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I wouldn't sweat about it for a while. BFCs are pretty cheap to refit until you get to the higher tech levels, so I say get more hulls in the aether so we can find a nice, British-looking admiral to do his best Lord Cutler Beckett impersonation. We gotta expand past nine systems sometime...
OK, I've laid down the first three Battle-II's (renamed to Attitude class) and we're retooling a three-slip yard for Animal-II's.
On the commercial front, we've laid down our 53rd Orbital Fuel Refinery (and started retooling for a class of Fast Tankers), and are also building our 28th Orbital Terraforming Station and our 12th Orbital Mining Platform. So far, our three Tugs have kept up with the work-load of deploying and shifting the orbital assets, but they are almost constantly employed at that task. Maybe we should build a few more Tugs. We also have five Colony Ships (with three more building) and more than 25 Freighters, of varying degrees of obsolescence.
So our early neglect of a Navy... it still only exists on paper, twenty-eight years into the game... is bearing fruit on the Civilian front. We have 76 Research Labs (up from our initial allotment of 41), a maxed-out bank account with a strong positive income, plenty of potential colonists (ie: people who are not currently paying any taxes) and a large commercial fleet totaling 125 vessels and/or orbital assets of various specialties.
Still... I feel that it's time we started accumulating a Navy. We'll try a Gun-based fleet, and see if it's practical at this early tech level.
On the commercial front, we've laid down our 53rd Orbital Fuel Refinery (and started retooling for a class of Fast Tankers), and are also building our 28th Orbital Terraforming Station and our 12th Orbital Mining Platform. So far, our three Tugs have kept up with the work-load of deploying and shifting the orbital assets, but they are almost constantly employed at that task. Maybe we should build a few more Tugs. We also have five Colony Ships (with three more building) and more than 25 Freighters, of varying degrees of obsolescence.
So our early neglect of a Navy... it still only exists on paper, twenty-eight years into the game... is bearing fruit on the Civilian front. We have 76 Research Labs (up from our initial allotment of 41), a maxed-out bank account with a strong positive income, plenty of potential colonists (ie: people who are not currently paying any taxes) and a large commercial fleet totaling 125 vessels and/or orbital assets of various specialties.
Still... I feel that it's time we started accumulating a Navy. We'll try a Gun-based fleet, and see if it's practical at this early tech level.
Admiral class Jump Ship / AWACS :
Admiral class Command Cruiser 20,100 tons 479 Crew 3,308.1 BP TCS 402 TH 2,250 EM 0
5597 km/s JR 4-50 Armour 7-65 Shields 0-0 HTK 79 Sensors 6/110/0/0 DCR 12 PPV 0
Maint Life 1.17 Years MSP 1,234 AFR 269% IFR 3.7% 1YR 916 5YR 13,743 Max Repair 574.6 MSP
Captain Control Rating 2 BRG AUX
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months Morale Check Required
J20100.0(4-50) Military Jump Drive Max Ship Size 20100.0 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 4
Ion Drive EP750.00 60 HS 1985 (3) Power 2250 Fuel Use 28.58% Signature 750 Explosion 10%
Fuel Capacity 1,260,000 Litres Range 39.5 billion km (81 days at full power)
Active Search Sensor AS177-R100 HS 20 1985 (1) GPS 42000 Range 178m km Resolution 100
Active Search Sensor AS27-R1 (1) GPS 210 Range 27.1m km MCR 2.4m km Resolution 1
EM Sensor EM10-110 (1) Sensitivity 110 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 82.9m km
Thermal Sensor TH1.0-6.0 (1) Sensitivity 6 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 19.4m km
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
This design is classed as a Scout for auto-assignment purposes
Admiral class Command Cruiser 20,100 tons 479 Crew 3,308.1 BP TCS 402 TH 2,250 EM 0
5597 km/s JR 4-50 Armour 7-65 Shields 0-0 HTK 79 Sensors 6/110/0/0 DCR 12 PPV 0
Maint Life 1.17 Years MSP 1,234 AFR 269% IFR 3.7% 1YR 916 5YR 13,743 Max Repair 574.6 MSP
Captain Control Rating 2 BRG AUX
Intended Deployment Time: 12 months Morale Check Required
J20100.0(4-50) Military Jump Drive Max Ship Size 20100.0 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 4
Ion Drive EP750.00 60 HS 1985 (3) Power 2250 Fuel Use 28.58% Signature 750 Explosion 10%
Fuel Capacity 1,260,000 Litres Range 39.5 billion km (81 days at full power)
Active Search Sensor AS177-R100 HS 20 1985 (1) GPS 42000 Range 178m km Resolution 100
Active Search Sensor AS27-R1 (1) GPS 210 Range 27.1m km MCR 2.4m km Resolution 1
EM Sensor EM10-110 (1) Sensitivity 110 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 82.9m km
Thermal Sensor TH1.0-6.0 (1) Sensitivity 6 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 19.4m km
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
This design is classed as a Scout for auto-assignment purposes
I feel like beam fleets are more viable than missiles at low tech, because missiles need several tech lines to be effective whereas beams scale pretty evenly at all tech levels at least until you get into fairly high techs. That being said, ion drive tech should be the point at which anything is viable.
