Aurora 4x
VB6 Aurora => Bureau of Ship Design => Topic started by: DuraniumCowboy on June 02, 2014, 06:46:32 AM
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I am playing through my first game. I used a modified conventional start, and am now up to ion technology. So far my fleet just has 4 scout frigates and 4, non jump capable defense frigates. In order to broaden my base of ships to provide train officers and also defend some small systems, I wanted to develop a gunboat concept. These platforms probably won't be great in a fight at this tech, but they will be cheap, and later, I should be able to use them from a carrier. Any comments are appreciated:
GB-1 class Gunboat 1 000 tons 32 Crew 138.5 BP TCS 20 TH 45 EM 0
3000 km/s Armour 2-8 Shields 0-0 Sensors 6/5/0/0 Damage Control Rating 0 PPV 3
Maint Life 5.48 Years MSP 43 AFR 16% IFR 0.2% 1YR 2 5YR 36 Max Repair 37.5 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months Spare Berths 2
C-1-M 60 EP Ion Drive (1) Power 60 Fuel Use 66.5% Signature 45 Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 100 000 Litres Range 27.1 billion km (104 days at full power)
B10A 10cm Railgun V2/C3 (1x4) Range 16 000km TS: 3000 km/s Power 3-3 RM 2 ROF 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
B-PD-1 Fire Control S01 8-5000 (1) Max Range: 16 000 km TS: 5000 km/s 37 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Standard Pebble Bed Reactor Technology PB-1 (1) Total Power Output 3 Armour 0 Exp 5%
FS-C-1 Active Search Sensor MR0-R5 (70%) (1) GPS 8 Range 210k km Resolution 5
FLIR Thermal Sensor TH1-6 (1) Sensitivity 6 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 6m km
Grumman ESM-1 EM Detection Sensor EM1-5 (1) Sensitivity 5 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 5m km
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
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With their slow speed and short firing range, it is unlikely they will ever be able to hit anything.
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I suppose those could be used as limited antimissile platforms with different sensors.
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Not really. Between the appearent tech level and the BFC as built the base hit chance is very low.
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If this design is just meant as a trainer and coast guard cutter, you can probably drop the passive sensors and rely on deep space tracking stations. Later, if you choose to use them on carriers, you can have larger passive sensors mounted on a carrier support vessel, or on the carrier itself if you like.
You could also cut the size of the active sensor down until the range more closely matches your railgun's range. I like the idea in general of putting actives on each gunboat; it provides a comforting redundancy and removes the need to tool up another shipyard for a leader variant. It's a less effective strategy with missile boats, since you need more range, and thus a bigger sensor design.
I would say take the space saved on sensors and either cut it down to a 500-ton fighter/gunboat design to free up a shipyard, or put the tonnage into a bigger gun and/or engine. The fighter option has the disadvantage of removing their eligibility for maintenance facility upkeep and overhaul; they would need a hangar somewhere.
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Your range is also way farther than it needs to be. 27b km is around 4 trips from Neptune to the Sun and back. In both your operating scenarios, these gunboats will never be more than a couple billion km away from a fuel source, either a carrier or a colony.
With that in mind, I'd make a more powerful, less fuel-efficient engine of the same size. You can probably get these gunboats up to at least 4000 km/s.
Also, your deployment time is limiting if these are based at a colony. 3 months is fine if you're based at a carrier, but its very short if you're based at a colony. Especially at only 3000 km/s.
I'd drop the passive EM sensors entirely and spend that tonnage on a bigger thermal sensor, but that's a personal preference thing. I don't think yours is wrong, just something to consider.
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Thanks for the input. I have already developed high power "fighter" engines. I can swap those out and add a lot of speed at the sacrifice of endurance. My biggest question is how much endurance is enough? Also, I haven't optimized my components for this size of boat, so after the discussions here I am looking at maybe a missile armed ship instead. Based on my still low tech, my counter missile series is size 2. I could add at least two size two launchers here. I had a question though. I assume if I want to be able to engage missiles, then I need a resolution 1 missile fire control system? In this case, I might look at two FC's one for defense and one for standoff attacks (which can probably be pretty light). My CM's range 11m km at my tech (well past the 1m km I can actually target a missile at, but I have checked, and can also build a size two light attack missile with damage 4 that also reaches 11m km. With a high resolution FC, I should be able to match that. When fighting under the umbrella of my local PDC's, these might have some value.
Also, I definetly plan on building a recon variant, uber big thermal, small EM and normal ship sized active sensors with slow 3 km/sec speed and long endurance, so mixing those into the wing, I can definitely cut electronics off the stock gun boats. I will need to develop some more components (low weight size two launchers, light magazines, anti shipping small missile FC) which may take me some time, but I'll provide some updates when in a few days. Later -DC
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Honestly, trying to design a 1000-ton fast attack craft with anti-ship and anti-missile capability isn't really in the cards in Aurora. The dual fire controls will probably eat up too much of your tonnage, leaving you with insufficient firepower for either task.
Your design goals may have shifted during the discussion, but your initial stated aim was, to my mind, to design a ship which provides three things: PPV for extrasolar colonies, busywork for your officer corps, and the ability to suckerpunch any unwanted alien ship that pokes it's nose into your territory. That's doable in 1000 tons. A generalist combatant isn't.
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That makes sense. With that being said, not having a lot of combat experience yet, what makes the most sense as far as endurance, a few weeks? I was ideally shooting for 3 months, so I could have them do TF training over 1-2 30 day turns. I guess once I get a carrier, I could use that to train them. If I am just using them around colonies and off of carriers, what would be best?
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The biggest thing that stuck out at me is that it looks like you are using a 50% range 4x speed fire control with the lowest 1250 km/s fire control speed tech. Researching 2000 km/s tracking speed ASAP and building a 1x range 2x speed would give a max range of 32k km and a max speed of 4000 km/s. The longer fire control range would give much better weapon accuracy solving half the problems with the GB-1. Improved FireControl + FasterSpeed = minimalist attack gunboat. Improved FireControl + LongerDuration = passible jump picket.
As for endurance...
0.5 months gives the first crew size reduction, but is too short to do much TF training without carriers.
1 month + 2x Fuel Burn time is what I typically think of as reasonable for an attack fleet that won't need to do picket duty.
12 months+ works great for jump point pickets or scout ships that spend most of their time away from colonies.
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If you plan on keeping the craft at Earth until trouble shows up at one of your jump points, you'll need enough fuel to get to wherever the trouble is and back again, with a little extra just in case. I'd say 9 or 10 billion km. Bear in mind this is range, not endurance; if these are super fast ships their endurance might only be a month or so.
You can cut your fuel load by either stationing them closer to where you expect to need them or outsourcing the fuel to another craft or colony. A gunboat-sized tanker that matches their speed can accompany them up until they engage the enemy, or a tanker can refuel them after the battle, or you can dump some fuel nearby on an asteroid and have the craft top off their tanks there before or after. A carrier could serve the same purpose: refuel and rearm the FACs nearby the trouble spot while halting the maintenance clock while they sit idle.
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Looks like you left the bridge in place. Being a 1k/ton ship you can drop the bridge and gain a hs that can be used elsewhere.
If you use a gas-cooled vs pebble-bed reactor you can gain another .3hs.
Drop the thermal reduction on the engine. At this signature size you're just adding build cost that doesn't actually gain anything tactically.
Drop the second layer of armor, at this size it isn't doing much good and the hs savings can be better used.
Drop the passives completely. Single hs passives are way to myopic to be worth the space in this size of ship.
Upgrade the BFC to 3xRange/4xSpeed for a 90% hit chance before modifiers at 10k/km. (6hs)
With a sensor suite in the flotilla that can see incoming missiles at a range of at least 125k/km you know have a limited anti-missile capability that has a chance of functioning as a duel role local defense platform.
