Happerry
Bat out of Hell
- Location
- Kanto
...I am honestly not sure what you are asking here.
Blood, Sweat, and Tears (WH40k Design Bureau)
- Thread starter DaLintyGuy
- Start date
- Sci-Fi
Sir_Travelsalot
Never wakes up tired.
- Location
- At Home
I think Rockeye's asking about a threadmark with all the so far unused Design Phase options. There isn't one currently, but I can see the utility.
Happerry
Bat out of Hell
- Location
- Kanto
What about the Current Technology info-thread mark? And Da Pile uv Gubbinz info-mark?
jwolfe_beta
Semi Genre-Savvy Overlord
- Location
- Canada
We don't really choose design tasks like in a ck2 quest etc. We vote on various research ideas made up in the design phase and the QM rolls (I assume d10) to see if we figure it out and how well we do. And we get various modifiers based on if it's based on technology we know, if we're reverse engineering stuff we have examples for, if it's something our world has never even attempted etc.
For instance in the first turn we were designing a dedicated military corvette hull:
On the roll we had a -1 from 'Unfamiliarity with the field' due to our world only ever really producing merchant freighter hulls beforehand.
In comparison when we set about turning the Arvus Lighter into an adhoc strike craft we got a +2 due to 'it has been done before'.
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Sir_Travelsalot
Never wakes up tired.
- Location
- At Home
This quest uses the system from Interstellar Arms Race, which uses 2d6 and modifiers.
2d6, actually, for the increased clustering to "average" results.
jwolfe_beta
Semi Genre-Savvy Overlord
- Location
- Canada
Ah. Never followed that quest or similar ones.
On another matter @DaLintyGuy which would be the biggest challenge for our developers to create our own lances; the focusing equipment etc or the energy storage/transmission? Because I have a couple of ideas.
Artemis: "We do not know why the machine spirits are appeased when these segments of pre-DAoT audio are played. But we will continue to do so to maintain the 1.42% efficiency increase they convey."
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This is a Populist game rather than Elitist. What the players will, I do. And as I have previously said, I will take "that but better" suggestions if you don't know enough of the lore to come up with fluff so as to reduce the bar for entry for new players.
Although, I may have to make a post describing what all the various options do when I am "simulating" a fight, so everyone knows what the benefit of Armor over Shields are in what circumstances.
Both, although more the former as the latter can simply be added in greater quantities to overcome quality issues.
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jwolfe_beta
Semi Genre-Savvy Overlord
- Location
- Canada
So for instance depending on how well we manage to copy the tech, our lances might end up needing a weapon and utility slot on escorts (cruisers etc would have more space to work with). One for the weapon and the second for the larger then normal capacitor banks.
Typically it would be a price increase, but that is possible. Or another Weapon slot to show the increased power draw needed.
jwolfe_beta
Semi Genre-Savvy Overlord
- Location
- Canada
Possible but certainly not going to be easy tasks. Overall we're a couple of steps below Imperial Navy technology and don't have access to a Forgeworld. Ergo the more exotic technologies like Gellar feilds and Warp drives can be made (to merchant fleet grade standards) but I doubt we have much in the way of experts in the fields.
- Location
- England
I'll note that Imperial terminal guidance actually works perfectly fine. If they lacked any kind of fairly extensive guidance systems they'd have a hit rate approaching 0% considering the ranges and speeds that 40k naval combat takes place at.
It's when you try to move the guidance beyond the last several thousand kilometres that any trouble seeps into the systems.
jwolfe_beta
Semi Genre-Savvy Overlord
- Location
- Canada
Based on the BG rules (where the line is pulled from) they sill whiff a good amount of the time:
So they work best against things that can't dodge or at point-blank range assuming you get the lead time right etc.
So I doubt we'd be able to convince them to launch, turn 90 degrees and go in a specified direction. QM would probably have to rol on a chart to see if each torpedo didn't turn at all, turned too little/too much, flipped around and smashes right back into us or actually manages to go in the right direction (with further rolling to see if they actually hit).
- Location
- England
Yeah because hitting things at that speed is hard, but the rest of the quote backs up my point of good terminal guidance.
Unless "often" means "99%" of the time in which case we have been spectacularly lucky with our own torpedoes.
