- Location
- SEAsia
- Pronouns
- Thou
Star Wars: Galaxy in Flames - Arda Ship Design Bureau
First Project - Base Design
- Location
- Canada
- Pronouns
- He/Him
First Project - Base Design
-
Arda II, Arda System, Gordian Reach, Outer Rim
41:08 - Eighth month of the Year 41 after the Great ReSynchronization
Now that the decision has been made to upgrade an existing ship to make it buildable with presently available resources it is time to decide what ship to work on. Presently you have four ships to choose between. Three have been used by the Ekkaian in the past. Well understood designs that are certainly showing their age. Then there is the surprising discovery that the Council of Ainur has already purchased a design from a nearby world. It is only the size of a small corvette but it would be possible to expand it out to meet your design goals.
Jaa assures you that regardless of what ship you use as a base it will be possible to adjust the size if necessary. It will require careful work to make sure that no weaknesses are introduced but the task is well within his capabilities.
Option A: Light Frigate - Patrol Ship/Hybrid Carrier
This ship was heavily influenced by the Marauder-class corvette. It shares a similar mission profile on an entirely locally designed hull. Compared to the Marauder this ship is about 20m longer. The extra size allows for stronger shields and slightly better command and control systems. These ships were often sent out on independent patrols, where their squadron (2 flights) of fighters proved to be very useful.
The armament of this design is purely turbolaser based, identical to the Marauders that inspired it. Eight light turbolasers in double mounts on the fore, with a dorsal and ventral double mount for all around coverage. Their primary protection against hostile fighters comes from the squadron of fighters.
The half dozen that were in service gave a good account of themselves before being destroyed by the Stenax.
[Jaa: These ships are an affront to all sense of style. My predecessors simply modified the Marauder enough to prevent legal action and called it good enough. In so doing they destroyed what faint elegance could be found on the original and replaced it with slab sides and potential weakpoints. Infuriating!]
[Sola: The reactor they put into these ships was actually rather impressive for the time. It's over 20 years old now but still an acceptable design. We will probably be able to keep it unless we vastly increase the power draw.]
Option B: Light Frigate - Corvette Leader/Patrol Ship
This ship was the mainstay of the Ekkaian. Another small frigate, this ship was designed to give pirates a hard time and not require extensive amounts of maintenance. By modern standards they were a little under armed and their shields left something to be desired but they were well liked by their crews. Their command and control systems were good and they were often used to lead small squadrons of corvettes.
They carried six light turbolasers split between three turrets. One fore, and one each port and starboard. All three could focus fire on targets dead ahead, with the side turrets being able to engage most ships to the aft. They mounted a number of anti-fighter lasers to deal with smaller attackers. Nothing compared to a Lancer, but more than any corvette in service that your people are aware of.
One limiting factor is that it does not have the hangar space for any fighters. It would probably be possible to add them but that would require a significant amount of design work.
[Jaa: Now these ships have some semblance of grace. The architects had some small amount of vision, combining an understated elegant simplicity while maintaining a respectable amount of functionalism. I could do better, of course, but it will be far easier for me to start with this instead of that abomination of Option A.]
[Sola: Not much to say here. It's an old design but it still holds up. I'm worried about the shield generators' lack of strength but that's nothing that a better reactor can't solve.]
Option C: Light Frigate - Extended GR-75c
When you first received the technical details on the modifications of the GR-75 that Cimtar turned into an escort carrier as the GR-75c the reactions from Jaa Beruss and Sola Bibblie were quite negative. Then they got to the appendix that had the blueprints of what the Gallofree engineers had originally supplied and their tune changed. Whoever was leading the Cimtarn ship bureau had worked miracles working to fix the immense number of problems. This changed to admiration once they started noting the time stamps on the various revisions and realized that it was done over the course of a month. They still wouldn't want to be onboard one of those in a real battle, but they can respect the little tuber for what it is. A cheap and easy way to get a lot of fighters from point A to point B.
The ship would have been shelved for consideration in the future when Sola had an idea. The basic design is fairly modular. In theory you could expand the design to be more in line with a small frigate. This would give you a great deal of potential space to deal with the shortcomings of the design. Initial sketches indicate that even with a substantially reinforced hull you would be able to fit six squadrons (12 flights) onto the ship along with enough repair and maintenance facilities to make it a proper carrier. All while keeping it relatively inexpensive.