The Admiral class needs a couple MSP bays to keep that jump drive in good shape.
Our first three Laser-armed Battlecruisers have been launched, the ESN Furious, ESN Hostile and ESN Vindictive.
BC-01 ESN Furious (Attitude class Battlecruiser) 18,750 tons 412 Crew 2,783.7 BP TCS 375 TH 2,250 EM 0
6000 km/s Armour 8-62 Shields 0-0 HTK 125 Sensors 6/11/0/0 DCR 12 PPV 74.32
Maint Life 1.62 Years MSP 1,159 AFR 225% IFR 3.1% 1YR 518 5YR 7,770 Max Repair 375 MSP
Captain Control Rating 2 BRG AUX
Intended Deployment Time: 15 months Morale Check Required
Ion Drive EP750.00 60 HS 1985 (3) Power 2250 Fuel Use 28.58% Signature 750 Explosion 10%
Fuel Capacity 1,445,000 Litres Range 48.5 billion km (93 days at full power)
Twin 15.0cm C3 A4 Visible Light Laser 1979 Turret (3x2) Range 120,000km TS: 10000 km/s Power 12-6 RM 20,000 km ROF 10
Triple Gauss Cannon R300-100 T20k 1981 Turret (1x9) Range 30,000km TS: 20000 km/s Power 0-0 RM 30,000 km ROF 5
Beam Fire Control R128-TS20000 1988 (1) Max Range: 128,000 km TS: 20,000 km/s 92 84 77 69 61 53 45 38 30 22
Beam Fire Control R256-TS10000 1988 (1) Max Range: 256,000 km TS: 10,000 km/s 96 92 88 84 80 77 73 69 65 61
Magnetic Mirror Fusion Reactor R6 (1) Total Power Output 6.2 Exp 5%
Magnetic Mirror Fusion Reactor R12 (1) Total Power Output 12.1 Exp 5%
Active Search Sensor AS8-R1 1985 (1) GPS 21 Range 8.6m km MCR 771.7k km Resolution 1
CIV Active Search Sensor AS39-R100 1985 (1) GPS 2100 Range 39.8m km Resolution 100
EM Sensor EM1.0-11.0 (1) Sensitivity 11 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 26.2m km
Thermal Sensor TH1.0-6.0 (1) Sensitivity 6 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 19.4m km
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
This design is classed as a Warship for auto-assignment purposes
BC-01 ESN Furious (Attitude class Battlecruiser) 18,750 tons 412 Crew 2,783.7 BP TCS 375 TH 2,250 EM 0
6000 km/s Armour 8-62 Shields 0-0 HTK 125 Sensors 6/11/0/0 DCR 12 PPV 74.32
Maint Life 1.62 Years MSP 1,159 AFR 225% IFR 3.1% 1YR 518 5YR 7,770 Max Repair 375 MSP
Captain Control Rating 2 BRG AUX
Intended Deployment Time: 15 months Morale Check Required
Ion Drive EP750.00 60 HS 1985 (3) Power 2250 Fuel Use 28.58% Signature 750 Explosion 10%
Fuel Capacity 1,445,000 Litres Range 48.5 billion km (93 days at full power)
Twin 15.0cm C3 A4 Visible Light Laser 1979 Turret (3x2) Range 120,000km TS: 10000 km/s Power 12-6 RM 20,000 km ROF 10
Triple Gauss Cannon R300-100 T20k 1981 Turret (1x9) Range 30,000km TS: 20000 km/s Power 0-0 RM 30,000 km ROF 5
Beam Fire Control R128-TS20000 1988 (1) Max Range: 128,000 km TS: 20,000 km/s 92 84 77 69 61 53 45 38 30 22
Beam Fire Control R256-TS10000 1988 (1) Max Range: 256,000 km TS: 10,000 km/s 96 92 88 84 80 77 73 69 65 61
Magnetic Mirror Fusion Reactor R6 (1) Total Power Output 6.2 Exp 5%