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Folks, thanks for all the replies. Based on my current situation (I am behind on direct fire weapon tech due to a lack of scientists), I decided to go with a missile boat for now. In preparing to present it here, I actually just realized I made a design mistake. Ideally, I am looking for a platform that can scoot in, fire while in the gap between high resolution ship search radars and low resolution missile active sensors. Looking at this now, my Light Attack Missile (LAM) has the same range as my counter missile systems, so this approach won't even work perfectly against my own forces, much less an alien race with better tech. I will need to update my missile and FC to about a 20m range, so as you look at this in mind, keep that in mind. Also, I will probably cut down endurance a bit. I want these to be able to do short term pickets as a secondary mission, but I think my range is still a little on the high side:
GB-M-2 class Gunboat 1 000 tons 19 Crew 146.34 BP TCS 20 TH 72 EM 0
3600 km/s Armour 2-8 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 0 PPV 4
Maint Life 4.48 Years MSP 23 AFR 32% IFR 0.4% 1YR 2 5YR 28 Max Repair 10 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months Spare Berths 1
Magazine 56
C-F-1 18 EP Ion Drive (4) Power 18 Fuel Use 190.97% Signature 18 Exp 15%
Fuel Capacity 150 000 Litres Range 14.1 billion km (45 days at full power)
MB-2L-B Size 2 Missile Launcher (50% Reduction) (4) Missile Size 2 Rate of Fire 150
C-MFC-AS-M-1 Missile Fire Control FC10-R20 (1) Range 10.3m km Resolution 20
LAM-2 (28) Speed: 12 600 km/s End: 12.1m Range: 9.1m km WH: 4 Size: 2 TH: 58/35/17
Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
BTW, these work with a recon variant that also doubles as a scout/AEW platform (A wing = 4 missile boats plus two recon birds, although I may shift to 1:5). These will need my longer range active sensor package, so a little fuel will be coming off as I tweak for the extended range attack option:
GB-R-2 class Gunboat 1 000 tons 19 Crew 176 BP TCS 20 TH 90 EM 0
4500 km/s Armour 1-8 Shields 0-0 Sensors 24/8/0/0 Damage Control Rating 0 PPV 0
Maint Life 0 Years MSP 0 AFR 200% IFR 2.8% 1YR 19 5YR 282 Max Repair 29 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months Spare Berths 1
C-F-1 18 EP Ion Drive (5) Power 18 Fuel Use 190.97% Signature 18 Exp 15%
Fuel Capacity 265 000 Litres Range 25.0 billion km (64 days at full power)
C-ASR-M Active Search Sensor MR10-R20 (1) GPS 576 Range 10.3m km Resolution 20
B-PT-1-H Thermal Sensor TH4-24 (1) Sensitivity 24 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 24m km
C-PEM-M-1 EM Detection Sensor EM1-8 (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 8m km
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Finally, you need a deck to fly these puppies from, so here is my CVE Ranger ship. I already have one built. This tech is about a generation old right now. I will be building the follow-on Ark Royal, and then probably refit this up to my most current tech. My take is this isn't optimal, but for a small, early game flagship, its good enough to start. I probably tried to cram too much in, so will be looking to simplify number of systems to get more magazine space expecially. At least it is good for ferrying gunboat squadrons to new bases for now. BTW, the missile loadout is a generation old. Its has been restocked with CM-3's and LAM-2's now.
Ranger class Escort Carrier 21 150 tons 323 Crew 2312.45 BP TCS 423 TH 480 EM 0
1134 km/s Armour 3-68 Shields 0-0 Sensors 6/6/0/0 Damage Control Rating 7 PPV 12
Maint Life 2.42 Years MSP 478 AFR 511% IFR 7.1% 1YR 112 5YR 1685 Max Repair 150 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 24 months Flight Crew Berths 1
Flag Bridge Hangar Deck Capacity 6000 tons Magazine 511
B-1-M 40 EP Nuclear Pulse Engine (12) Power 40 Fuel Use 85.5% Signature 40 Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 4 000 000 Litres Range 39.8 billion km (406 days at full power)
A-1 CIWS-50 (2x2) Range 1000 km TS: 5000 km/s ROF 5 Base 50% To Hit
MB-2L-A Size 2 Missile Launcher (75% Reduction) (8) Missile Size 2 Rate of Fire 60
B-MFC-PD-H Missile Fire Control FC8-R1 (2) Range 8.6m km Resolution 1
LAM-1 (162) Speed: 11 000 km/s End: 10.6m Range: 7m km WH: 2 Size: 2 TH: 47/28/14
CM-2 (94) Speed: 15 000 km/s End: 3.1m Range: 2.8m km WH: 1 Size: 2 TH: 60/36/18
B-ASR-H Active Search Sensor MR22-R60 (1) GPS 2880 Range 22.3m km Resolution 60
B-MDR-H Active Search Sensor MR2-R1 (1) GPS 48 Range 2.9m km MCR 314k km Resolution 1
B-PT-1-M Thermal Sensor TH1-6 (1) Sensitivity 6 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 6m km
B-PEM-M EM Detection Sensor EM1-6 (1) Sensitivity 6 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 6m km
Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
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that carrier is huge, slow and has multirole function. what your Spacy Op-plan? if you don't have yet you should think about it before building ships.
I didn't my first campaign and i had destroyers, cruisers, and frigates all fulfilling the same exact function in different groups or sometimes the same group. i came up with a op-plan first this time around and i saved so much time and resources with a more focused force.
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My basic op plan is built around CTF's employing a light carrier, 2-3 DD's and 4-8 MSL Frigates. DD's are primarily escorts (AMM's and Dual Purpose Light laser turrets), the MSL Frigates are stand-off missile shooters. The engagement concept is to deploy 1 AEW recon gunboat as a screen, with the Missile Frigates leading, then main body. The ideal engagement strategy is to simultaneously engage with Gun boats and long range missiles working in tandem to overload adversary PD. Once dry, the GB's RTB and we either pop smoke or re-arm and then attack again if the enemy is weak enough for just the gun boats to be effective. AT some point, I will add in Fighters. At that point, GB's will probably stay on as training/garrison and AEW platforms.
The carrier is slow because it still has TL 2 engines on it. It will never be fast, but for Ark Royal, I am considering gutting almost all the weapons and adding more magazine space. With upgraded engines it will be much faster.
If I can get some better scientists and make better progress with direct fire weapons, I may bring a heavy cruiser (25-30k tons) into play which would be designed for close engagements. I will probably also design a light cruiser (20k tons) which will be optimized for independent ops, scouting and jump ferrying other combatants (plus be able to jump ferry CVE's).
My scout ships have a different approach. I use Scout Frigates with jump drives and all AMM's, being the least common denominator of what I will jump into an unexplored system. I then have a Jump Destroyer that carries larger missiles, to deploy sensor buoys while giving it a secondary role as anti shipping (it also has a flag bridge to host a scout fleet TF command). Ideally, a scout task force is a few Scout Frigates and a JD. My scout units also will have the secondary mission of augmenting my main fleet with jump ferry support should I need to attack through a jump point.
With that being said, my fleet is currently designed to be defensive operationally. My primary concern is stopping potential aggression, not gaining access to defended space. The CONOPs may mature as I meet NPR's and have more defined threats.
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Here is the updated design for the Ark Royal. BTW, I tend to not optimize each platform as much as some folks. I think a key to resiliency is the ability to spread secondary missions across platforms, so while this CVE isn't 100% optimized as a pure carrier, it can pull its own in a CTF and at least have some secondary capabilities should its escorts get mauled.