Clad in Faith, Armed in Fury (Set Turn Three, Ungaunt Scouting)
adwarf
Possibly Terrible Writer
- Location
- Trapped with a Keyboard
Clad in Faith, Armed in Fury - The Last Star Knight
They were the Legion of the Sun. Their armor was their faith, the hand of the God Emperor descending from on high to bless them in their actions. Their weapons are the fury of the Emperor himself, a decree from a distant world that sounded the death of His foes. Once they had fought His Foes with sword and lance, bow and arrow, sword and shield. Row upon row of shining lance head had sparkled beneath the light of the sun accompanied by the tidal wave of stampeding Raks and the cry of the valiant warriors upon their backs,
"By the Will of the Stars!"
Their motto. Their prayer to the God-Emperor of Mankind, God of the Stars themselves from which Angels once descended bearing His word, and their undying promise to the Order of the Sun that had long been extinguished by the hand of Traitors, Orks, and the hellish anger of the Hashim. Once the mass of a cavalry charge had been enough to cripple their foes, but they grew ever better equipped as time passed until the world began to burn with the flames of an all encompassing war. People were dying and reaching out for salvation, lance and sword were no longer a weapon that could truly put the enemy to their deaths.
As one the Legion turned their eyes to the Star Knight, the woman who had cast away her name to take up the Order's sacred position of High Commander and taken up the age old title that had been granted to the founder of their Order after his return from the stars. She had washed her own name away beneath the waters of the Solar Falls in the Temple of Stars, she had taken up the Lance of Heaven which their founder had brought with him from the stars, she had thrown aside her entire life to become the Star Knight, and so... What was throwing aside their history for those they sought to defend?
At her words the Legion had taken up the arms of fallen comrades, weapons that fired lances of light to lay low the enemy and mighty contraptions that poured rounds of metal into the air at speeds far beyond any arrow. Bows were thrown aside, swords were kept merely as a last resort, and spears were used in improvised barriers as the Legion as it once was faded into the faintest glimmer of past legends. Among them only the Star Knight and her Warriors of Dawn clung to the old ways, old plate armor cast aside for new armor crafted from destroyed Hashim ships and lances crafted the sturdiest metals upon the world, an echo of times long gone.
Where once the Legion stepped out upon the plains of Ungaunt to deal death they now clustered behind high walls and rained His Fury in a new form, all the while the metal clad heart of their Order charged from quickly shut gates surrounded by thousands of warriors. Lances plunged into enemy assaults as a storm of lasers and a rain of lead fell all around, hundreds died in moments upon every battle and yet the Star Knight stepped forth from every battle with her life intact.
Wounds collected upon her form as numerous as the Warriors of Dawn that fell at her side, their bodies burned upon great pyres as old hymns of their Order called out to guide them to the Emperor's side, and she stood amidst it all in silence. It was only upon the next battle that her respect could be seen, the names of those who died beside her growing to cover massive portions of the pitch black armor she donned. Some battles were victories, some were failures. Cities fell with ease beneath the green balls of flame and damnation the Devils known as the Hashim brought to bear, even their armies would descend to the lands to bring their Devil Fire to bear.
And still the Star Knight would charge forth to clash with them, her black armored figure ever visible holding a golden lance aloft that cut through man and machine alike with an eerie ease. She did not know how many she killed. Perhaps it was tens. Perhaps it was thousands. She did not care. Again and again the Legion would adapt, fighting a war of constant delays as the guided refugees in their seemingly endless escape where ever more weapons of Man would find their way to their hands. Under her order even the Devil Fire weapons of the Hashim were claimed, a scant few usable by human hands and yet all the more terrifying for it as these Vengeful stalked the battlefields to return the damnation their enemy sought to deliver.
By the time the forces of Calavar arrived in the system the Legion safeguarded a mere dozen cities. Less than half still stood ready for combat among the common soldiery, and among the Warriors of Dawn only two hundred still lived to ride forth into battle beside their quiet leader. As the Galavar forces punched a hole in the Hashim blockade the Legion led all the refugees they could muster in a desperate flight, a small number among their order remaining behind to fight a last brutal resistance to by those fleeing time to escape to the stars.
Upon the starships of their saviors the Legion was met with suspicion for their possession of alien tech, and the men they called Armsmen looked upon the constantly armored figure of the Star Knight with a mix of fear and mockery. She didn't care, they were the last of a now dead Order. The Old Ways were shattered by her own hand, and the glorious legacy of the Warriors of Dawn was approaching it's final tomb.
She had saved hundreds of thousands. She had shielded the God of the Stars realm for as long as she could and sacrificed her own Order to carry out his will. None of the disparaging remarks thrown towards her and not a one of the fearful glances at the names scrawled upon her armor were a weight comparable to the fate she carried upon her shoulders.
