't have to equip jump drives to all of your ships...
Larger hangar-delivered 'battle-riders' could still benefit from using boosted engines and smaller fuel fractions because they don't need to cross long distances under their own power, or from skimping on crew quarters and engineering space because they spend most of their time being carried around. (I think the latter works for bigger ships the same as for fighters?)
The only benefit of hangars that relates to jump drives as far as I'm aware is that I believe a military-engine ship in a hangar on a commercial engine ship can be jumped using a commercial jump drive, and vice-versa. Maybe it also helps cram more bang into a squadron jump? IDK whether jumping in and immediately launching parasite craft works.
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...You're already not equipping your carrier with jump drives, so clearly you know that you don't have to equip jump drives to all of your ships...
Yes, I understand that hangers are not necessarily required to jump ships, but one of my design goals is to reduce my jump-drive equipped ships to as few ships as possible. My original design concept for the original Columbus III was a single 50k ton jump carrier which used the largest military jump drive I possess. However, I was unable mount enough hangers on that design to make it useful. So instead I created the Lexington to work as a dedicated carrier escort for the Columbus III, with the idea that I would escort each Columbus with as many Lexingtons as the Columbus' jump drive could support. At my current tech, this results in jump squadrons of 3 Lexingtons for every 1 Columbus.
The only major reason the Columbus designs have hangers at all is to ferry the maintenance and fuel tanker ships. I don't like putting these ships on my combat carriers as they don't have a direct combat role.
Another major advantage that carriers seem to offer is that any ships docked in their hanger bays do not count up their maintenance clocks. They might even reduce them, I can't remember off the top of my head. I think docking also resets crew deployment clocks. So this makes logistics dramatically easier as carriers tend to serve as consolidated maintenance and fuel depots. For a larger fleet, keeping docked ship's maintenance clocks zeroed out will be very useful.
At some point I also want to explore using a commercial jump carrier as you described, however my understanding of the commercial hanger deck is that doesn't work quite the same as the military version. Something about the commercial hanger not reducing the maintenance clock or crew deployment time or something. Still seems useful but not perhaps quite as useful as the military version.
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Yes, I understand that hangers are not necessarily required to jump ships, but one of my design goals is to reduce my jump-drive equipped ships to as few ships as possible. My original design concept for the original Columbus III was a single 50k ton jump carrier which used the largest military jump drive I possess. However, I was unable mount enough hangers on that design to make it useful. So instead I created the Lexington to work as a dedicated carrier escort for the Columbus III, with the idea that I would escort each Columbus with as many Lexingtons as the Columbus' jump drive could support. At my current tech, this results in jump squadrons of 3 Lexingtons for every 1 Columbus.
You don't have to have one jump ship for each #SquadronSize ships, though, except for when you're actually trying to make a squadron (combat) transit. If you use standard transits, I believe you can have one jump tender ferry an arbitrarily large number of non-jump ships through the point.
And for an assault jump, I would think you don't really want to be flying carriers rather than the toughest meanest brawler battleships you can muster.
At some point I also want to explore using a commercial jump carrier as you described, however my understanding of the commercial hanger deck is that doesn't work quite the same as the military version. Something about the commercial hanger not reducing the maintenance clock or crew deployment time or something. Still seems useful but not perhaps quite as useful as the military version.
Yeah, they seem to be more of a special-purpose component than the military hangar.
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You don't have to have one jump ship for each #SquadronSize ships, though, except for when you're actually trying to make a squadron (combat) transit. If you use standard transits, I believe you can have one jump tender ferry an arbitrarily large number of non-jump ships through the point.
THAT I need to test. I was not aware of this particular quirk.
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And for an assault jump, I would think you don't really want to be flying carriers rather than the toughest meanest brawler battleships you can muster.
I would not use my carrier ships for a jump directly into combat range of a hostile fleet. I have scout ships and destroyer escorts for clearing the far side of jump points and establishing an initial sensor net. Once a jump point is clear, I would jump in my carriers to assist with planetary blockades and assaults.
I actually learned this exact lesson the hard way during my present campaign. I had been using jump carrier scouts (the Columbus II, from which the Columbus III was developed) to survey new systems and one got ambushed shortly after jumping through to a new system and was destroyed to the man. So now I use dedicated jump scouts with destroyer escorts to explore new systems.