Thanks for everyone's input, this thread has given me some good reading material and design ideas. After thinking things over, I've decided to remove carronades from the railgun faction and focus solely on railguns (with some missile support for flavor). I worked up some preliminary ship designs for the railgun faction.
All factions will be starting with nuclear thermal engine technology and most likely at least duranium armor as ships with less advanced engines and armor are... really bad.
First up are some frigate designs. These ships will be the 'standard' fleet ships, intended to provide solid PD and DPS. For the most part, 10cm railguns are provided for point defence and larger 25cm railguns are provided to enhance armour penetration capability. Generally, a frigate squadron will consist of at least 1 Longsword and 3 Broadswords. The Longsword provides quite long range sensor coverage for the rest of the squadron. Later on, once jump drives are developed, one Broadsword will be replaced by a jump frigate for jump point exploration and/or for transits into known hostile systems. Additionally, a Broadsword may be replaced by a Bastion in a squadron if missile strike capability (or other carrier support functions) are required for a particular mission. Multiple squadrons will be grouped together to form larger fleets and will be supported by larger fleet carriers and cruisers (once developed).
Broadsword class Frigate (P) 7,500 tons 235 Crew 789.6 BP TCS 150 TH 400 EM 0
2666 km/s Armour 3-34 Shields 0-0 HTK 62 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 7 PPV 28
Maint Life 4.97 Years MSP 460 AFR 64% IFR 0.9% 1YR 31 5YR 464 Max Repair 100.00 MSP
Commander Control Rating 2 BRG AUX
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months Morale Check Required
Akthenion Nuclear Thermal Engine EP200.00 (2) Power 400.0 Fuel Use 204.80% Signature 200.00 Explosion 16%
Fuel Capacity 860,000 Litres Range 10.1 billion km (43 days at full power)
Akthenion 25cm Railgun V30/C3 (2x4) Range 128,000km TS: 4,000 km/s Power 15-3 RM 30,000 km ROF 25
Akthenion 10cm Railgun V30/C3 (4x4) Range 30,000km TS: 4,000 km/s Power 3-3 RM 30,000 km ROF 5
Akthenion Beam Fire Control R128-TS4000 (2) Max Range: 128,000 km TS: 4,000 km/s 92 84 77 69 61 53 45 38 30 22
Akthenion Pressurised Water Reactor R9-PB10 (2) Total Power Output 18 Exp 7%
Akthenion Active Search Sensor AS1-R1 (1) GPS 1 Range 1.3m km MCR 113.5k km Resolution 1
Akthenion EM Sensor EM0.1-0.5 (1) Sensitivity 0.5 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 5.6m km
Akthenion Thermal Sensor TH0.1-0.5 (1) Sensitivity 0.5 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 5.6m km
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Longsword class Frigate Leader (P) 7,500 tons 202 Crew 747.4 BP TCS 150 TH 400 EM 0
2666 km/s Armour 3-34 Shields 0-0 HTK 55 Sensors 50/50/0/0 DCR 6 PPV 8
Maint Life 5.56 Years MSP 733 AFR 75% IFR 1.0% 1YR 40 5YR 600 Max Repair 100.00 MSP
Hangar Deck Capacity 250 tons
Commander Control Rating 2 BRG AUX
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months Flight Crew Berths 20 Morale Check Required
Akthenion Nuclear Thermal Engine EP200.00 (2) Power 400.0 Fuel Use 204.80% Signature 200.00 Explosion 16%
Fuel Capacity 850,000 Litres Range 10 billion km (43 days at full power)
Akthenion 25cm Railgun V30/C3 (1x4) Range 128,000km TS: 4,000 km/s Power 15-3 RM 30,000 km ROF 25
Akthenion Beam Fire Control R128-TS4000 (1) Max Range: 128,000 km TS: 4,000 km/s 92 84 77 69 61 53 45 38 30 22
Akthenion Pressurised Water Reactor R3 (1) Total Power Output 3 Exp 5%