You are legally allowed to use these plans as a starting point, as long as you honor the reciprocal agreement with Cimtar. Because Cimtar has already solved the problems of imported components, that is one less headache. On the other hand expanding a ship is not as simple as adding more frames. So you are trading one set of problems for another.
[Jaa: An affront to good taste, yet I must pass my respects to this Dr. Prissidut. She was given an unenviable task and succeeded beyond all reasonable expectations. I consider it a worthy challenge to take up the gauntlet and see if I can exceed her admirable performance.]
[Sola: It's ugly and only one step up from being a death trap, but the potential I see is exciting. Getting the fighter complement of an Imperial-class on a small frigate? You can't tell me that isn't an intriguing possibility.]
Option D: Frigate - Light Carrier
The last option is to take Arda's old light carrier as a starting point for upgrades. The ship is larger than the others under consideration, more or less average sized for a frigate. The ship served as the main carrier for the Ekkaian for nineteen years, until the three ship class was wiped out by the Stenax surprise attack.
Foreign observers frequently refer to the ship as a budget Quasar Fire. They are slightly smaller and less robust and carry three quarters of the Quasar Fire's complement of fighters. The armament is roughly comparable, just enough to discourage a lone corvette from getting too bold.
The extended GR-75c would carry an estimated two wings to Option D's one. However the larger size gives you more room to upgrade the ship. This could be stronger shields, better weapons,
[Jaa: A serviceable design. I have little to say about it, beyond that it neither excites or enrages me.]
[Sola: These ships have a reputation for power problems. Maintenance on the reactors was a constant source of complaint. Attempts to modify the reactors never really solved the underlying problems. I suspect we would need to start from scratch if we want to avoid future headaches.]
You have still been stymied in your efforts to get a clear answer on what the Ekkaian is looking for. From some questions asked on public forums and of low ranking officers you suspect that any of the four designs will be acceptable.
No moratorium on votes. Light frigates are not commonly used. They are small enough that some of the limitations of corvettes are present without the size of a standard frigate to overcome them. They do not suffer to nearly the degree that light corvettes do and are still considered potentially useful ships. Basically every canon frigate I've done for the game has been a standard frigate, as I did not have a statline for the light frigate in the ruleset I use for the main game. It was easy enough to create the statline and to slot it in between when I had the need here. So Arquitens, Carracks, EF76 Nebulon-Bs, and Lancers are all in the middle category.
Jaa's team can take a light frigate and expand it to the size of a standard frigate. That will take time and effort but isn't an absurd task. Similarly you could expand Option D up to the size of a large frigate, bringing it inline with the Quasar Fire.
Upsizing a ship by more than one category is not normally possible. The GR-75c is an exception, due to the nature of the design.
None of these options are traps. They will all have challenges for you to face.
[] Option A: Light Frigate - Patrol Ship/Hybrid Carrier
[] Option B: Light Frigate - Corvette Leader/Patrol Ship
[] Option C: Light Frigate - Extended GR-75c
[] Option D: Frigate - Light Carrier
-
Arda II, Arda System, Gordian Reach, Outer Rim
41:08 - Eighth month of the Year 41 after the Great ReSynchronization
Now that the decision has been made to upgrade an existing ship to make it buildable with presently available resources it is time to decide what ship to work on. Presently you have four ships to choose between. Three have been used by the Ekkaian in the past. Well understood designs that are certainly showing their age. Then there is the surprising discovery that the Council of Ainur has already purchased a design from a nearby world. It is only the size of a small corvette but it would be possible to expand it out to meet your design goals.
Jaa assures you that regardless of what ship you use as a base it will be possible to adjust the size if necessary. It will require careful work to make sure that no weaknesses are introduced but the task is well within his capabilities.
Option A: Light Frigate - Patrol Ship/Hybrid Carrier
This ship was heavily influenced by the Marauder-class corvette. It shares a similar mission profile on an entirely locally designed hull. Compared to the Marauder this ship is about 20m longer. The extra size allows for stronger shields and slightly better command and control systems. These ships were often sent out on independent patrols, where their squadron (2 flights) of fighters proved to be very useful.
The armament of this design is purely turbolaser based, identical to the Marauders that inspired it. Eight light turbolasers in double mounts on the fore, with a dorsal and ventral double mount for all around coverage. Their primary protection against hostile fighters comes from the squadron of fighters.
