Starfleet Design Bureau

ehh i figure this things is going to be a post war production run, the federation is not going to be under the cost/yardspace crunch it is now so thats not as much of a consideration so im willing to invest in capability.

that said im perfectly fine with the other option winning, the only 'wrong' answer to me is if both are picked.
 
I'm torn, I've redone my vote after being persuaded to go inline deflector.

The issue in my mind is, what are the odds we'll have enough yards to make this thing in quantity if we go max on volume, since we need our big yards churning out Excalibur-class battlecruisers? If we can still churn out max quantity even with better shielding and, ideally, a rapid-fire photorp launcher, will we still be able to achieve its primary objectives, bio-survey, and implied secondary objectives, general survey and also build them in smaller yards??

If we're going to go with higher cost, then ideally we want something that surpasses our mandate and replaces the Kea in primary and extended survey duties so it can focus on other science duties? That won't be cheap, but it would be very valuable, especially if we have decent firepower. Enough to supplex a D6 would be nice, and achievable.

I'm open to logical argument. Or bribes. But mostly logical arguments.
Even if we take both of the mass increasing options here, it still isn't going to be that massive a ship. Adding both of them to our 60,000 ton start, and we'll only be at 95,000 tons. Toss on, say, 10,000 tons for each individual nacelle because I doubt it will be more unless there's a really weird arrangement, and that only reaches 115,000 tons. That is still just over 60% of the Excalibur-class, so there should likely be quite a few yards in that middle zone where they are unable to build the latter, which we could send orders for the former too.

Add on that IIRC Sayle has already said something along the lines of these ships not being ready in time for the big war coming up. So we don't need to worry about them taking away Excalibur production during the most critical point, and after that's over and the Federation has rushed out a bunch mid-war there's likely going to be much less demand for building even more.
 
[X] Inline Deflector (Maximum Warp: -0.4)
[X] Standard Warp Core (Mass: +25,000 Tons) (Cost: +4)

I'd like the standard core, I don't mind which ever deflector style wins. Only a slight preference inline.
 
Unless the Nacelles only weigh 5kT, we're going to be over 90kT total. We're not getting maximum maneuverability with only one engine. And you're only saving 2 Cost, which is tiny.

Oh, good point, hmmm.

Typically nacelles haven't taken up weight when we've chosen them before; I assume in this case they're factored into the tonnage listed for the saucer to some degree. It also seems that the specific breakpoints putting us just over our tonnage max for a single thruster, which makes me think there's some intentionality here.

@Sayle, will the nacelles add extra weight, or is that factored in?
 
[X] Blister Deflector (Mass: +10,000 Tons) (Cost: +2)
[X] Standard Warp Core (Mass: +25,000 Tons) (Cost: +4)
 
The issue in my mind is, what are the odds we'll have enough yards to make this thing in quantity if we go max on volume, since we need our big yards churning out Excalibur-class battlecruisers?
Pretty high given that without the nacelles (which are produced separately anyways, iirc) this thing is only about half the mass of the Excalibur.

Also, this thing isn't going to be coming out the yards until the war is basically over unless it gets expedited.
 
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The blister deflector, combined with the engineering hull/regular warp core, is insurance for the future. Without them we're going to have less shields than the Newton, and that's something that for the mission - scraping around our ever expanding frontier, running into new and more powerful foes also seeking to expand - is unacceptable, in my opinion.
 
[X] Blister Deflector (Mass: +10,000 Tons) (Cost: +2)
[X] Standard Warp Core (Mass: +25,000 Tons) (Cost: +4)

their is a small part of me that kinda want to do the budget version but i dislike losing that much warp speed.
 
[X] Inline Deflector (Maximum Warp: -0.4)
While tempting, I don't think Max Sprint will be that important for a Biosphere survey ship. If there is an emergency, there will probably be better ships suited for the task.
[X] Standard Warp Core (Mass: +25,000 Tons) (Cost: +4)
On the other hand, Max Sprint and a shuttlebay and modules is more than worth the cost increase.
The kind of emergency Sprint (rather than the currently capped max cruise) helps with is mostly "a hostile ship/entity showed up right on top of you and you need to get away", or similar. That isn't something that can be dismissed on the basis of better ships for the job existing, only on the odds of it happening.
And by way of spending most of its time hanging around near the borders, this ship is actually more likely to have such issues than most that aren't actively Trying to have such encounters.
(Mind you,I voted for the same things you did).
 
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[X] Inline Deflector (Maximum Warp: -0.4)
[X] Low-Power Warp Core (Maximum Warp: -0.6)

Sprint speed is not particularly important for a science ship. Especially since this ship is of no relevance to the upcoming 4-year war.


[X] Blister Deflector (Mass: +10,000 Tons) (Cost: +2)
[X] Low-Power Warp Core (Maximum Warp: -0.6)
 
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[X] Blister Deflector (Mass: +10,000 Tons) (Cost: +2)
[X] Standard Warp Core (Mass: +25,000 Tons) (Cost: +4)
 
Sprint speed is not particularly important for a science ship.
Sprint is of great use to this ship, when hostile starships are encountered (and they will be, since we know the Tholians and Gorn are coming up) this ship is going to need the ability to run away.

For starship that's meant to cruise about the interior sprint might nit be important, but this isn't a shop that's going to cruise about the interior.
 
This thing isn't going to be fighting the Excalibur's for yardspace, this is almost certainly a post war design and the last tranche of Excaliburs were launched during the Klingon War.
Yeah it's unlikely to be done prior to the war finishing. You've already got two recent combat ships covering the heavy/medium masses and Starfleet doesn't expect to need more.
The outbreak of open war with the Klingon Empire in the spring of 2240 threw Starfleet on the back foot, and further orders of starships with secondary tactical roles were suspended. Instead in 2241 a further six Excalibur-class vessels were ordered and entered production, those being Dyrnwyn, Damocles, Dainsleif, Gram, Naegling, and Fragarach. The crash-builds saw the ships launch in late 2243 in time for the counteroffensive of early 2244.

After the war the surviving Excalibur-class ships faced an uncertain future. Lacking the facilities to participate in the rebuilding efforts they were assigned to suppressing the surge in piracy caused by the depletion of Starfleet's patrol roster and flying the flag near contested borders with the Tholian Assembly and Gorn Hegemony.
 
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[X] Inline Deflector (Maximum Warp: -0.4)
[X] Standard Warp Core (Mass: +25,000 Tons) (Cost: +4)
 
Adhoc vote count started by Derpmind on Nov 6, 2024 at 11:12 PM, finished with 178 posts and 88 votes.
 
[X] Blister Deflector (Mass: +10,000 Tons) (Cost: +2)
[X] Standard Warp Core (Mass: +25,000 Tons) (Cost: +4)
 
[X] Blister Deflector (Mass: +10,000 Tons) (Cost: +2)
[X] Standard Warp Core (Mass: +25,000 Tons) (Cost: +4)
 
[X] Inline Deflector (Maximum Warp: -0.4)
[X] Standard Warp Core (Mass: +25,000 Tons) (Cost: +4)

Edit: After some thought, I realize that I dont want the blister, its a science vessel behind boarders and maybe checking out new colony sites. I figure it doesnt need that extra speed.
 
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