Akthenion Active Search Sensor AS3-R1 (1) GPS 10 Range 4m km MCR 359k km Resolution 1
Akthenion Thermal Sensor TH10-50 (1) Sensitivity 50 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 55.9m km
Akthenion EM Sensor EM10-50 (1) Sensitivity 50 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 55.9m km
Strike Group
2x Spyglass Scout Speed: 4206 km/s Size: 2.5
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
Bastion class Carrier (P) 7,500 tons 148 Crew 720.1 BP TCS 150 TH 400 EM 0
2666 km/s Armour 2-34 Shields 0-0 HTK 51 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 6 PPV 0
Maint Life 4.53 Years MSP 600 AFR 75% IFR 1.0% 1YR 47 5YR 712 Max Repair 100.00 MSP
Hangar Deck Capacity 1,500 tons Magazine 225
Commander Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months Flight Crew Berths 60 Morale Check Required
Akthenion Nuclear Thermal Engine EP200.00 (2) Power 400.0 Fuel Use 204.80% Signature 200.00 Explosion 16%
Fuel Capacity 871,000 Litres Range 10.2 billion km (44 days at full power)
S3M1 SRM (75) Speed: 4,933 km/s End: 0.1m Range: 0m km WH: 4 Size: 3 TH: 16/9/4
Akthenion Active Search Sensor AS1-R1 (1) GPS 1 Range 1.3m km MCR 113.5k km Resolution 1
Akthenion EM Sensor EM0.1-0.5 (1) Sensitivity 0.5 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 5.6m km
Akthenion Thermal Sensor TH0.1-0.5 (1) Sensitivity 0.5 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 5.6m km
Strike Group
12x Lance Strike Bomber Speed: 3605 km/s Size: 2.5
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
Spyglass class Scout (P) 125 tons 2 Crew 10.7 BP TCS 2 TH 11 EM 0
4206 km/s Armour 1-2 Shields 0-0 HTK 1 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 0 PPV 0
Maint Life 0 Years MSP 0 AFR 24% IFR 0.3% 1YR 0 5YR 7 Max Repair 5.25 MSP
Lieutenant Commander Control Rating 1
Intended Deployment Time: 6 days Morale Check Required
Akthenion Nuclear Thermal Engine EP10.50 (1) Power 10.5 Fuel Use 736.49% Signature 10.5 Explosion 15%
Fuel Capacity 10,000 Litres Range 2 billion km (5 days at full power)
Akthenion Active Search Sensor AS1-R1 (1) GPS 1 Range 1.3m km MCR 113.5k km Resolution 1
Akthenion EM Sensor EM0.1-0.5 (1) Sensitivity 0.5 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 5.6m km
Akthenion Thermal Sensor TH0.1-0.5 (1) Sensitivity 0.5 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 5.6m km
This design is classed as a Fighter for production, combat and planetary interaction
Lance class Strike Bomber (P) 125 tons 2 Crew 11.2 BP TCS 2 TH 9 EM 0
3605 km/s Armour 1-2 Shields 0-0 HTK 1 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 0 PPV 0.45
Maint Life 8.47 Years MSP 20 AFR 25% IFR 0.3% 1YR 0 5YR 7 Max Repair 5 MSP
Magazine 3
Lieutenant Commander Control Rating 1
Intended Deployment Time: 3 days Morale Check Required
Akthenion Nuclear Thermal Engine EP9.00 (1) Power 9 Fuel Use 795.50% Signature 9 Explosion 15%
Fuel Capacity 5,000 Litres Range 0.91 billion km (69 hours at full power)
Akthenion Size 3.0 Box Launcher (1) Missile Size: 3 Hangar Reload 86 minutes MF Reload 14 hours
Akthenion Missile Fire Control FC2-R1 (1) Range 2.5m km Resolution 1
S3M1 SRM (1) Speed: 4,933 km/s End: 0.1m Range: 0m km WH: 4 Size: 3 TH: 16/9/4
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 planetary interaction
Additionally, the Dagger class corvette was designed to provided rudimentary planetary point defence to colonies. Lacking the deployment time and fuel endurance of the larger frigates, the Dagger class maintains a strong array of point defence railguns as well as a single larger 25cm12cm railgun for engaging enemy ships that stray too close to a colony.