The half dozen that were in service gave a good account of themselves before being destroyed by the Stenax.
[Jaa: These ships are an affront to all sense of style. My predecessors simply modified the Marauder enough to prevent legal action and called it good enough. In so doing they destroyed what faint elegance could be found on the original and replaced it with slab sides and potential weakpoints. Infuriating!]
[Sola: The reactor they put into these ships was actually rather impressive for the time. It's over 20 years old now but still an acceptable design. We will probably be able to keep it unless we vastly increase the power draw.]
Option B: Light Frigate - Corvette Leader/Patrol Ship
This ship was the mainstay of the Ekkaian. Another small frigate, this ship was designed to give pirates a hard time and not require extensive amounts of maintenance. By modern standards they were a little under armed and their shields left something to be desired but they were well liked by their crews. Their command and control systems were good and they were often used to lead small squadrons of corvettes.
They carried six light turbolasers split between three turrets. One fore, and one each port and starboard. All three could focus fire on targets dead ahead, with the side turrets being able to engage most ships to the aft. They mounted a number of anti-fighter lasers to deal with smaller attackers. Nothing compared to a Lancer, but more than any corvette in service that your people are aware of.
One limiting factor is that it does not have the hangar space for any fighters. It would probably be possible to add them but that would require a significant amount of design work.
[Jaa: Now these ships have some semblance of grace. The architects had some small amount of vision, combining an understated elegant simplicity while maintaining a respectable amount of functionalism. I could do better, of course, but it will be far easier for me to start with this instead of that abomination of Option A.]
[Sola: Not much to say here. It's an old design but it still holds up. I'm worried about the shield generators' lack of strength but that's nothing that a better reactor can't solve.]
Option C: Light Frigate - Extended GR-75c
When you first received the technical details on the modifications of the GR-75 that Cimtar turned into an escort carrier as the GR-75c the reactions from Jaa Beruss and Sola Bibblie were quite negative. Then they got to the appendix that had the blueprints of what the Gallofree engineers had originally supplied and their tune changed. Whoever was leading the Cimtarn ship bureau had worked miracles working to fix the immense number of problems. This changed to admiration once they started noting the time stamps on the various revisions and realized that it was done over the course of a month. They still wouldn't want to be onboard one of those in a real battle, but they can respect the little tuber for what it is. A cheap and easy way to get a lot of fighters from point A to point B.
The ship would have been shelved for consideration in the future when Sola had an idea. The basic design is fairly modular. In theory you could expand the design to be more in line with a small frigate. This would give you a great deal of potential space to deal with the shortcomings of the design. Initial sketches indicate that even with a substantially reinforced hull you would be able to fit six squadrons (12 flights) onto the ship along with enough repair and maintenance facilities to make it a proper carrier. All while keeping it relatively inexpensive.
You are legally allowed to use these plans as a starting point, as long as you honor the reciprocal agreement with Cimtar. Because Cimtar has already solved the problems of imported components, that is one less headache. On the other hand expanding a ship is not as simple as adding more frames. So you are trading one set of problems for another.
[Jaa: An affront to good taste, yet I must pass my respects to this Dr. Prissidut. She was given an unenviable task and succeeded beyond all reasonable expectations. I consider it a worthy challenge to take up the gauntlet and see if I can exceed her admirable performance.]
[Sola: It's ugly and only one step up from being a death trap, but the potential I see is exciting. Getting the fighter complement of an Imperial-class on a small frigate? You can't tell me that isn't an intriguing possibility.]
Option D: Frigate - Light Carrier
The last option is to take Arda's old light carrier as a starting point for upgrades. The ship is larger than the others under consideration, more or less average sized for a frigate. The ship served as the main carrier for the Ekkaian for nineteen years, until the three ship class was wiped out by the Stenax surprise attack.
Foreign observers frequently refer to the ship as a budget Quasar Fire. They are slightly smaller and less robust and carry three quarters of the Quasar Fire's complement of fighters. The armament is roughly comparable, just enough to discourage a lone corvette from getting too bold.
The extended GR-75c would carry an estimated two wings to Option D's one. However the larger size gives you more room to upgrade the ship. This could be stronger shields, better weapons,
[Jaa: A serviceable design. I have little to say about it, beyond that it neither excites or enrages me.]