Magnetic Mirror Fusion Reactor R12 (1) Total Power Output 12.1 Exp 5%
Active Search Sensor AS8-R1 1985 (1) GPS 21 Range 8.6m km MCR 771.7k km Resolution 1
CIV Active Search Sensor AS39-R100 1985 (1) GPS 2100 Range 39.8m km Resolution 100
EM Sensor EM1.0-11.0 (1) Sensitivity 11 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 26.2m km
Thermal Sensor TH1.0-6.0 (1) Sensitivity 6 Detect Sig Strength 1000: 19.4m km
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
This design is classed as a Warship for auto-assignment purposes
We should also think about which sort of Missile ships we want in our Navy... if any.
So far, all of our designs are either unarmed (like the Admiral), armed with Gauss PD turrets (like the Animals) or armed with Lasers (like the Attitudes).
So far, all of our designs are either unarmed (like the Admiral), armed with Gauss PD turrets (like the Animals) or armed with Lasers (like the Attitudes).
I'm fond of Carriers, yes.
How would you like to see the Fighters armed?
We would need anti-warship and anti-FAC capability, at least.
EDIT:
One of our scientists has completed research on Cloaking Theory, which is a turn-key tech that opens up new lines of research in Cloak Generator Efficiency, Cloak Generator Size and Sensor Reduction Efficiency.
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Personally I am a fan of bombers in the 250-300 ton range. Traditionally in this series the choice is tiny "Squints" with a single missile per fighter, but I think the better efficiency of larger bombers is preferable.
The other option is to use 10cm railgun fighters as in Steve's BSG campaign, but I think that requires a full-throated investment into that single line of craft. Missile bombers work better in a mixed fleet as you only need enough to overwhelm the enemy PD.
I'm not sure 20,000 tons is really big enough for a solid Fleet Carrier, unless we accompanied it by a Tanker and an Ammo Tender.
Maybe I should expand our Shipyards again.
Maybe I should expand our Shipyards again.
Fleet carrier, probably not, but you can put out a solid wing of light carriers. If you use 250-ton bombers with 4x4 missile loadouts (4x box launchers for size-4 missiles), 6,000 tons of hangar bay space would hold 24 bombers, so 3-4 of those CVLs can put a total strike size of 288-384 missiles into space, plenty to defeat most NPRs' point defenses. Aside from reducing the armor and engine sizes (probably the CVLs will nt be as high-speed as our cruisers), the main limitation could be magazine space for reloads; with the first (80%) efficiency tech, 1 HS of unarmored magazine holds a reload for a single bomber, so you need 24 HS (1,200 tons) per reload, so getting more than 2-3 reloads would be challenging without a robust auxiliary fleet.
How about this?
