Bardicheart
Mongoose
First some context.
While reading over the Deneb Sector several things caught my attention and got my imagination going. That started with the Civil War of 600 to 629 and the Bad War that was part of it from 613 to 628. Another aspect was the ongoing feuds, rivalries and private wars of not only the various sub-sector Dukes, but all the other nobles as well. It came across as a sector rife with political intrigue, shifting alliances, and small wars that reminded me a bit of Dune, BattleTech, Fading Suns, and other fictional settings... all of which I love. Finally there were the small fleets, the huscarle fleets, which were composed of ships of 2,000 dT or smaller. These fleets were the private navies of these various nobles and used to wage their private wars against each other. Throw in various merc companies hiring out to round out the huscarle fleets and it struck me as a very interesting setting that fired my imagination.
That set me to imagining a story arc. The Rheinhardt's. An old Solamanni family who came to the Deneb Sector in the early days, they were an ally of the Humbolts. Once they were a great power, commanding a real fleet with real capital ships. Then came the Civil War which became the Bad War. What began as a fight between noble houses turned into a rebellion against the Imperium itself and a desperate battle against the Imperial Navy. A battle they were doomed to lose. In the latter days of the war, battered and beaten, they surrendered. The Humbolts fought on. As part of their terms of surrender the Rheinhardts, like all Deneb nobles gave up their capital ships and were banned from ever owning a warship massing more than 2000 dT. They were stripped of all political administrative offices. They were allowed to keep their titles, which remained hereditary, and their private estates; they would remain vastly wealthy. But they were no more a power which had once shaken worlds. They went into a slow decline, helped along by a never ending struggle against rival noble houses, old hatreds, trade wars, and just plain bad luck. By the early 900's they were nearly bankrupt. But then Hansen Rheinhardt assumed the mantle of Count and patriarch of the family. Count Hansen aggressively sought out new trade deals and pushed back economically. He invested in research and education, turning House Rheinhardt into leaders in technological research, developing new patents. Slowly, the tide turned and the fortunes of House Rheinhardt were again on the rise. Count Hansen's great grandson, Karl Rheinhardt, was the product of his great-grandfather's ambition. Highly educated, intelligent, ambitious and gifted in the field of ship architecture he not only continued Count Hansen's policies, but he significantly expanded the family's holdings. So much so they could afford to truly rebuild their huscarle fleet, the last step in reclaiming their place among both the stars and their rival noble houses. To that end, Count Karl Rheinhardt spent years designing what would be the flagship of their huscarle fleet, the Voshtar, named after a bird of prey he once encountered on another world. The Voshtar would be a 2000 dT huscarle cruiser, built to the highest standards with the best materials, she would be a ship like no other in her class.
Years in the design, the Voshtar was built at the Vincennes naval yard. Shipyard workers quickly came to hate her, or more precisely the Count who demanded perfection. But that hatred didn't last. Karl wasn't a noble fop, he was an engineer at heart and became a daily presence at the shipyard personally overseeing every aspect of her construction. Yard workers would find themselves next to a noble in tailored clothes, sleeves rolled up, smudged with grease, working right along side them as he checked and re-checked ever detail. Resentment turned to surprise and eventually respect, he worked hard, as hard or harder than anyone else and asked nothing he was not willing to do himself. His pride in his ship was clearly evident, and infectious, it spread. Soon those same yard workers were taking nearly as much pride in the Voshtar as the Count himself. The result was undeniable, she was something special. With cost overruns and delays it took over two years to finish her, but the end result was a ship of graceful lines and high quality, there was nothing else quite like her. As she was released from her mooring and glided out of the shipyard on her maiden voyage, every single worker lined up to send her off. She moved like a thing born to the stars, effortless, agile, humming with restrained power. Her escorts came alongside and with Count Rheinhardt on the bridge she made for the 100 diameter limit. The Rheinhardt's were back.