[Sola: These ships have a reputation for power problems. Maintenance on the reactors was a constant source of complaint. Attempts to modify the reactors never really solved the underlying problems. I suspect we would need to start from scratch if we want to avoid future headaches.]
You have still been stymied in your efforts to get a clear answer on what the Ekkaian is looking for. From some questions asked on public forums and of low ranking officers you suspect that any of the four designs will be acceptable.
No moratorium on votes. Light frigates are not commonly used. They are small enough that some of the limitations of corvettes are present without the size of a standard frigate to overcome them. They do not suffer to nearly the degree that light corvettes do and are still considered potentially useful ships. Basically every canon frigate I've done for the game has been a standard frigate, as I did not have a statline for the light frigate in the ruleset I use for the main game. It was easy enough to create the statline and to slot it in between when I had the need here. So Arquitens, Carracks, EF76 Nebulon-Bs, and Lancers are all in the middle category.
Jaa's team can take a light frigate and expand it to the size of a standard frigate. That will take time and effort but isn't an absurd task. Similarly you could expand Option D up to the size of a large frigate, bringing it inline with the Quasar Fire.
Upsizing a ship by more than one category is not normally possible. The GR-75c is an exception, due to the nature of the design.
None of these options are traps. They will all have challenges for you to face.
[] Option A: Light Frigate - Patrol Ship/Hybrid Carrier
[] Option B: Light Frigate - Corvette Leader/Patrol Ship
[] Option C: Light Frigate - Extended GR-75c
[] Option D: Frigate - Light Carrier
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Option D: Frigate - Light Carrier
[X] Option A: Light Frigate - Patrol Ship/Hybrid Carrier
I guess I'm wondering how much structural refinement/improvement could happen during the resize. If just scaling it up and intelligent bracing will eat all the time then I don't want to risk option A. If some refinement could be done then in my mind A, C, and D are all in the running.
The biggest weakness of C is it isn't build with military grade sturdiness so taking a crack at an upsized version is attractive. If we went with D, I'd hope we could make things better so we could cram in more fighters (though not as many as the GR75 upsized)
The biggest weakness of C is it isn't build with military grade sturdiness so taking a crack at an upsized version is attractive. If we went with D, I'd hope we could make things better so we could cram in more fighters (though not as many as the GR75 upsized)
- Location
- his hidden lair
[X] Option D: Frigate - Light Carrier
Im skeptical that the GR75c overhaul can fully escape the fundamental weak points of the GR75c, and while it's an impressive flat top, it's still likely to be incredibly fragile.
We need more carrier capacity in the Reach, this should be apparent even to Arda given Cimtar's viper obsession. But what we really need a carrier capable of surviving the rigors of larger scale combat. A light carrier that can carry a wing into combat while being able to survive under fire is ideal in that context.
Im skeptical that the GR75c overhaul can fully escape the fundamental weak points of the GR75c, and while it's an impressive flat top, it's still likely to be incredibly fragile.
We need more carrier capacity in the Reach, this should be apparent even to Arda given Cimtar's viper obsession. But what we really need a carrier capable of surviving the rigors of larger scale combat. A light carrier that can carry a wing into combat while being able to survive under fire is ideal in that context.
[X] Option C: Light Frigate - Extended GR-75c
Jaa is amazing and I couldn't deny him a gauntlet.
Also like the notion of making big carrier, then following up with new frigate for shooty shooty times if the Ekkaian is down.
Jaa is amazing and I couldn't deny him a gauntlet.
Also like the notion of making big carrier, then following up with new frigate for shooty shooty times if the Ekkaian is down.
So kind of like the venator but not being shoved into a bunch of roles it wasn't actually designed for?
Honestly the venator feels like it was made under the mindset of a peace time navy's choice in ships. During peace bean counters will push for a smaller number of generalist platforms.
Last edited:
Barondoctor
The things I chase come to me.
- Location
- The other side of the mirror
- Pronouns
- He/His/Him
[X] Option B: Light Frigate - Corvette Leader/Patrol Ship
If we're gonna be the eastern axis of the Reach, we need to make ourselves leadership-y material. I realize that's basically flying in the face of all the carrier capacity stuff going on, but a suitable generalist platform that tries to do most everything seems like a good way to learn everything.