Ark Royal class Escort Carrier 20 600 tons 295 Crew 2383.92 BP TCS 412 TH 720 EM 0
1747 km/s Armour 3-66 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 8 PPV 8
Maint Life 2.33 Years MSP 579 AFR 424% IFR 5.9% 1YR 145 5YR 2175 Max Repair 150 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 24 months Flight Crew Berths 1
Flag Bridge Hangar Deck Capacity 6000 tons Magazine 616
C-M-1 60 EP Ion Drive (12) Power 60 Fuel Use 66.5% Signature 60 Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 4 000 000 Litres Range 52.5 billion km (348 days at full power)
B-1 CIWS-120 (2x4) Range 1000 km TS: 12000 km/s ROF 5 Base 50% To Hit
MB-2L-B Size 2 Missile Launcher (50% Reduction) (8) Missile Size 2 Rate of Fire 150
C-MFC-PD-H-1 Missile Fire Control FC9-R1 (2) Range 9.6m km Resolution 1
CM-3 (40) Speed: 25 200 km/s End: 6m Range: 9.1m km WH: 1 Size: 2 TH: 117/70/35
LAM-2 (268) Speed: 12 600 km/s End: 12.1m Range: 9.1m km WH: 4 Size: 2 TH: 58/35/17
C-ASR-HX-1 Active Search Sensor MR40-R80 (70%) (1) GPS 4480 Range 40.1m km Resolution 80
Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
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You need more crew space. You only have one flight crew berth, which is absolutely not enough for 6000 tons worth of fighters. Design your fighter first, see how many crew it needs, multiply that by how many your carrier will carry, and that'll tell you how many flight crew berths you need.
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Do you need flight crew berths for Gun Boats you carry? It looks like I don't, at least I haven't had any problems operating that way. I will need to add berths if I go to fighters I assume.
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Off topic, but just started reading the 2nd ark royal book.
I'm guess that's the namesake for this design?
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If you dont provide flight crew berths, the crew bunks on their fighters/gunboats. Since the parasite craft almost certainly have lower deployment length than the carrier, they'll be taking some pretty big morale penalties pretty frequently. And I don't know if you get the "Low Morale" warning for parasites that are in a hangar deck.
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The crew berth concept makes sense, I just hadn't seen that spelled out anywhere. I like reading a lot of Nutall'a stuff, but actually haven't read Ark Royal. I am just basing my carrier names for CVE's off of notable early WWII light carrier designs. My CVE 1 is the Ranger (the name of America's first carrier), CVE 2 will be Ark Royal (helped sink the Bismark) and the CVE 3 will probably be Akagi, Kaga or Hosho.
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If you mean Ranger is is the first purpose built carrier you're correct. Otherwise she was actually the 4th after Langley, Lexington, and Saratoga. And she was always listed as a Fleet Carrier not a Light Carrier. Granted she was smallest Fleet Carrier. The other carriers you've listed names for were also Fleet Carriers not Light Carriers.
Most wont think the distinction is important. But it is to those that take an interest in the history of WWII.
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I take an interest in WWII History. I just consider those aircraft carriers "light" relative to the later ships launched by both the USN and IJN. And I know that Kaga and Akagi were built on BC Hulls and after their final mods where actually quite large at the start of the war. When I make ship names, I usually just drop down the first think thing that comes to mind in a general sense, not too particular or interested in making sure every historical context in congruent.
After doing some more research, I got a sense for the difference between area defense and final protective fire. Based on that, I have researched a few things and developed my DD concept, which is basically an escort/defensive unit. Its about 50/50 AMM and Quad Guass Cannor FPF. Mostly these guys stick will stick close to my carriers or other high value units:
Bayonet class Destroyer 9 950 tons 176 Crew 1345.42 BP TCS 199 TH 420 EM 0
2110 km/s Armour 5-41 Shields 0-0 Sensors 24/8/0/0 Damage Control Rating 5 PPV 42.29
Maint Life 3.15 Years MSP 423 AFR 158% IFR 2.2% 1YR 64 5YR 963 Max Repair 128 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 18 months Spare Berths 1
Magazine 366
C-M-1 60 EP Ion Drive (7) Power 60 Fuel Use 66.5% Signature 60 Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 1 150 000 Litres Range 31.3 billion km (171 days at full power)
Quad A1 B-1.5-1 Gauss Cannon R1-25 Turret (3x8) Range 10 000km TS: 12000 km/s Power 0-0 RM 1 ROF 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
C-FFC-1 Fire Control S01 12-12000 (3) Max Range: 24 000 km TS: 12000 km/s 58 17 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
MB-2L-B Size 2 Missile Launcher (50% Reduction) (8) Missile Size 2 Rate of Fire 150
C-MFC-PD-H-1 Missile Fire Control FC9-R1 (2) Range 9.6m km Resolution 1
CM-3 (167) Speed: 25 200 km/s End: 6m Range: 9.1m km WH: 1 Size: 2 TH: 117/70/35
LAM-3X (16) Speed: 12 600 km/s End: 25.6m Range: 19.4m km WH: 4 Size: 2 TH: 54/32/16
C-MDR-H-1 Active Search Sensor MR10-R1 (1) GPS 128 Range 10.2m km MCR 1.1m km Resolution 1
B-PT-1-H Thermal Sensor TH4-24 (1) Sensitivity 24 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 24m km
C-PEM-M-1 EM Detection Sensor EM1-8 (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 8m km
Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
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Here is my second generation scout frigate. I use small scout forces to make an initial jump into an unexplored system, cruise around and try to find any aliens and then clear it for my commercial Geo Survey vessels. As a secondary mission, these guys serve as pickets and jump ferries for the fleet.
Ponce de Leon class Scout Frigate 5 100 tons 126 Crew 764.62 BP TCS 102 TH 135 EM 0
1764 km/s JR 4-250 Armour 2-26 Shields 0-0 Sensors 32/32/0/0 Damage Control Rating 3 PPV 4
Maint Life 3.85 Years MSP 281 AFR 69% IFR 1% 1YR 30 5YR 448 Max Repair 128 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 36 months Spare Berths 1
Magazine 108
C-JE-51-1 J5100(4-250) Military Jump Drive Max Ship Size 5100 tons Distance 250k km Squadron Size 4
C-MS-1 60 EP Ion Drive (3) Power 60 Fuel Use 66.5% Signature 45 Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 700 000 Litres Range 37.1 billion km (243 days at full power)
MB-2L-B Size 2 Missile Launcher (50% Reduction) (4) Missile Size 2 Rate of Fire 150
C-MFC-PD-H-1 Missile Fire Control FC9-R1 (1) Range 9.6m km Resolution 1
LAM-2 (12) Speed: 12 600 km/s End: 12.1m Range: 9.1m km WH: 4 Size: 2 TH: 58/35/17
CM-3 (42) Speed: 25 200 km/s End: 6m Range: 9.1m km WH: 1 Size: 2 TH: 117/70/35
C-MDR-H-1 Active Search Sensor MR10-R1 (1) GPS 128 Range 10.2m km MCR 1.1m km Resolution 1
C-PT-H-1 Thermal Sensor TH4-32 (70%) (1) Sensitivity 32 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 32m km
C-PEM-H-1 EM Detection Sensor EM4-32 (70%) (1) Sensitivity 32 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 32m km
Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
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You might be better off with some beam weapons instead of the missiles, unless you're using a bunch of these. 4 missiles per volley is bad, you'll pretty much never hit anything that can shoot back.
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Unless of course your doctrine includes group salvoes from multiple ships or ships and fighters.
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Of course. You can always overcome a lack of launchers by just making more ships, but that's pretty taxing logistically.
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That's my doctrine and strategy a large number of small ships are better to defend and patrol my vast expanses. also more billets for my officers to get groomed and experience in.
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Well, remember, this is just s scout frigate. I don't make a lot of these and they run in small groups with a primary mission to scout out unexplored jump points. The design is designed to max out sensors and provide just enough defensive weapons to give them at least a small chance of escaping. As a secondary mission, these guys jump ferry my missile frigates, so in fleet operations, these guys just need enough firepower to hold their own without becoming too much of a liability.
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BTW, back to my Ark Royal design, it just rolled off the slipway. I want to mod the class to have flight crew accommodations, and have copied the design. However, my crew spaces seem locked to my deployment time, and it won't allow me to add extra crew spaces. Any idea how to actually get around that?