Constellation class Light Carrier 18,750 tons 296 Crew 2,212.6 BP TCS 375 TH 1,500 EM 0
4000 km/s Armour 2-62 Shields 0-0 HTK 88 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 12 PPV 0
Maint Life 1.66 Years MSP 885 AFR 234% IFR 3.3% 1YR 382 5YR 5,727 Max Repair 375 MSP
Hangar Deck Capacity 6,000 tons Magazine 768
Captain Control Rating 3 BRG AUX PFC
Intended Deployment Time: 15 months Flight Crew Berths 120 Morale Check Required
Ion Drive EP750.00 60 HS 1985 (2) Power 1500 Fuel Use 28.58% Signature 750 Explosion 10%
Fuel Capacity 1,596,000 Litres Range 53.6 billion km (155 days at full power)
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
This design is classed as a Carrier for auto-assignment purposes
Orc class Bomber 250 tons 1 Crew 56.9 BP TCS 5 TH 50 EM 0
10011 km/s Armour 1-3 Shields 0-0 HTK 1 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 0 PPV 1.8
Maint Life 0 Years MSP 0 AFR 49% IFR 0.7% 1YR 4 5YR 63 Max Repair 25.00 MSP
Magazine 12
Commander Control Rating 1
Intended Deployment Time: 3 days Morale Check Required
Ion Drive EP50.00 (1) Power 50.0 Fuel Use 1482.32% Signature 50.00 Explosion 25%
Fuel Capacity 18,000 Litres Range 0.88 billion km (24 hours at full power)
Size 4.0 Box Launcher 1989 (3) Missile Size: 4.0 Hangar Reload 100 minutes MF Reload 16 hours
FTR Missile Fire Control FC75-R100 1989 (1) Range 75.5m km Resolution 100
Venom Anti-Ship Missile (3) Speed: 16,100 km/s End: 62.7m Range: 60.5m km WH: 4 Size: 4.00 TH: 69/41/20
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
This design is classed as a Fighter for auto-assignment purposes
Constellation class Light Carrier 18,750 tons 296 Crew 2,212.6 BP TCS 375 TH 1,500 EM 0
4000 km/s Armour 2-62 Shields 0-0 HTK 88 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 12 PPV 0
Maint Life 1.66 Years MSP 885 AFR 234% IFR 3.3% 1YR 382 5YR 5,727 Max Repair 375 MSP
Hangar Deck Capacity 6,000 tons Magazine 768
Captain Control Rating 3 BRG AUX PFC
Intended Deployment Time: 15 months Flight Crew Berths 120 Morale Check Required
Ion Drive EP750.00 60 HS 1985 (2) Power 1500 Fuel Use 28.58% Signature 750 Explosion 10%
Fuel Capacity 1,596,000 Litres Range 53.6 billion km (155 days at full power)
This design is classed as a Military Vessel for maintenance purposes
This design is classed as a Carrier for auto-assignment purposes
Orc class Bomber 250 tons 1 Crew 56.9 BP TCS 5 TH 50 EM 0
10011 km/s Armour 1-3 Shields 0-0 HTK 1 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 0 PPV 1.8
Maint Life 0 Years MSP 0 AFR 49% IFR 0.7% 1YR 4 5YR 63 Max Repair 25.00 MSP
Magazine 12
Commander Control Rating 1
Intended Deployment Time: 3 days Morale Check Required
Ion Drive EP50.00 (1) Power 50.0 Fuel Use 1482.32% Signature 50.00 Explosion 25%
Fuel Capacity 18,000 Litres Range 0.88 billion km (24 hours at full power)
Size 4.0 Box Launcher 1989 (3) Missile Size: 4.0 Hangar Reload 100 minutes MF Reload 16 hours
FTR Missile Fire Control FC75-R100 1989 (1) Range 75.5m km Resolution 100
Venom Anti-Ship Missile (3) Speed: 16,100 km/s End: 62.7m Range: 60.5m km WH: 4 Size: 4.00 TH: 69/41/20
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
This design is classed as a Fighter for auto-assignment purposes
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At 24x4x3 = 288 MSP per fighter salvo, you'll have 2.666... reloads. I'd probably cut out a hangar deck, do 20 bombers per carrier and 720 MSP magazine, and put the extra space into a third level of armor or a Gauss turret if we have the space (more fleet PD is never a bad idea).
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I think we got it...
Carries 20 Bombers with exactly two full reloads each. Three layers of armor plus a triple Gauss PD turret with PD FC and res-1 sensor.