She was the last Star Knight, the Order of the Sun was dying, and Ungaunt lay awash in a tide of Devils from the void. She would see them dead some day. She would ride at the tip of the spear thrust against them when the time comes. She would not die a single day before the worlds of the Hashim burned. With her the Order of Sun would die.
"May the Ashen Legion rise from the remains."
She muttered to herself, a hand upon the lance that she carried even now. Golden scripture and a picture of one of the Emperor's Angels speaking of an ancient legend where the lone Angelic Knight had slain a mighty beast in a titanic battle fueled by righteous anger at the Knight's home being extinguished by the beast.
A story idea I had when I saw @DaLintyGuy gave a feudal army from the Ungaunt action. Hope anyone who reads it enjoys.
I like it. Lore accepted.
In other news the vote is now closed. The War of Hangars wins, as expected. Update and addition to the Mechanics post will come Soon(TM).
Turn Four Design Results, Construction Phase Begins
Plan The War of Hangars
Result of 5-1 (number of modules)=4
It is easy, when looking at history, to forget the sheer scale of even a small interstellar warship. The humble Escort, who die in job lots in any major campaign or naval battle, are each multi-megaton behemoths of industry that take years of work in specialized shipyards to construct and represent a tremendous outlay in resources for whoever built them.
The Adepts of Calavar know this intimately.
The design specifics given to them for the "War Hawk" Heavy Frigate indicates that the Admiralty doesn't always evade this trap. It called for additional weapon and defense capability while not sacrificing space available for secondary functions such as cargo or auxiliary sensors. Even with the benefit of not working within the constraints of modifying an existing hull this was no small order as all of these systems would have to work with each other to avoid straining the infrastructure of the ship. Worse, this was a larger vessel than the Sabre model hull, and so there were far more variables to account for.
The resulting hull was a mess of compromises. Utility space and budget was decreased in favor of keeping the weaponry up to specifications as much as possible, while the enginarium was decreased in priority with the understanding that this was meant to be an assault hull rather than a patrol or skirmish vessel.
[War Hawk-class Heavy Frigate: With the success of the Resolutes their limitations became known, and so a heavier warship was developed to increase durability and capability for open fleet battles. This early pattern was not favored by it's commanders and crew due to limited power shared between systems and an inefficient internal layout. (3W,2D,1E(-.5A,M),1U. 9M)]
Result of 4-2 (new field)+1 (bonus)=3
The term "Lance" is a catch-all phrase used to describe long range and high precision weaponry. Typically energy based, such as the typical laser found on nearly every Imperial Navy hull that carries them, these weapons give their captains the range needed to reach out and touch something and the punch to burn through armored hulls.
Instead of following this path, the Adepts of Calavar fumbled into new territory at the direction of the Admiralty and their own hubris as they reveled in their freedom. Rather than study the solid state conversion technology of the Imperial Navy they instead sought to recreate profoundly old technology: the circular accelerator. Consisting of a magnetized ring, a measure of gas would be added into the interior and quickly accelerated. When centrifugal force became too much the containment of a specific section of the ring would fail and the "plug" of ions would be sent down a linear accelerator that gave the loosely packed projectile a final boost towards the target.
Unfortunately, the level of damage caused by the Thunderclap was not up to standards even after a brainstorming session came up with an unconventional yet more effective manner to accelerate the ionic charge by using timed discharges rather than a steady acceleration using the structure of the ring as an ionic railgun. Without a way to keep the ions packed together the beam lacked the cohesion to penetrate even bare hull past ranges considered average by Calavan warship captains. Even so there were some tangible results. When the stream impacted a bare hull there was a level of energy transfer that resulted in an electric charge building on the target. In the current amounts it amounted to very little as the charge evened out across the hull, but if the rate of energy transfer could be increased…
Alternatively, there is the option to use the "probably Human" plasma weapons in order to fix one or more problems with the current iteration of Thunderclap or to convert it into a more direct form of damage by using the thermal plasma of the Hashim weapons.
[Thunderclap Lance: The first step taken towards Lance weaponry by the Crusade. Development was plagued by a lack of damage and the overall consensus was that this was merely a step on the road to greater things. (Lance 2 (Very Short Range)-1 (Short Range). 4M,1A)]
[Opens research into primitive Disruptor weapons and thermal lances.]