Up until nowit hadn't really mattered, as my gunboat crews could just kick back in their internal spaces. Since I designed them for occasional picket, there wasn't any issue. Now that I am trying to use fighters, it will be an issue. BTW, here is my base fighter design:
F-1 class Fighter 500 tons 14 Crew 83.4 BP TCS 10 TH 72 EM 0
7200 km/s Armour 1-5 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 0 PPV 3.5
Maint Life 4.41 Years MSP 10 AFR 20% IFR 0.3% 1YR 1 5YR 12 Max Repair 11 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 1 months Spare Berths 1
C-F-1 18 EP Ion Drive (4) Power 18 Fuel Use 190.97% Signature 18 Exp 15%
Fuel Capacity 25 000 Litres Range 4.7 billion km (7 days at full power)
C-0.5-1 Gauss Cannon R2-8 (1x2) Range 20 000km TS: 7200 km/s Accuracy Modifier 8% RM 2 ROF 5 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
C-1.5-2 Gauss Cannon R2-25 (2x2) Range 20 000km TS: 7200 km/s Accuracy Modifier 25% RM 2 ROF 5 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
C-FTC-1 Fire Control S00.5 24-3000 (FTR) (1) Max Range: 48 000 km TS: 12000 km/s 79 58 38 17 0 0 0 0 0 0
C-FAR-1 Active Search Sensor MR0-R10 (1) GPS 32 Range 800k km Resolution 10
This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and maintenance purposes
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In the upper right of the ship design window is a check box named "Keep Excess Q." It stands for keep excess quarters, and should be toggled in order to add extra crew berths.
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If you reduce the deployment time to . 1 months and take out some fuel, you can probably swap out the . 5 hs gauss canon for another 1. 5 hs gc. In my current game I'm using 150 ton fighters with ion drives and duel . 75 gc, only has 5000 fuel and one crew, but it has 10,000 speed and about 60 hours of flight time. Does have to rely on outside sensors though.
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Also consider using a reduced size fire control. Your FC has around double the range of your guns. Could save you some weight if you go with a smaller FC without costing you range.
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I thought about the FC, although with light Guass Cannons (reduced accuracy) the higher probability at 10-20k km is helpful if I am not mistaken. Thanks for the ideas on optimization everyone, its been helpful. Altogether I am really trying to build a combined sensor plan with my fleet that avoid redundancy while also being resilient enough if I lose some ships. I am still tweaking the ideas, but will keep posting updates here as I work a concept out. Also looking to maybe build a "Gunboat Tender," basically the space equivalent to a Seaplane tender, while I use my Carriers mostly for fighters. Also going to play around with a stripped out escort carrier without all the extra defenses and magazine space. Also, base on the large size, my 20k carriers are now being re-designated CVL's, while my smaller design will be a CVE. I may scrap the concept if I can't get the numbers right though. Thanks for everyone's comments.
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In addition, I have been thinking about building a standoff strike fighter. I only have 50% launcher size reduction now, but am working towards lighter launchers. This is three size 2 missiles per A-1. Not great, but good enough to start producing some:
A-1 class Fighter 480 tons 3 Crew 83.4 BP TCS 9.6 TH 72 EM 0
7499 km/s Armour 1-5 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 0 PPV 3
Maint Life 4.71 Years MSP 11 AFR 18% IFR 0.3% 1YR 1 5YR 12 Max Repair 12 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 0.1 months Spare Berths 7
Magazine 6
C-F-1 18 EP Ion Drive (4) Power 18 Fuel Use 190.97% Signature 18 Exp 15%
Fuel Capacity 25 000 Litres Range 4.9 billion km (7 days at full power)
MB-2L-C Size 2 Missile Launcher (50% Reduction) (3) Missile Size 2 Rate of Fire 100
B-MFC-AS-M Missile Fire Control FC19-R80 (1) Range 19.3m km Resolution 80
LAM-3X (3) Speed: 12 600 km/s End: 25.6m Range: 19.4m km WH: 4 Size: 2 TH: 54/32/16
Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s
This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and maintenance purposes
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I am playing with my next generation fighter design. Based on the limited scientists I had, I am actually relatively more advanced in lasers than some other systems. Based on that, I incorporated a 10cm NUV Laser plus engines with better high power performance to get this. Purpose is anti-fighter, limited anti-shipping and secondary PD. If I am doing the math right, three guass cannons with a base average 20,000km damage per increment is (2 cannons * 58% FC rating * 25% accuracy mod for size * 2 damage + 1 cannon * 58% FC rating * 8% accuracy mod * 2 damage) ~.673 while the newer design has 20,000 km avg damage of (1 laser * 3 damage * 79%) ~2.4, plus I can reach all the way out to 90,000km. Based on this, I am thinking that this laser design may be a lot more effective and flexible:
F-2 class Fighter 495 tons 4 Crew 100.4 BP TCS 9.9 TH 84 EM 0
8484 km/s Armour 1-5 Shields 0-0 Sensors 1/1/0/0 Damage Control Rating 0 PPV 3
Maint Life 3.28 Years MSP 13 AFR 19% IFR 0.3% 1YR 2 5YR 27 Max Repair 22 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 0.1 months Spare Berths 6
C-F-2 21 EP Ion Drive (4) Power 21 Fuel Use 280.76% Signature 21 Exp 17%
Fuel Capacity 5 000 Litres Range 0.6 billion km (21 hours at full power)
C-10NUV-1 10cm C3 Near Ultraviolet Laser (1) Range 90 000km TS: 8484 km/s Power 3-3 RM 3 ROF 5 3 3 3 2 1 1 1 1 1 0
C-FTC-2 Fire Control S01 48-3000 (FTR) (1) Max Range: 96 000 km TS: 12000 km/s 90 79 69 58 48 38 27 17 6 0
D-1M Stellarator Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1 (1) Total Power Output 3 Armour 0 Exp 5%
C-FAR-1 Active Search Sensor MR0-R10 (1) GPS 32 Range 800k km Resolution 10
This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and maintenance purposes
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Here is my current Missile Frigate design. Its a little old, needing a refresh on some sensors. Also, I am going to swap out the CIWS for a guass cannon turret in the next upgrade.
Decatur class Missile Frigate 5 000 tons 90 Crew 669.14 BP TCS 100 TH 240 EM 0
2400 km/s Armour 3-26 Shields 0-0 Sensors 24/8/0/0 Damage Control Rating 2 PPV 12.5
Maint Life 3.36 Years MSP 167 AFR 100% IFR 1.4% 1YR 22 5YR 337 Max Repair 65 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 18 months Spare Berths 1
Magazine 225
C-M-1 60 EP Ion Drive (4) Power 60 Fuel Use 66.5% Signature 60 Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 650 000 Litres Range 35.2 billion km (169 days at full power)
B-1 CIWS-120 (1x4) Range 1000 km TS: 12000 km/s ROF 5 Base 50% To Hit
MB-5L-B Size 5 Missile Launcher (50% Reduction) (5) Missile Size 5 Rate of Fire 375
C-MFC-AS-H-1 Missile Fire Control FC24-R40 (70%) (1) Range 24.3m km Resolution 40
ASM-3 (45) Speed: 18 000 km/s End: 21.1m Range: 22.8m km WH: 6 Size: 5 TH: 78/46/23
C-ASR-H Active Search Sensor MR26-R40 (70%) (1) GPS 2080 Range 26.3m km Resolution 40
B-PT-1-H Thermal Sensor TH4-24 (1) Sensitivity 24 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 24m km
C-PEM-M-1 EM Detection Sensor EM1-8 (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 8m km
Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Also, I had a question regarding AMM's (what I call Counter Missiles or CM's on my design). At low tech, the only decent design I could make where size 2, although my engines and warheads are probably good enough to switch over to a size 1 in the near future. In either case, is it advantageous to use lightweight/slow launch tubes, or simply carry more fast tubes. I have been using lightweight tubes, but it seems to me, with enough ammo less fast tubes might work. My biggest concern is whether or not that will lead to overkill and wasted ammo.