Constellation class Light Carrier 18,750 tons 314 Crew 2,405.8 BP TCS 375 TH 1,500 EM 0
4000 km/s Armour 3-62 Shields 0-0 HTK 99 Sensors 0/0/0/0 DCR 10 PPV 29.86
Maint Life 1.47 Years MSP 951 AFR 281% IFR 3.9% 1YR 490 5YR 7,357 Max Repair 375 MSP
Hangar Deck Capacity 5,000 tons Magazine 480
Captain Control Rating 3 BRG AUX PFC
Intended Deployment Time: 15 months Flight Crew Berths 100 Morale Check Required
Ion Drive EP750.00 60 HS 1985 (2) Power 1500 Fuel Use 28.58% Signature 750 Explosion 10%
Fuel Capacity 1,631,000 Litres Range 54.8 billion km (158 days at full power)
Triple Gauss Cannon R300-100 T20k 1981 Turret (1x9) Range 30,000km TS: 20000 km/s Power 0-0 RM 30,000 km ROF 5
Beam Fire Control R128-TS20000 1988 (1) Max Range: 128,000 km TS: 20,000 km/s 92 84 77 69 61 53 45 38 30 22
Venom Anti-Ship Missile (120) Speed: 16,100 km/s End: 62.7m Range: 60.5m km WH: 4 Size: 4 TH: 69/41/20
Active Search Sensor AS8-R1 1985 (1) GPS 21 Range 8.6m km MCR 771.7k km Resolution 1
Strike Group
20x Orc Bomber Speed: 10446 km/s Size: 4.79
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
This design is classed as a Carrier for auto-assignment purposes
Looks good to me, with <20k tons you have to economize but this should do the job. I do recommend building a few AMTs to carry more reloads in case we run up against a big fleet and need moar dakka to finish the job.
Our last three (of a total of 12) Attitude class Battlecruisers have been laid down, as have our last three (of a total of 12) Animal class Fast Escorts. These 24 ships will form the core of the Gunnery squadron.
Our Striking Force has barely been started... three Storm class PD Frigates completed and three more building. No Carriers, AWACS, Jump Ships or Ammo Tenders have been laid down yet, since we only have two 20,000-ton shipyards and they are focused on completing the Gunnery Fleet.
EDIT:
Our two biggest Naval shipyards (25,000 tons, three slipways each) are now retooling for Admirals and Constellations.
Our Striking Force has barely been started... three Storm class PD Frigates completed and three more building. No Carriers, AWACS, Jump Ships or Ammo Tenders have been laid down yet, since we only have two 20,000-ton shipyards and they are focused on completing the Gunnery Fleet.
EDIT:
Our two biggest Naval shipyards (25,000 tons, three slipways each) are now retooling for Admirals and Constellations.
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Our Power and Propulsion scientist has developed a new and powerful space-drive, which promises to boost the speed of our Missiles, Fighters and Warships once it's been translated into components.
Here is the Fire Control I'm planning to put in some of our Bombers:
It's rather bulky, which will somewhat penalize the Bomber's stacking (in a Hangar), radar cross section and speed. On the other hand, it can target incoming FACs at 60 million km and even incoming Fighters at 6 million km. And it can still be used to strike enemy warships. So it will turn a proportion of our bombers into strike fighters.
Here is the Fire Control I'm planning to put in some of our Bombers:
It's rather bulky, which will somewhat penalize the Bomber's stacking (in a Hangar), radar cross section and speed. On the other hand, it can target incoming FACs at 60 million km and even incoming Fighters at 6 million km. And it can still be used to strike enemy warships. So it will turn a proportion of our bombers into strike fighters.
You could probably get away with a ~40m km MFC on the bombers, which would let you cut the size to 0.5 HS (25 tons). The secret sauce for bombers is that they can use their small size to get closer than big ships without getting shot at, so you can economize a bit on things like missile/MFC range to take advantage.
You could also get some of that range back by cracking up the resolution to 20 or so, you'd lose some range against <1k ton FACs but usually you don't need to worry as much about engagement range against a FAC wing as much as against a proper battle fleet. You could even go higher than 20 if you were supremely confident in your math skills and intelligence agencies, but that sounds risky.
You could also get some of that range back by cracking up the resolution to 20 or so, you'd lose some range against <1k ton FACs but usually you don't need to worry as much about engagement range against a FAC wing as much as against a proper battle fleet. You could even go higher than 20 if you were supremely confident in your math skills and intelligence agencies, but that sounds risky.