[+1 to next Lance design]
Result of 7+2 (bonus)=9
The other of the projects developed with lessons from combat in mind, the Spatha model hull was a Sabre hull that was more focused on it's dominant job of being a warship. The project was in response to the revelation that the Haptrix shields were not as good as were first expected and could not be solely relied on to safeguard a ship. A layer of armor was needed, and so the task was concepted, written out, and handed down.
With the rework of modules and increased focus on defense the keel of the ship was rebuilt in order to allow for more energetic engines. Something that went perhaps too far, as the stern of the ship was slightly expanded to provide increased performance from whatever drive system was installed.
[Spatha-class Hull: A variant developed from the Sabre hull once the amount of combat the Crusade forces were going to see became known, reinforcing the keel and allocating more space and power for defensive modules. (2W,2D,1E(+.5A),1U)(5M)]
[Can not be converted from a Sabre Hull]
Result of 9-1 (complexity)=8
The first deployment of military strike craft, by Calavar forces, had been a decisive factor in the victory that ensued after they had crippled the flagship of the Ork Warboss Jawbreaka. As such the Admiralty wanted a method to deploy them on military hulls. Either for patrol duties, the effectiveness of such a plan having been demonstrated by the Lexicalum pilots, or as skirmishers in fleet battles to launch precision strikes and take the hits that would be sent in return.
When looking at the effectiveness of strike craft in combat it was found that a large portion of their ability hinged on two factors: range and speed. Range, to attack targets and then return. Speed, to get under the enemy PD in as short a time as possible and to save fuel for combat maneuvers rather than burning toward the enemy. Both were interconnected, and both could benefit from a carrier bay specifically built to provide such a service.
The "Cove" pattern hangar was designed using elements of the Duet pattern Torpedo launcher, specifically the launch rails. Strike craft would be launched from the carrier like ordnance, preferably directly towards the enemy, and could then either coast or accelerate further. Returning was done through a retractactable hangar door at the rear of the module. Strike craft would then settle onto mobile pads that would bear them past armored refueling and ordnance stations to then be locked back into the launch tubes to be fired at the enemy once more.
[Cove-pattern Hanger: A military style hangar capable of being mounted onto proper warships and defense platforms, the Cove uses a "recirculation" style of management for it's complement that moves them and not the volatiles for a safer, smaller hangar. (4M)]
Result of 7-2 (sheer scale)+1 (bonus)=6
The drydock in Calavar had been operating at over it's maximum capacity for years now. Massive manufactorums were attached to it's sides like tumorous growths to produce the equipment that had been designed after the Crusade had begun. Workers toiled as great barges shoveled their contents into the plasma forges to futilely try to sate their bottomless hunger even as manufactured components were brought from other systems in Calavar's slowly growing sphere of influence.
Input/output flows were tracked. Trends were extrapolated. The conclusion was reached: the Calavar drydock was overstretched.
Engineers and Adepts flooded onto the dockyard at the direction of the Admiralty, rubbing shoulders with the existing workers as they studied everything possible. From the structure of the platform, to the manufacturing equipment, to the ship wombs, to the work flows that connect them all. Information gathered was dissected and recombined. Efficiency was judged against production loss and cost.
The manufactorums added to the structure for the Crusade would be removed, reoriented, and placed down along a manufacturing plate built over the top of the slips where the ships would be laid down and produced to provide cover for the works and hull under construction and minimize transportation concerns. New, somewhat modular slips would be laid down on a new section of the dockyard plate that with minor movements of material could hold a light cruiser scale vessel.
Of course, investment would be needed. To build new manufactorums to provide for the new slips and to rearrange the structure of the station.
[Industrial Platform available to upgrade the current dockyard into. Highly vulnerable, highly valuable. Dependent on external resources to stay productive. 300 Manufacturing to produce, every 20% completion provides an additional 30 Manufacturing. Increase build limit from 40 to 60 when completed.]
-[X] (Study the Cobra wreck, and commit to building 2 Castigation-class Torpedo Corvettes for +1 Design Action)
The wreck of the Cobra Destroyer retrieved from Jawbreaka during the initial League intervention was solemnly towed back into the Calavar system. The Admiralty had ruled that the expense to repair it was not worth the results, not after the Orks had had their way with the once proud hull, and it was to be disassembled for study. Concerns over what the Imperial Navy would think of such an action was met with shrugs as the Navy was not here. Once it was, things could be talked over and damages paid so as to allow everyone to save face.