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Also, I had a question regarding AMM's (what I call Counter Missiles or CM's on my design). At low tech, the only decent design I could make where size 2, although my engines and warheads are probably good enough to switch over to a size 1 in the near future. In either case, is it advantageous to use lightweight/slow launch tubes, or simply carry more fast tubes. I have been using lightweight tubes, but it seems to me, with enough ammo less fast tubes might work. My biggest concern is whether or not that will lead to overkill and wasted ammo.
I generally find that the limiter on cm's is not how many launchers I have, but how much ammunition I can carry. Once I can fire my cm's every 5 seconds I tend to add magazines instead of launchers when a ship type gets a bit bigger. Typically it would be 5 launchers and 2 fire controls on a destroyer, 10 and 3 for a cruiser (15-25,000 tons) and no more than 16 with 4 fire control on battleships. If the ship is equipped with more than 1 type of launcher then I usually don't go over 10 launchers due to ammunition limits. The reasoning behind this is that most salvo's if they are at a comparable (within 1 tech) of yours will let you get multiple cm's off against them before they can hit their targets. An example would be having fire control and sensors capable of shooting at incoming missiles when they are 1m km away and moving at 30,000 km/s. That would give you 6 times you can fire at those missiles (assuming cycle time of 5 seconds). As tech gets better your cm's get more effective. A lower tech cm might have an agility of 20, where a mid tech cm will be closer to 50. This means that you need half as many counter missiles for the same relative effect. Most of the time your range will at least keep up with the higher speeds so you will end up shooting down far more of the incoming missiles.
One thing I should mention is that my normal fleet doctrine calls for using cm's to thin out the incoming salvo's and having fairly strong beam weapons point defense to actually stop the remainder. I will usually try to shoot down just enough missiles so that the beam weapons can catch the rest. If I have a few leakers, that is what the shields are there for. A simple example would be having 60 missiles incoming in a total of 5 salvos. I would try to stop enough of the incoming missiles so that the fleets point defense could theoretically shoot down 120% of the remainder. I beam weapons could handle 30 missiles then I would try to have the cm's stop 35 of them leaving me a bit of a buffer on what the beam weapons needed to stop. If 2-3 of those missiles did not get shot down, then that is what the shields should handle. Before the next salvo arrives I should get a couple of points of shields back. This is not a perfect defense, just one where I try to keep my cm's in use as long as possible. If they run out of missiles before I do, that gives me a big advantage.
Brian
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GB-R-2 class Gunboat 1 000 tons 19 Crew 176 BP TCS 20 TH 90 EM 0
4500 km/s Armour 1-8 Shields 0-0 Sensors 24/8/0/0 Damage Control Rating 0 PPV 0
Maint Life 0 Years MSP 0 AFR 200% IFR 2.8% 1YR 19 5YR 282 Max Repair 29 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months Spare Berths 1
C-F-1 18 EP Ion Drive (5) Power 18 Fuel Use 190.97% Signature 18 Exp 15%
Fuel Capacity 265 000 Litres Range 25.0 billion km (64 days at full power)
C-ASR-M Active Search Sensor MR10-R20 (1) GPS 576 Range 10.3m km Resolution 20
B-PT-1-H Thermal Sensor TH4-24 (1) Sensitivity 24 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 24m km
C-PEM-M-1 EM Detection Sensor EM1-8 (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 8m km
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Maint Life 0 Years ? These things will break down really, really fast. Sometimes exploding in the process as engines can explode when they fail.
After doing some more research, I got a sense for the difference between area defense and final protective fire. Based on that, I have researched a few things and developed my DD concept, which is basically an escort/defensive unit. Its about 50/50 AMM and Quad Guass Cannor FPF. Mostly these guys stick will stick close to my carriers or other high value units:
Bayonet class Destroyer 9 950 tons 176 Crew 1345.42 BP TCS 199 TH 420 EM 0
2110 km/s Armour 5-41 Shields 0-0 Sensors 24/8/0/0 Damage Control Rating 5 PPV 42.29
Maint Life 3.15 Years MSP 423 AFR 158% IFR 2.2% 1YR 64 5YR 963 Max Repair 128 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 18 months Spare Berths 1
Magazine 366
C-M-1 60 EP Ion Drive (7) Power 60 Fuel Use 66.5% Signature 60 Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 1 150 000 Litres Range 31.3 billion km (171 days at full power)
Quad A1 B-1.5-1 Gauss Cannon R1-25 Turret (3x8) Range 10 000km TS: 12000 km/s Power 0-0 RM 1 ROF 5 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
C-FFC-1 Fire Control S01 12-12000 (3) Max Range: 24 000 km TS: 12000 km/s 58 17 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
MB-2L-B Size 2 Missile Launcher (50% Reduction) (8) Missile Size 2 Rate of Fire 150
C-MFC-PD-H-1 Missile Fire Control FC9-R1 (2) Range 9.6m km Resolution 1
CM-3 (167) Speed: 25 200 km/s End: 6m Range: 9.1m km WH: 1 Size: 2 TH: 117/70/35
LAM-3X (16) Speed: 12 600 km/s End: 25.6m Range: 19.4m km WH: 4 Size: 2 TH: 54/32/16
C-MDR-H-1 Active Search Sensor MR10-R1 (1) GPS 128 Range 10.2m km MCR 1.1m km Resolution 1
B-PT-1-H Thermal Sensor TH4-24 (1) Sensitivity 24 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 24m km
C-PEM-M-1 EM Detection Sensor EM1-8 (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 8m km
Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
150 second reload speed for an AMM launcher is... questionable. Generally you want it as low as reasonably practical.
Switching to size 1 AAMs if/when you have the tech to design one you're reasonably confident in will also let you carry more launchers, and fit twice as many missiles into the same size magazine, as well as making missiles individually cheaper and faster to produce. So it's generally worth a hit to intercept chance, so long as it's not too great.
I kind of like the novelty of a size 2 AMM, but there are really good reasons most people make them size 1.
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Now that I have better engines, I think I will go to a size one launcher/missile, and use full size/fast launchers. In the mean time, my gen 2 recon boat actually did get some MSP, plus a second active sensor designed to detect fighters. Here is what it came out to:
GB-R-2 class Gunboat 1 000 tons 27 Crew 237.5 BP TCS 20 TH 72 EM 0
3600 km/s Armour 1-8 Shields 0-0 Sensors 32/8/0/0 Damage Control Rating 0 PPV 0
Maint Life 2.83 Years MSP 37 AFR 32% IFR 0.4% 1YR 7 5YR 101 Max Repair 70 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months Spare Berths 0
C-F-1 18 EP Ion Drive (4) Power 18 Fuel Use 190.97% Signature 18 Exp 15%
Fuel Capacity 140 000 Litres Range 13.2 billion km (42 days at full power)
C-FDR-1 Active Search Sensor MR8-R10 (1) GPS 320 Range 8.1m km Resolution 10
C-ASR-HX-1 Active Search Sensor MR40-R80 (70%) (1) GPS 4480 Range 40.1m km Resolution 80
C-PT-H-1 Thermal Sensor TH4-32 (70%) (1) Sensitivity 32 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 32m km
C-PEM-M-1 EM Detection Sensor EM1-8 (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 8m km
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
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Now that I have better engines, I think I will go to a size one launcher/missile, and use full size/fast launchers. In the mean time, my gen 2 recon boat actually did get some MSP, plus a second active sensor designed to detect fighters. Here is what it came out to:
GB-R-2 class Gunboat 1 000 tons 27 Crew 237.5 BP TCS 20 TH 72 EM 0
3600 km/s Armour 1-8 Shields 0-0 Sensors 32/8/0/0 Damage Control Rating 0 PPV 0
Maint Life 2.83 Years MSP 37 AFR 32% IFR 0.4% 1YR 7 5YR 101 Max Repair 70 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months Spare Berths 0
C-F-1 18 EP Ion Drive (4) Power 18 Fuel Use 190.97% Signature 18 Exp 15%
Fuel Capacity 140 000 Litres Range 13.2 billion km (42 days at full power)
C-FDR-1 Active Search Sensor MR8-R10 (1) GPS 320 Range 8.1m km Resolution 10
C-ASR-HX-1 Active Search Sensor MR40-R80 (70%) (1) GPS 4480 Range 40.1m km Resolution 80
C-PT-H-1 Thermal Sensor TH4-32 (70%) (1) Sensitivity 32 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 32m km
C-PEM-M-1 EM Detection Sensor EM1-8 (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 8m km
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
All you need now is a tiny jump drive, and you got yourself a battlestar galactica "Raptor"
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This is probably a little bit of a sacrilege, but I actually didn't follow the new Battlestar Galactica, so I am not sure what a Raptor is. I guess that's a good thing.