Dagger class Corvette (P) 3,750 tons 118 Crew 395.9 BP TCS 75 TH 200 EM 0
2666 km/s Armour 3-21 Shields 0-0 HTK 23 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 2 PPV 14
Maint Life 5.59 Years MSP 271 AFR 56% IFR 0.8% 1YR 15 5YR 219 Max Repair 50.00 MSP
Commander Control Rating 2 BRG AUX
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months Morale Check Required
Akthenion Nuclear Thermal Engine EP100.00 (2) Power 200.0 Fuel Use 289.63% Signature 100.00 Explosion 16%
Fuel Capacity 301,000 Litres Range 5 billion km (21 days at full power)
Akthenion 12cm Railgun V30/C3 (1x4) Range 60,000km TS: 4,000 km/s Power 6-3 RM 30,000 km ROF 10
Akthenion 10cm Railgun V30/C3 (3x4) Range 30,000km TS: 4,000 km/s Power 3-3 RM 30,000 km ROF 5
Akthenion Beam Fire Control R128-TS4000 (1) Max Range: 128,000 km TS: 4,000 km/s 92 84 77 69 61 53 45 38 30 22
Akthenion Pressurised Water Reactor R6-PB20 (2) Total Power Output 12 Exp 10%
Akthenion Active Search Sensor AS1-R1 (1) GPS 1 Range 1.3m km MCR 113.5k km Resolution 1
Akthenion EM Sensor EM0.1-0.5 (1) Sensitivity 0.5 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 5.6m km
Akthenion Thermal Sensor TH0.1-0.5 (1) Sensitivity 0.5 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 5.6m km
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
With a fleet range of only about 10b km for the frigates and 5b km for the corvettes, these ships will require refueling for longer missions (though the corvettes have sufficient range to reach all lagrange points in the custom starting trinary star system I made for this game). To support long range missions, the Resilience class support vessel has been developed:
Resilience class Fleet Support Vessel (P) 20,000 tons 220 Crew 554 BP TCS 400 TH 400 EM 0
1000 km/s Armour 2-65 Shields 0-0 HTK 51 Sensors 5/5/0/0 DCR 1 PPV 0
MSP 4,017 Max Repair 25.00 MSP
Cargo Shuttle Multiplier 4
Lieutenant Commander Control Rating 1 BRG
Intended Deployment Time: 3 months
Akthenion Commercial Nuclear Thermal Engine EP100.0 (4) Power 400.0 Fuel Use 8.84% Signature 100.0 Explosion 5%
Fuel Capacity 5,289,000 Litres Range 538.5 billion km (6233 days at full power)
Refuelling Capability: 50,000 litres per hour Complete Refuel 105 hours
Akthenion Active Search Sensor AS3-R1 (1) GPS 10 Range 4m km MCR 359k km Resolution 1
Akthenion EM Sensor EM1.0-5.0 (1) Sensitivity 5.0 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 17.7m km
Akthenion Thermal Sensor TH1.0-5.0 (1) Sensitivity 5.0 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 17.7m km
This design is classed as a Commercial Vessel for maintenance purposes
The Resilience is capable of refueling and resupplying up to four ships simultaneously while underway, which will allow for it operate with standard sized frigate squadrons. Not intended for combat operations, this ship class is equipped with high fuel efficiency engines which reduce the ship's speed considerably. However, due to the reduced maintenance costs this is considered acceptable. Additionally, this ship class is provided with 2 layers of armor in order to provide some small amount of protection should it's fleet be ambushed.