Tugs, made small by the enormity of their target, carefully pulled stretches of armor off of the wreck for Adepts to study in a bid to recreate their holy construction. Great structural members followed, like ribs from a carcass. Work teams carefully traced data conduits and the cogitators found were sifted for useful data.
The Cobra had not had a name in the official logs, only being referred to as L-14, but the crew had had their own names for their once proud ship: Harvest Day. A strange choice but Human cultures were exceedingly varied even when their worlds were effectively adjacent and so the Calavan Adepts would respect their decision.
Ork additions were pulled off and cast into the forges for recycling- in most cases. Several pieces of weapon batteries were determined to have the potential for future use and were set aside. Orkoid corpses missed by the initial decontamination were distastefully incinerated and dumped into space.
The process would take years, it was judged. Yet there was something poetic about it, as the Harvest watched over the next generation of Humanity's defenders taking shape even as she was slowly scrapped so her construction could inspire the ships that came after.
Two of those new warships were from an atypical source. Refugees had been trickling into Calavar over the years and with them had come their wealth. Most had had little but many were of the elite of their worlds and had bargained their way aboard passing merchant vessels in the hope of fleeing the Subsector. Yet here was a bastion of resistance, and some had chosen to stay. Some of them had chosen to help however they could.
Organized by a group of Calavan oligarchs who had found faith after the Shrine World had been recontacted the Light of Faith and Light of Dawn were taking shape in the Calavan drydock. Such a selfless action had garnered attention on Calavar and there was a growing movement and organization of those with Ecclesiarchal leanings. For, after all, was this not a war of faith?
=====
Lord Admiral: Events continue to move on. As you missed the last strategy meeting while you were coordinating with the Adepts about studying the drydock, the former League worlds continue to form a potential hotspot as our troops continue culling Orks from the world we defeated Jawbreaka over. A task that is proving difficult due to the numbers of Orks present and the fact that Jawbreaka was not killed. The bright spot is that he has not taken command over the masses of greenskins present in that system, yet, but at the same time the Warboss is likely licking his wounds in his territory and preparing his next move. We will need forces to counter this threat.
Bailafax as well presents a weak point with our Traitorous neighbors. As both the inhabitants and High Command are pressing for fixed defenses and a permanent garrison of mobile forces against future attacks, consider that one of our priorities. A Trench platform and a terrestrial battery at the minimum even and especially should we press attacks in that direction.
Another thing we should prepare to pursue is a formal military mission to Bagalog to speak with their leader and get a better understanding of their position, both physically and politically. The opportunity to liaise with an Explorator is not one we can lightly give up. Doubly so if there is something nefarious going on outside of our vision...
All of these will take ships, and the military mission would be inadvisable to send a Patrol Squadron. Military vessels are mandatory for something like that, yet the First Squadron is currently our lone possibility. This needs to be changed.
[There is a budget of 155 Manufacturing Capacity (160 from Calavar+60 from her neighbors that have bent the knee+5 from the rebuilding worlds near renamed Bailafax-70 from mandatory ship construction) to be spent and 10 Artisanal Workmanship available.]
[There is an outstanding total of 49M in ship repairs and 9M in ordnance costs.]
[Bulk Hauler frame available]
War Hawk-class Frigate Hull: As the Crusade grinds ever forward, a more advanced breed of warship is called for to bring death to the enemies of Humanity. Using lessons gleaned from the Sabre-class hull as well as examining the wreck of the looted Cobra Destroyer, a hull pattern deemed suitable for frigates has been devised. It shall have 3 Weapon, 2 Defense, 1 Engine and 2 Utility modules.
Result of 5-1 (number of modules)=4
It is easy, when looking at history, to forget the sheer scale of even a small interstellar warship. The humble Escort, who die in job lots in any major campaign or naval battle, are each multi-megaton behemoths of industry that take years of work in specialized shipyards to construct and represent a tremendous outlay in resources for whoever built them.
The Adepts of Calavar know this intimately.
The design specifics given to them for the "War Hawk" Heavy Frigate indicates that the Admiralty doesn't always evade this trap. It called for additional weapon and defense capability while not sacrificing space available for secondary functions such as cargo or auxiliary sensors. Even with the benefit of not working within the constraints of modifying an existing hull this was no small order as all of these systems would have to work with each other to avoid straining the infrastructure of the ship. Worse, this was a larger vessel than the Sabre model hull, and so there were far more variables to account for.