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A Raptor was the equivalent of an AWACS bird. Two person crew with space for passengers and lots of sensors all rapped up in a somewhat stealthy package that could make jumps.
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Well, my basic concept was basically the raptor, sans the jump piece. One of the things I am considering, is employing the GB-R's as one of my primary sensing platforms. In this case, I am considering a design for a light cruiser that is primarily capable of independent duty, with a secondary role as fleet support. By using adding a hangar for a GB-R, I get some flexibility, like the ability to have my GBR go active and lure an adversary into striking range of my CL's beam weapons. With that being said, this design still isn't locked, as I am on the fence about adding counter missiles or not. I may just develop a dedicated CLE for that. We'll see, but here is the draft design for now:
Kanawa class Light Cruiser 14 800 tons 351 Crew 2647.06 BP TCS 296 TH 540 EM 360
2432 km/s Armour 6-53 Shields 12-225 Sensors 32/32/0/0 Damage Control Rating 29 PPV 50.64
Maint Life 3.37 Years MSP 1006 AFR 194% IFR 2.7% 1YR 135 5YR 2022 Max Repair 216 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 24 months Flight Crew Berths 13
Hangar Deck Capacity 1000 tons Magazine 50
C-HS-1 120 EP Ion Drive (6) Power 120 Fuel Use 54% Signature 90 Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 1 750 000 Litres Range 39.4 billion km (187 days at full power)
A-1 Beta R225/252 Shields (8) Total Fuel Cost 84 Litres per hour (2 016 per day)
C-SP19-1 19cm C3 Near Ultraviolet Laser (1) Range 192 000km TS: 3000 km/s Power 9-3 RM 3 ROF 15 9 9 9 6 5 4 3 3 3 2
Twin C-10NUV-1 10cm C3 Near Ultraviolet Laser Turret (3x2) Range 90 000km TS: 12000 km/s Power 6-6 RM 3 ROF 5 3 3 3 2 1 1 1 1 1 0
C-BFC-DP-1 Fire Control S08 96-12000 H70 (3) Max Range: 192 000 km TS: 12000 km/s 95 90 84 79 74 69 64 58 53 48
D-1H2 Stellarator Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1 (1) Total Power Output 12 Armour 0 Exp 5%
D-1M Stellarator Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1 (3) Total Power Output 9 Armour 0 Exp 5%
C-MDR-M-1 Active Search Sensor MR5-R1 (1) GPS 64 Range 5.1m km MCR 558k km Resolution 1
C-PT-H-1 Thermal Sensor TH4-32 (70%) (1) Sensitivity 32 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 32m km
C-PEM-H-1 EM Detection Sensor EM4-32 (70%) (1) Sensitivity 32 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 32m km
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
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Here is my finalized Kanawa Class CL. Recall, the 1000 ton hangar is normally for a single recon gunboat, although there would be some flexibility to swap for a few PD fighters or other packages based on the mission. I wanted to build out a ship that had the basic feel of the seaplanes launched off of cruisers in WWII.
Kanawa class Light Cruiser 15 200 tons 353 Crew 3004.96 BP TCS 304 TH 560 EM 480
3684 km/s Armour 6-54 Shields 16-300 Sensors 32/32/0/0 Damage Control Rating 29 PPV 37.5
Maint Life 3.35 Years MSP 1112 AFR 205% IFR 2.9% 1YR 150 5YR 2250 Max Repair 128 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 24 months Flight Crew Berths 28
Hangar Deck Capacity 1000 tons Magazine 332
D-HS-1 160 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (7) Power 160 Fuel Use 54% Signature 80 Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 1 700 000 Litres Range 37.3 billion km (117 days at full power)
B-1 Gamma R300/288 Shields (8) Total Fuel Cost 96 Litres per hour (2 304 per day)
Twin D-10-1 10cm C4 Ultraviolet Laser Turret (2x2) Range 120 000km TS: 16000 km/s Power 6-8 RM 4 ROF 5 3 3 3 3 2 2 1 1 1 1
D-SP25-1 25cm C4 Ultraviolet Laser (1) Range 192 000km TS: 4000 km/s Power 16-4 RM 4 ROF 20 16 16 16 16 12 10 9 8 7 6
D-LRB-1 Fire Control S02 96-4000 (1) Max Range: 192 000 km TS: 4000 km/s 95 90 84 79 74 69 64 58 53 48
D-DPB-1 Fire Control S04 48-16000 (2) Max Range: 96 000 km TS: 16000 km/s 90 79 69 58 48 38 27 17 6 0
D-1M Stellarator Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1 (1) Total Power Output 3 Armour 0 Exp 5%
D-1H2 Stellarator Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1 (1) Total Power Output 12 Armour 0 Exp 5%
D-1H Stellarator Fusion Reactor Technology PB-1 (1) Total Power Output 6 Armour 0 Exp 5%
MB-1F-A Size 1 Missile Launcher (8) Missile Size 1 Rate of Fire 10
C-MFC-PD-H-1 Missile Fire Control FC9-R1 (2) Range 9.6m km Resolution 1
LCM-3 (332) Speed: 28 000 km/s End: 10.8m Range: 18.1m km WH: 1 Size: 1 TH: 186/112/56
C-MDR-H-1 Active Search Sensor MR10-R1 (1) GPS 128 Range 10.2m km MCR 1.1m km Resolution 1
C-ASR-HX-1 Active Search Sensor MR40-R80 (70%) (1) GPS 4480 Range 40.1m km Resolution 80
C-PT-H-1 Thermal Sensor TH4-32 (70%) (1) Sensitivity 32 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 32m km
C-PEM-H-1 EM Detection Sensor EM4-32 (70%) (1) Sensitivity 32 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 32m km
Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Here is my updated Light Carrier design, which trades more hangar space for less % of engine space, less sensors and less weapons. I am worried these will be too slow, so I may add some engines but I have one built to these specs already and I will be updating the Ark Royal and Ranger to these Specs as well.