It wasn't to be, there were other powers, those who would not tolerate this triumphant ascension. Jump points opened and a combined fleet of two rival families, House Ermingard and House Farhadi entered the system dangerously close to both the Voshtar and the shipyard. The opened fire without warning, engaging the Voshtar and her escorts. The Farhadi had always favored missiles while the Ermingard's had always preferred heavy close range weapons. While the Ermingard's moved to close the Farhadi fleet launched swarms of missiles and kept their distance. The Voshtar and her escorts found themselves fighting both a brawling sluggfest with the Ermingard ships while fending off volley after volley of missiles from the Farhadi fleet. The technical advantage and brilliant designwork of Count Rheinhardt showed its worth, the Ermingard's found it difficult for many of their weapons to penetrate the heavily armored hull of the Voshtar while her advanced point defense and electronic warfare capabilities kept the missile swarms at bay. Both sides were taking heavy losses, the Voshtar's escorts were being steadily reduced and the Ermingard fleet was likewise being demolished one by one under the concentrated fire of the Voshtar. What had seemed almost hopeless turned into a sliver of hope, if the Voshtar and her remain escorts could finish what was left of the Ermingard fleet, and if the Farhadi ran out of missiles, they could win the engagement. It was then a third set of jump points opened and more ships emerged, this time a fleet from House Harada. House Harada had long been allies of the Rheinhardt's, and were known for their intense devotion to honor like their ancient samurai ancestors. Any such hope was shattered when the Harada fleet opened fire on the Voshtar, Harada had betrayed them. No doubt realizing it was hopeless the Voshtar broke away from her escorts, she was a fast ship with powerful drives. But she didn't run, she plowed headlong into her enemies. Her surviving escorts, battered and heavily damaged were ordered to retreat and escape. The Voshtar set a direct course for the Harada flagship, her intent clear, she would ram the betrayers and take them with her. If anger and fury could be poured into a ships guns as fuel, that day they were. The Voshtar was a tough ship, but the cumulative damage had taken its toll and her point defenses began to fail. More and more of the Farhadi missiles began to get through and combined with the focused fire of the entire Harada fleet, her hull began to buckle from multiple breeches. In the end her drives failed, she was adrift and losing power, struggling to reach her hated foe. But it was not to be.
There is still debate regarding what happened next. The Voshtar exploded in a blinding flash, utterly destroyed. The Ermingard and Farhadi claimed it was they who destroyed her, but others disagree. Some point to the Voshtar's design, she had ample escape capsules and ship procedure was to ready both her pinnaces for launch anytime the Voshtar went to alert status. At least some of the crew should have been able to escape, but not a single craft or pod was launched. They suggest that rather than surrender, rather than allow the Voshtar to be taken as a prize, the crew chose to die with their ship and rigged her to self destruct.
In the aftermath, House Rheinhardt never recovered. By the time 11 yr old Viktor Rheinhardt became Count Rheinhardt the family fortune was all but gone, most of its estates sold or seized, its patents stolen in legal disputes. His inheritance consisted of a fraction of its former wealth and a data crystal containing the complete ship schematics for the Voshtar, his grandfather's broken dream. Quietly, and without announcement Count Viktor Rheinhardt sold the remaining family assets, took a last remaining ship and disappeared into a self imposed exile. House Ermingard had lost much of their fleet and found themselves becoming a near vassal of their allies House Farhadi. House Harada recovered, but the stigma of their betrayal has been a stain they cannot erase. The Imperial Navy reacted with a decree by the sector admiral, no such attack near an Imperial shipyard would ever again be tolerated, any so reckless as to do so would be met with the full might and fury of the Imperial Navy. No noble has cared to test the decree.
Okay, so I love a good story. :wink: BTW, the noble houses are entirely made up and I've not gamed out the battle so I've very little idea what the actual fleet compositions would be, that's going to be another part of this little project. I do want to design several different huscarle cruisers and escorts around different design philosophies, I think it will make for a fun and interesting project. But naturally I started with the ship that inspired all of it... the Voshtar.
Before I post the ship specs, keep in mind several things when evaluating the design. One, she's not an Imperial Navy ship, she was designed to be the flagship of a noble. Her mission is only partly that of a warship, she was also built for diplomacy, leading trade missions, and as a personal yacht for the Count. Karl Rhenhardt (like much of his family at that point) were also scientists and engineers, so the Voshtar was also the personal yacht of very geeky nobility. I tried to keep all that in mind as I designed her, giving her her own character rather than just making a min/maxed fighting ship. Lastly, keep in mind the rules of engagement she was designed for, huscarle fleets in Deneb are limited to 2000 dT or less, so she has no need to engage anything larger and was not designed to.
(continued 1/2)
While reading over the Deneb Sector several things caught my attention and got my imagination going. That started with the Civil War of 600 to 629 and the Bad War that was part of it from 613 to 628. Another aspect was the ongoing feuds, rivalries and private wars of not only the various sub-sector Dukes, but all the other nobles as well. It came across as a sector rife with political intrigue, shifting alliances, and small wars that reminded me a bit of Dune, BattleTech, Fading Suns, and other fictional settings... all of which I love. Finally there were the small fleets, the huscarle fleets, which were composed of ships of 2,000 dT or smaller. These fleets were the private navies of these various nobles and used to wage their private wars against each other. Throw in various merc companies hiring out to round out the huscarle fleets and it struck me as a very interesting setting that fired my imagination.