The resulting hull was a mess of compromises. Utility space and budget was decreased in favor of keeping the weaponry up to specifications as much as possible, while the enginarium was decreased in priority with the understanding that this was meant to be an assault hull rather than a patrol or skirmish vessel.
[War Hawk-class Heavy Frigate: With the success of the Resolutes their limitations became known, and so a heavier warship was developed to increase durability and capability for open fleet battles. This early pattern was not favored by it's commanders and crew due to limited power shared between systems and an inefficient internal layout. (3W,2D,1E(-.5A,M),1U. 9M)]
'Thunderclap' Pattern Ionic Particle Lance: With data from sensory intake about both Orkish 'Zap' Weapons and the recently witnessed deployment of a proper lance weapon by Bagalog loyal forces available as a guide, preliminary plans for a high impact particle projection/accelerator array with a scale usable in naval combat have now been drawn up. Utilizing magnetic containment and acceleration upon the ionized particles for both guidance and velocity, the 'Thunderclap' Pattern lance weapon should, if the projections prove correct, provide valuable and high intensity long ranged firepower projection.
Result of 4-2 (new field)+1 (bonus)=3
The term "Lance" is a catch-all phrase used to describe long range and high precision weaponry. Typically energy based, such as the typical laser found on nearly every Imperial Navy hull that carries them, these weapons give their captains the range needed to reach out and touch something and the punch to burn through armored hulls.
Instead of following this path, the Adepts of Calavar fumbled into new territory at the direction of the Admiralty and their own hubris as they reveled in their freedom. Rather than study the solid state conversion technology of the Imperial Navy they instead sought to recreate profoundly old technology: the circular accelerator. Consisting of a magnetized ring, a measure of gas would be added into the interior and quickly accelerated. When centrifugal force became too much the containment of a specific section of the ring would fail and the "plug" of ions would be sent down a linear accelerator that gave the loosely packed projectile a final boost towards the target.
Unfortunately, the level of damage caused by the Thunderclap was not up to standards even after a brainstorming session came up with an unconventional yet more effective manner to accelerate the ionic charge by using timed discharges rather than a steady acceleration using the structure of the ring as an ionic railgun. Without a way to keep the ions packed together the beam lacked the cohesion to penetrate even bare hull past ranges considered average by Calavan warship captains. Even so there were some tangible results. When the stream impacted a bare hull there was a level of energy transfer that resulted in an electric charge building on the target. In the current amounts it amounted to very little as the charge evened out across the hull, but if the rate of energy transfer could be increased…
Alternatively, there is the option to use the "probably Human" plasma weapons in order to fix one or more problems with the current iteration of Thunderclap or to convert it into a more direct form of damage by using the thermal plasma of the Hashim weapons.
[Thunderclap Lance: The first step taken towards Lance weaponry by the Crusade. Development was plagued by a lack of damage and the overall consensus was that this was merely a step on the road to greater things. (Lance 2 (Very Short Range)-1 (Short Range). 4M,1A)]
[Opens research into primitive Disruptor weapons and thermal lances.]
[+1 to next Lance design]
Sabre Reinforcement: With lessons learned from the battles and toil of the crusade, certain figures have decided that versatility is less important then defense. As such, a redesign of the Sabre Hull is undertaken, sacrificing component space for utility purposes in return for superior ability to mount defensive gear, as well as a reinforcement of the spine to enable it to reach speeds it can not currently reach without being broken into multiple pieces.
(Sacrifice 1 Utility Slot for +1 Defense slot and the removal of the maximum acceleration limitation)
(Sacrifice 1 Utility Slot for +1 Defense slot and the removal of the maximum acceleration limitation)
Result of 7+2 (bonus)=9
The other of the projects developed with lessons from combat in mind, the Spatha model hull was a Sabre hull that was more focused on it's dominant job of being a warship. The project was in response to the revelation that the Haptrix shields were not as good as were first expected and could not be solely relied on to safeguard a ship. A layer of armor was needed, and so the task was concepted, written out, and handed down.
With the rework of modules and increased focus on defense the keel of the ship was rebuilt in order to allow for more energetic engines. Something that went perhaps too far, as the stern of the ship was slightly expanded to provide increased performance from whatever drive system was installed.