Saratoga class Light Carrier 19 800 tons 343 Crew 2540.16 BP TCS 396 TH 800 EM 0
2020 km/s Armour 3-65 Shields 0-0 Sensors 8/8/0/0 Damage Control Rating 21 PPV 21.8
Maint Life 3.02 Years MSP 882 AFR 285% IFR 4% 1YR 145 5YR 2176 Max Repair 150 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 24 months Flight Crew Berths 73
Flag Bridge Hangar Deck Capacity 8000 tons Magazine 324
D-H-1 160 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (5) Power 160 Fuel Use 54% Signature 160 Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 2 500 000 Litres Range 42.1 billion km (241 days at full power)
Single C-6-1 Gauss Cannon R2-100 Turret (2x2) Range 20 000km TS: 16000 km/s Power 0-0 RM 2 ROF 5 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
C-FFC-2 Fire Control S02 24-12000 H70 (2) Max Range: 48 000 km TS: 12000 km/s 79 58 38 17 0 0 0 0 0 0
LAM-5 (162) Speed: 22 400 km/s End: 16.8m Range: 22.6m km WH: 4 Size: 2 TH: 104/62/31
B-MDR-M Active Search Sensor MR0-R1 (1) GPS 12 Range 720k km MCR 78k km Resolution 1
C-PT-M-1 Thermal Sensor TH1-8 (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 8m km
C-PEM-M-1 EM Detection Sensor EM1-8 (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 8m km
ECM 10
Strike Group
4x F-3 Fighter Speed: 12800 km/s Size: 10
6x A-2 Strikefighter Speed: 8467 km/s Size: 9.92
4x F-2A Fighter Speed: 12800 km/s Size: 10
Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
My next major designs will be the Crecy Class escort cruiser (light) and the Arlington Class Heavy Cruiser, although I should pr
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BTW, here is my current fleet lay down. I am still a bit behind on dedicated anit-ship combatants:
3xCVL (Ark Royal, Ranger, Saratoga) 8k hangar, GC turret
6xDD (Katana, Mace, Bayonet, Bolt, Rapier, Stilleto), 8xAMM launcher, 3xGC turret
2xJD (Ghost, Specter) 8xAMM, GC Turret - being upgraded with ASM's in near future
7xFFG (Compte de Grasse, Kauffman, Nelson, Farragut, Ozawa, Perry, Stout) Light/Slow ASM Launchers, GC Turret
6xSF (Boone, Cortez, Louis Wetzel, Bowie, Livingston, Ponce de Leon) Dual Purpose Twin 10cm Lasers
24xGB-M
12xGB-R
12xF-2A (3rd Gen Laser Interceptor)
12xF-3 (3rd Gen Rail Gun PD Fighter)
24xF-2 (2nd Generation Laser Interceptor)
22xF-1 (1st Gen Guass Cannon Interceptor)
9xA-2 (3rd Gen Missile Strikefighter)
1xA-1 (2nd Gen Missile Strikefighter)
Near Term building:
2xCA (Arlington, Moscva) - Laser Spinal Turret, DP Laser Turrets, ASM Launchers, AMM Launchers
2xCL (Kanawa, Rapidan) - Laser Spinal Turret, DP Laser Turrets, AMM Launchers, 1k Hangar Space (GB-R)
Need to expand A-2 Squadrons
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Hopefully I don't seem like a dousch talking to myself.
I had a question - if I am building multiple guass cannon turrets for final protective fire on a ship, do I really need a separate FC for each turret? It seems like the answer is no. I would think the only drawback would be if I had to engage a lot of fighters at close range, then I would only be able to target one fighter/ship per FC in that case. Thanks for any confirmation. Regards - DC
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Where this would hurt is missile salvos. One BFC can only engage one salvo.
If fighters get to gauss range you've already got other problems.
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Charlie, thanks for the input. For my main escort, I recently made some improvements on turret tracking and fire control. Where I used to have three FC's and three single GC turrets, I can now fit two twin turrents and two FC's (plus another missile mag!). So basically I split the difference by reducing FC's but increasing cannons.
Katana Mod II class Destroyer 10 200 tons 224 Crew 1685.9 BP TCS 204 TH 640 EM 360
3137 km/s Armour 5-41 Shields 12-300 Sensors 8/8/0/0 Damage Control Rating 15 PPV 45.36
Maint Life 2.68 Years MSP 517 AFR 166% IFR 2.3% 1YR 103 5YR 1542 Max Repair 128 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 18 months Spare Berths 1
Magazine 435
D-H-1 160 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (4) Power 160 Fuel Use 54% Signature 160 Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 1 050 000 Litres Range 34.3 billion km (126 days at full power)
B-1 Gamma R300/288 Shields (6) Total Fuel Cost 72 Litres per hour (1 728 per day)
Twin C-6-1 Gauss Cannon R2-100 Turret (2x4) Range 20 000km TS: 16000 km/s Power 0-0 RM 2 ROF 5 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
D-FFC-1 Fire Control S03 36-16000 (2) Max Range: 72 000 km TS: 16000 km/s 86 72 58 44 31 17 3 0 0 0
MB-1F-A Size 1 Missile Launcher (8) Missile Size 1 Rate of Fire 10
D-MFC-PD-H-1 FC12-R1 (2) Range 12.6m km Resolution 1
LCM-3 (435) Speed: 28 000 km/s End: 10.8m Range: 18.1m km WH: 1 Size: 1 TH: 186/112/56
C-MDR-H-1 Active Search Sensor MR10-R1 (1) GPS 128 Range 10.2m km MCR 1.1m km Resolution 1
C-PT-M-1 Thermal Sensor TH1-8 (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 8m km
C-PEM-M-1 EM Detection Sensor EM1-8 (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 8m km
Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
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BTW, the plans for my first CA have been sent over to the ship yards, so we should start working on these in the near future. The intent in this design was to build my first, focussed anti-ship platform. My biggest current concern is the limited ammo.
Arlington class Cruiser 25 250 tons 636 Crew 4223.76 BP TCS 505 TH 1600 EM 1080
3168 km/s Armour 8-76 Shields 36-300 Sensors 32/32/0/0 Damage Control Rating 38 PPV 99.72
Maint Life 3.68 Years MSP 1882 AFR 283% IFR 3.9% 1YR 216 5YR 3236 Max Repair 288 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months Spare Berths 1
Magazine 1002
D-E-1 320 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (5) Power 320 Fuel Use 48% Signature 320 Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 2 500 000 Litres Range 37.1 billion km (135 days at full power)
B-1 Gamma R300/288 Shields (18) Total Fuel Cost 216 Litres per hour (5 184 per day)
D-SP25-1 25cm C4 Ultraviolet Laser (1) Range 192 000km TS: 4000 km/s Power 16-4 RM 4 ROF 20 16 16 16 16 12 10 9 8 7 6
Twin D-12-1 12cm C4 Ultraviolet Laser Turret (1x2) Range 160 000km TS: 16000 km/s Power 8-8 RM 4 ROF 5 4 4 4 4 3 2 2 2 1 1
Mk II Single C-6-1 GCR2 Turret (2x2) Range 20 000km TS: 16000 km/s Power 0-0 RM 2 ROF 5 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
D-FFC-1 Fire Control S03 36-16000 (2) Max Range: 72 000 km TS: 16000 km/s 86 72 58 44 31 17 3 0 0 0
D-DPB-2X Fire Control S08 96-16000 H70 (1) Max Range: 192 000 km TS: 16000 km/s 95 90 84 79 74 69 64 58 53 48
MB-5F-A Size 5 Missile Launcher (10) Missile Size 5 Rate of Fire 50
MB-1F-A Size 1 Missile Launcher (8) Missile Size 1 Rate of Fire 10
D-MFC-AS-H-1 FC33-R45 (1) Range 33.8m km Resolution 45
C-MFC-PD-H-1 Missile Fire Control FC9-R1 (2) Range 9.6m km Resolution 1
ASM-5 (175) Speed: 23 500 km/s End: 23.1m Range: 32.5m km WH: 9 Size: 5 TH: 94/56/28
LCM-3 (128) Speed: 28 000 km/s End: 10.8m Range: 18.1m km WH: 1 Size: 1 TH: 186/112/56
D-ASR-H-1 MR50-R100 (1) GPS 6300 Range 50.4m km Resolution 100
C-MDR-M-1 Active Search Sensor MR5-R1 (1) GPS 64 Range 5.1m km MCR 558k km Resolution 1
C-PT-H-1 Thermal Sensor TH4-32 (70%) (1) Sensitivity 32 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 32m km
C-PEM-H-1 EM Detection Sensor EM4-32 (70%) (1) Sensitivity 32 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 32m km
ECCM-1 (2) Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
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Nov 17, 2145 - The elusive Asgard Aliens have showed up again. This hostile race was only encountered once to date, when a single ship dropped off land forces on my refueling outpost at Vingolf. The 1st Mobile Infantry Brigade won eventually, and the menace was never seen again, until now. Deep on the edge of the frontier, a lone survey vessel, the GEV Kilimanjaru has been lost. Their last communication drone shows they were attacked by four, small, light combatants. Their 12,000 km/sec speed was staggering, yet their missiles and sensors are noted to be rather limited. Firing 10,000 km/sec ASM with damage 6 warheads, it took three salvos to destroy the Kilimanjaru, armed with only a 1st generation CIWS. The drone also shows that life pods where jettisoned. Our Joint Staff planners, after looking at the threat, believe that a reinforced Scout Task force can fight these enemies at long range and try to save the pods, unless the aliens realize what they are and pick up our brave sailors. Scout Task Force (STF) One is getting the call, and will pick up missile frigates and destroyers from the regular navy to support. Without a fleet jump tender (which has been delayed due to the lack of operational requirements to operate in force beyond our jump gate network), the carriers must stay behind. Time to see how the light designs hold up.