If we're gonna be the eastern axis of the Reach, we need to make ourselves leadership-y material. I realize that's basically flying in the face of all the carrier capacity stuff going on, but a suitable generalist platform that tries to do most everything seems like a good way to learn everything.
Last edited:
- Location
- Canada
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Missing the [] and X
joe6168
Just a humble lurker
- Location
- Michigan, The lower left glove
[x] Option B: Light Frigate - Corvette Leader/Patrol Ship
[x] Option D: Frigate - Light Carrier
Either is fine, the pact has a desperate need for both roles it's just a matter of which to do first.
I imagine Arda and Cimtar having a bit of a lighthearted rivalry in the future trying to one up eachother as the top ship builders of the reach. Arda used to hold the spot and still has a lead in technical knowledge but needs to rebuild, meanwhile Cimtar is learning fast and building up infrastructure at a break-neck pace.
[x] Option D: Frigate - Light Carrier
Either is fine, the pact has a desperate need for both roles it's just a matter of which to do first.
I imagine Arda and Cimtar having a bit of a lighthearted rivalry in the future trying to one up eachother as the top ship builders of the reach. Arda used to hold the spot and still has a lead in technical knowledge but needs to rebuild, meanwhile Cimtar is learning fast and building up infrastructure at a break-neck pace.
Last edited:
Silencian
Seeker of Stories
- Location
- Where Stories Are Told
- Pronouns
- He/Him
[X] Option B: Light Frigate - Corvette Leader/Patrol Ship
This sounds good as it has been noted a good command and control squadron lead ship is invaluable and in short supply.
One of our issues as Cimtar is that the only proper C&C ships of the alliance are closely kept by our allies, with the understanding they'd only send them out for major joint problems.
Being a producer of a good C&C frigate that can hold its own while leading a squadron of corvettes would be a great start.
This sounds good as it has been noted a good command and control squadron lead ship is invaluable and in short supply.
One of our issues as Cimtar is that the only proper C&C ships of the alliance are closely kept by our allies, with the understanding they'd only send them out for major joint problems.
Being a producer of a good C&C frigate that can hold its own while leading a squadron of corvettes would be a great start.
[X] Option A: Light Frigate - Patrol Ship/Hybrid Carrier
We're still a bit weak on weapons but we're all-stars at structure, I don't think they'll outdo Ira right off the bat so let's see if Jaa can inject some elegance. Without more skill with weapons I feel like the ceiling on B is low. I also want to design an all-star when we do a full up carrier (even if it's a long shot).
We're still a bit weak on weapons but we're all-stars at structure, I don't think they'll outdo Ira right off the bat so let's see if Jaa can inject some elegance. Without more skill with weapons I feel like the ceiling on B is low. I also want to design an all-star when we do a full up carrier (even if it's a long shot).
- Location
- Earth
[X] Option D: Frigate - Light Carrier
TheOmnimercurial
Dragon Bard
- Location
- UK
[X] Option C: Light Frigate - Extended GR-75c
Hammerheadcruiser
Eagle-1 my beloved
- Location
- Anaxes
[X] Option D: Frigate - Light Carrier
I'd prefer a tough carrier that can bring a squadron to a fragile one that can bring many.
I'd prefer a tough carrier that can bring a squadron to a fragile one that can bring many.
- Location
- United States
[X] Option B: Light Frigate - Corvette Leader/Patrol Ship
[X] Option B: Light Frigate - Corvette Leader/Patrol Ship
- Location
- Canada
- Pronouns
- He/Him
This is the largest turnout I've had so far. I'm glad the people are enjoying it, and that I managed to make all four options attractive.
Once this vote concludes I will resolve the dice rolls to evaluate everything that needs to be changed. Then you will have a number of sub-projects to choose from.
For example you might have the choice of leaving the reactor the same, doing some modifications to it to get better stats, replacing the reactor with another off the shelf option, or having your team to design an entirely new reactor from scratch.
You're going to have to worry about keeping track of a few resources. I am still working on the details. As an example: For the ship itself there are internal and external slots, power generation, and crew requirements. External slots are where you are able to put weapons, sensors, and sub light drives. Internal slots are for everything else.
I will have spreadsheets to provide the thread when the time comes. I find them useful for checking my own work and so tend to share them with the players.