[Spatha-class Hull: A variant developed from the Sabre hull once the amount of combat the Crusade forces were going to see became known, reinforcing the keel and allocating more space and power for defensive modules. (2W,2D,1E(+.5A),1U)(5M)]
[Can not be converted from a Sabre Hull]
'Cove' Pattern Military Hanger: Taking into account data of more then a decade of use from converted cargo hangers, home grown craft, and the deployment of proper strikecraft sourced from Station Lexicalum, designers have now been able to calculate the needed space and infrastructural capacity needed for proper military hangers. Plans for the 'Cove' Pattern hanger call for reinforcement both mundane armor and emergency power field projectors in case of emergencies and to allow ready and yet safe access to munitions and fuel for the craft deployed out of the hanger's electromagnetically assisted launch tubes, which also prevent the enemy from finding the bays an easily accessible weak point in the equipped ship.
Result of 9-1 (complexity)=8
The first deployment of military strike craft, by Calavar forces, had been a decisive factor in the victory that ensued after they had crippled the flagship of the Ork Warboss Jawbreaka. As such the Admiralty wanted a method to deploy them on military hulls. Either for patrol duties, the effectiveness of such a plan having been demonstrated by the Lexicalum pilots, or as skirmishers in fleet battles to launch precision strikes and take the hits that would be sent in return.
When looking at the effectiveness of strike craft in combat it was found that a large portion of their ability hinged on two factors: range and speed. Range, to attack targets and then return. Speed, to get under the enemy PD in as short a time as possible and to save fuel for combat maneuvers rather than burning toward the enemy. Both were interconnected, and both could benefit from a carrier bay specifically built to provide such a service.
The "Cove" pattern hangar was designed using elements of the Duet pattern Torpedo launcher, specifically the launch rails. Strike craft would be launched from the carrier like ordnance, preferably directly towards the enemy, and could then either coast or accelerate further. Returning was done through a retractactable hangar door at the rear of the module. Strike craft would then settle onto mobile pads that would bear them past armored refueling and ordnance stations to then be locked back into the launch tubes to be fired at the enemy once more.
[Cove-pattern Hanger: A military style hangar capable of being mounted onto proper warships and defense platforms, the Cove uses a "recirculation" style of management for it's complement that moves them and not the volatiles for a safer, smaller hangar. (4M)]
Dry Dock Upgrade: With the amount of battlefronts that are projected to open as the Crusade progresses, eyes have turned to address the inevitable production bottlenecks that would be caused by current drydock facilities becoming insufficient. The superstructure is reinforced and expanded upon, with additional plasma generators and life support installed. Schematics adapted from the scaffold armor design are used to produce additional berths that will shield the shipbuilders from micrometeorite impacts and cosmic radiation.
Result of 7-2 (sheer scale)+1 (bonus)=6
The drydock in Calavar had been operating at over it's maximum capacity for years now. Massive manufactorums were attached to it's sides like tumorous growths to produce the equipment that had been designed after the Crusade had begun. Workers toiled as great barges shoveled their contents into the plasma forges to futilely try to sate their bottomless hunger even as manufactured components were brought from other systems in Calavar's slowly growing sphere of influence.
Input/output flows were tracked. Trends were extrapolated. The conclusion was reached: the Calavar drydock was overstretched.
Engineers and Adepts flooded onto the dockyard at the direction of the Admiralty, rubbing shoulders with the existing workers as they studied everything possible. From the structure of the platform, to the manufacturing equipment, to the ship wombs, to the work flows that connect them all. Information gathered was dissected and recombined. Efficiency was judged against production loss and cost.
The manufactorums added to the structure for the Crusade would be removed, reoriented, and placed down along a manufacturing plate built over the top of the slips where the ships would be laid down and produced to provide cover for the works and hull under construction and minimize transportation concerns. New, somewhat modular slips would be laid down on a new section of the dockyard plate that with minor movements of material could hold a light cruiser scale vessel.
Of course, investment would be needed. To build new manufactorums to provide for the new slips and to rearrange the structure of the station.
[Industrial Platform available to upgrade the current dockyard into. Highly vulnerable, highly valuable. Dependent on external resources to stay productive. 300 Manufacturing to produce, every 20% completion provides an additional 30 Manufacturing. Increase build limit from 40 to 60 when completed.]
-[X] (Study the Cobra wreck, and commit to building 2 Castigation-class Torpedo Corvettes for +1 Design Action)
The wreck of the Cobra Destroyer retrieved from Jawbreaka during the initial League intervention was solemnly towed back into the Calavar system. The Admiralty had ruled that the expense to repair it was not worth the results, not after the Orks had had their way with the once proud hull, and it was to be disassembled for study. Concerns over what the Imperial Navy would think of such an action was met with shrugs as the Navy was not here. Once it was, things could be talked over and damages paid so as to allow everyone to save face.