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January 20, 2146 - Rear Admiral Grumach, commander of STF 2 sends an update from Groombridge 1618:
Executive Summary: I regret to inform the general staff that our mission to rescue the survivors of the GEV Kilimanjaro was not successful. STF 2 with a force of 1xJD, 4xFFG and 4xSF encountered a force of eight Asgard Alien gunboats shortly after jumping into QY Aurigea. These light forces with advanced propulsion could maneuver at a staggering 12,500 km/sec, exceeding the speed of our yet to be upgraded, mostly ion engine force by a factor of ten times. The battle fought was largely indecisive, as out ASM fire controls were unable to maintain lock on the gunboats, which employed a tactic of moving into engagement range, launching ASM’s, then moving away. While the engagement happened at less than 20M km, well inside our nominal ASM ranges, the inability to maintain lock on the light enemy forces prevented any of our fire from being effective. Likewise, our adversaries employed an ASM that had a respectable 37,000 km/sec speed, and seemed to launch them in size two salvos. Their relatively light weight of fire prevented them from doing anything but a little damage to the JD Specter. With no sign of any life pods, and an inability to bring this elusive enemy to a decisive engagement, I made the decision to retire. We left a thermal sensor buoy on the far side of the jump point and returned to sol to repair and refit.
Based on this engagement, I would have to say our ships are poorly equipped to deal with gun boats. The ability to close with our own fighters would have allowed us beat this threat. The number one issue though, has been the delays to the next generation jump destroyers. At 8,000 tons, the current Ghost class ships cannot jump ferry regular Navy fleet destroyers (10,200 tons). Both the added capabilities of the new 10,400 ton Warlock class jump destroyer and its ability to ferry fleet forces was sorely missed. In addition, I must stress that for contingencies past our jump gate network, having an escort carrier small enough to jump ferry with the new Warlock class ships would have been decisive. It'ss critical that we get the new Warlock Class JD’s and the Hosho class CVE fielded as soon as possible. I also recommend that our engineers reconsider the wide use of the reduced weight missile tubes. Trading initial throw weight for long reload times become a huge issue with an adversary fast enough to duck out. In addition, we may want to consider adding some 20cm tubes to our AAM ships, to fire LAM’s in an anti-fighter role. The high resolution AAM fire controls could have been used to target these threats, but without the ability to launch LAM’s, that tactic wasn’t possible. Last, the twin laser armament of the new Louis Wetzel SF’s should be reconsidered. Their area defense capabilities are effective, but if there weren't additional supporting ships, I doubt those SF’s could defend themselves well enough against longer range threats. I think that a guass cannon and LAM based design may be more practical.
I regret that we could not avenge our brothers and sisters from the GEV Kilimanjaro, but hope at least this updated intelligence on the threat at QY Aurigea will be worth the price paid. Grumbach Out.
For reference, our intergalactic SETA contractors have already done a detailed trade study, and based on these observation, here is a first cut on the revised Warlock JD design:
Warlock class Jump Destroyer 10 400 tons 318 Crew 1850.8 BP TCS 208 TH 240 EM 240
2307 km/s JR 3-250 Armour 3-42 Shields 8-300 Sensors 8/8/0/0 Damage Control Rating 26 PPV 32.84
Maint Life 3.13 Years MSP 667 AFR 144% IFR 2% 1YR 102 5YR 1536 Max Repair 150 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 36 months Spare Berths 1
Flag Bridge Magazine 267
D-JE-104-1 J10400(3-250) Military Jump Drive Max Ship Size 10400 tons Distance 250k km Squadron Size 3
D-HS-1 160 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (3) Power 160 Fuel Use 54% Signature 80 Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 1 100 000 Litres Range 35.2 billion km (176 days at full power)
B-1 Gamma R300/288 Shields (4) Total Fuel Cost 48 Litres per hour (1 152 per day)
Mk II Single C-6-1 GCR2 Turret (1x2) Range 20 000km TS: 16000 km/s Power 0-0 RM 2 ROF 5 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
D-FFC-1 Fire Control S03 36-16000 (1) Max Range: 72 000 km TS: 16000 km/s 86 72 58 44 31 17 3 0 0 0
MB-1F-A Size 1 Missile Launcher (8) Missile Size 1 Rate of Fire 10
MB-5F-A Size 5 Missile Launcher (3) Missile Size 5 Rate of Fire 50
C-MFC-AS-HX-1 Missile Fire Control FC47-R60 (70%) (1) Range 47.6m km Resolution 60
C-MFC-PD-H-1 Missile Fire Control FC9-R1 (2) Range 9.6m km Resolution 1
B-PT-Bouy-1 (2) Speed: 0 km/s End: 0m Range: 0m km WH: 0 Size: 4.998 TH: 0/0/0
ASM-5 (30) Speed: 23 500 km/s End: 23.1m Range: 32.5m km WH: 9 Size: 5 TH: 94/56/28
LCM-3 (104) Speed: 28 000 km/s End: 10.8m Range: 18.1m km WH: 1 Size: 1 TH: 186/112/56
D-MDR-M-1 MR6-R1 (1) GPS 84 Range 6.7m km MCR 732k km Resolution 1
C-PT-M-1 Thermal Sensor TH1-8 (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 8m km
C-PEM-M-1 EM Detection Sensor EM1-8 (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 8m km
ECM 10
Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
And here is the CVE Hosho, small enough to jump ferry with the Warlock's:
Hosho class Escort Carrier 10 200 tons 146 Crew 1263.7 BP TCS 204 TH 640 EM 120
3137 km/s Armour 3-41 Shields 4-225 Sensors 8/8/0/0 Damage Control Rating 4 PPV 0
Maint Life 1.63 Years MSP 310 AFR 208% IFR 2.9% 1YR 137 5YR 2052 Max Repair 80 MSP
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months Flight Crew Berths 85
Hangar Deck Capacity 4000 tons Magazine 143
D-H-1 160 EP Magneto-plasma Drive (4) Power 160 Fuel Use 54% Signature 160 Exp 10%
Fuel Capacity 1 400 000 Litres Range 45.7 billion km (168 days at full power)
A-1 Beta R225/252 Shields (3) Total Fuel Cost 32 Litres per hour (756 per day)
B-1 CIWS-120 (1x4) Range 1000 km TS: 12000 km/s ROF 5 Base 50% To Hit
LAM-5 (72) Speed: 22 400 km/s End: 16.8m Range: 22.6m km WH: 4 Size: 2 TH: 104/62/31
C-PT-M-1 Thermal Sensor TH1-8 (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 8m km
C-PEM-M-1 EM Detection Sensor EM1-8 (1) Sensitivity 8 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 8m km
Strike Group
4x A-2A Strikefighter Speed: 12605 km/s Size: 9.52
2x F-3A Fighter Speed: 16000 km/s Size: 10
2x F-2B Fighter Speed: 16000 km/s Size: 10
Missile to hit chances are vs targets moving at 3000 km/s, 5000 km/s and 10,000 km/s
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Neither design is completely locked yet, as I have a crunch in shipyard availability right now. Hopefully these can get started sooner.