Tugs, made small by the enormity of their target, carefully pulled stretches of armor off of the wreck for Adepts to study in a bid to recreate their holy construction. Great structural members followed, like ribs from a carcass. Work teams carefully traced data conduits and the cogitators found were sifted for useful data.
The Cobra had not had a name in the official logs, only being referred to as L-14, but the crew had had their own names for their once proud ship: Harvest Day. A strange choice but Human cultures were exceedingly varied even when their worlds were effectively adjacent and so the Calavan Adepts would respect their decision.
Ork additions were pulled off and cast into the forges for recycling- in most cases. Several pieces of weapon batteries were determined to have the potential for future use and were set aside. Orkoid corpses missed by the initial decontamination were distastefully incinerated and dumped into space.
The process would take years, it was judged. Yet there was something poetic about it, as the Harvest watched over the next generation of Humanity's defenders taking shape even as she was slowly scrapped so her construction could inspire the ships that came after.
Two of those new warships were from an atypical source. Refugees had been trickling into Calavar over the years and with them had come their wealth. Most had had little but many were of the elite of their worlds and had bargained their way aboard passing merchant vessels in the hope of fleeing the Subsector. Yet here was a bastion of resistance, and some had chosen to stay. Some of them had chosen to help however they could.
Organized by a group of Calavan oligarchs who had found faith after the Shrine World had been recontacted the Light of Faith and Light of Dawn were taking shape in the Calavan drydock. Such a selfless action had garnered attention on Calavar and there was a growing movement and organization of those with Ecclesiarchal leanings. For, after all, was this not a war of faith?
=====
Lord Admiral: Events continue to move on. As you missed the last strategy meeting while you were coordinating with the Adepts about studying the drydock, the former League worlds continue to form a potential hotspot as our troops continue culling Orks from the world we defeated Jawbreaka over. A task that is proving difficult due to the numbers of Orks present and the fact that Jawbreaka was not killed. The bright spot is that he has not taken command over the masses of greenskins present in that system, yet, but at the same time the Warboss is likely licking his wounds in his territory and preparing his next move. We will need forces to counter this threat.
Bailafax as well presents a weak point with our Traitorous neighbors. As both the inhabitants and High Command are pressing for fixed defenses and a permanent garrison of mobile forces against future attacks, consider that one of our priorities. A Trench platform and a terrestrial battery at the minimum even and especially should we press attacks in that direction.
Another thing we should prepare to pursue is a formal military mission to Bagalog to speak with their leader and get a better understanding of their position, both physically and politically. The opportunity to liaise with an Explorator is not one we can lightly give up. Doubly so if there is something nefarious going on outside of our vision...
All of these will take ships, and the military mission would be inadvisable to send a Patrol Squadron. Military vessels are mandatory for something like that, yet the First Squadron is currently our lone possibility. This needs to be changed.
[There is a budget of 155 Manufacturing Capacity (160 from Calavar+60 from her neighbors that have bent the knee+5 from the rebuilding worlds near renamed Bailafax-70 from mandatory ship construction) to be spent and 10 Artisanal Workmanship available.]
[There is an outstanding total of 49M in ship repairs and 9M in ordnance costs.]
[Bulk Hauler frame available]
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Rockeye
Plausible Engineer
- Location
- Midwestern U.S.
I sort of want to spend 120 M into the shipyard upgrade and either 120 M again next turn or fall back to 60 M/turn. Eat really painful force shortfalls in the short term, not even fully repairing damaged ships, to gain more long term ability. But 60 M into the yard is probably more thread-palatable.
jwolfe_beta
Semi Genre-Savvy Overlord
- Location
- Canada
Lance isn't any better. Though we could use the current frigate as a pure gun-boat/meatshield if nothing else.
What's the cost for terrestrial batteries? I can find find any solid numbers for them.
We should at least start getting some Trench platforms in place around our capital and other worlds.
Under Fixed Defenses in the Current Technology Informational. Now renamed from Cannon Battery as you can mount Torpedoes or Lances in them. Or Hangars, for that matter.
jwolfe_beta
Semi Genre-Savvy Overlord
- Location
- Canada
Are the torpedoes essentially considered missile silos here?
When considered in a ground context, yes.
When using the starting Atomic Missiles your ships could take it is closer to conventional ICBMs, and can be used against enemy ground forces as such.