That set me to imagining a story arc. The Rheinhardt's. An old Solamanni family who came to the Deneb Sector in the early days, they were an ally of the Humbolts. Once they were a great power, commanding a real fleet with real capital ships. Then came the Civil War which became the Bad War. What began as a fight between noble houses turned into a rebellion against the Imperium itself and a desperate battle against the Imperial Navy. A battle they were doomed to lose. In the latter days of the war, battered and beaten, they surrendered. The Humbolts fought on. As part of their terms of surrender the Rheinhardts, like all Deneb nobles gave up their capital ships and were banned from ever owning a warship massing more than 2000 dT. They were stripped of all political administrative offices. They were allowed to keep their titles, which remained hereditary, and their private estates; they would remain vastly wealthy. But they were no more a power which had once shaken worlds. They went into a slow decline, helped along by a never ending struggle against rival noble houses, old hatreds, trade wars, and just plain bad luck. By the early 900's they were nearly bankrupt. But then Hansen Rheinhardt assumed the mantle of Count and patriarch of the family. Count Hansen aggressively sought out new trade deals and pushed back economically. He invested in research and education, turning House Rheinhardt into leaders in technological research, developing new patents. Slowly, the tide turned and the fortunes of House Rheinhardt were again on the rise. Count Hansen's great grandson, Karl Rheinhardt, was the product of his great-grandfather's ambition. Highly educated, intelligent, ambitious and gifted in the field of ship architecture he not only continued Count Hansen's policies, but he significantly expanded the family's holdings. So much so they could afford to truly rebuild their huscarle fleet, the last step in reclaiming their place among both the stars and their rival noble houses. To that end, Count Karl Rheinhardt spent years designing what would be the flagship of their huscarle fleet, the Voshtar, named after a bird of prey he once encountered on another world. The Voshtar would be a 2000 dT huscarle cruiser, built to the highest standards with the best materials, she would be a ship like no other in her class.
Years in the design, the Voshtar was built at the Vincennes naval yard. Shipyard workers quickly came to hate her, or more precisely the Count who demanded perfection. But that hatred didn't last. Karl wasn't a noble fop, he was an engineer at heart and became a daily presence at the shipyard personally overseeing every aspect of her construction. Yard workers would find themselves next to a noble in tailored clothes, sleeves rolled up, smudged with grease, working right along side them as he checked and re-checked ever detail. Resentment turned to surprise and eventually respect, he worked hard, as hard or harder than anyone else and asked nothing he was not willing to do himself. His pride in his ship was clearly evident, and infectious, it spread. Soon those same yard workers were taking nearly as much pride in the Voshtar as the Count himself. The result was undeniable, she was something special. With cost overruns and delays it took over two years to finish her, but the end result was a ship of graceful lines and high quality, there was nothing else quite like her. As she was released from her mooring and glided out of the shipyard on her maiden voyage, every single worker lined up to send her off. She moved like a thing born to the stars, effortless, agile, humming with restrained power. Her escorts came alongside and with Count Rheinhardt on the bridge she made for the 100 diameter limit. The Rheinhardt's were back.
It wasn't to be, there were other powers, those who would not tolerate this triumphant ascension. Jump points opened and a combined fleet of two rival families, House Ermingard and House Farhadi entered the system dangerously close to both the Voshtar and the shipyard. The opened fire without warning, engaging the Voshtar and her escorts. The Farhadi had always favored missiles while the Ermingard's had always preferred heavy close range weapons. While the Ermingard's moved to close the Farhadi fleet launched swarms of missiles and kept their distance. The Voshtar and her escorts found themselves fighting both a brawling sluggfest with the Ermingard ships while fending off volley after volley of missiles from the Farhadi fleet. The technical advantage and brilliant designwork of Count Rheinhardt showed its worth, the Ermingard's found it difficult for many of their weapons to penetrate the heavily armored hull of the Voshtar while her advanced point defense and electronic warfare capabilities kept the missile swarms at bay. Both sides were taking heavy losses, the Voshtar's escorts were being steadily reduced and the Ermingard fleet was likewise being demolished one by one under the concentrated fire of the Voshtar. What had seemed almost hopeless turned into a sliver of hope, if the Voshtar and her remain escorts could finish what was left of the Ermingard fleet, and if the Farhadi ran out of missiles, they could win the engagement. It was then a third set of jump points opened and more ships emerged, this time a fleet from House Harada. House Harada had long been allies of the Rheinhardt's, and were known for their intense devotion to honor like their ancient samurai ancestors. Any such hope was shattered when the Harada fleet opened fire on the Voshtar, Harada had betrayed them. No doubt realizing it was hopeless the Voshtar broke away from her escorts, she was a fast ship with powerful drives. But she didn't run, she plowed headlong into her enemies. Her surviving escorts, battered and heavily damaged were ordered to retreat and escape. The Voshtar set a direct course for the Harada flagship, her intent clear, she would ram the betrayers and take them with her. If anger and fury could be poured into a ships guns as fuel, that day they were. The Voshtar was a tough ship, but the cumulative damage had taken its toll and her point defenses began to fail. More and more of the Farhadi missiles began to get through and combined with the focused fire of the entire Harada fleet, her hull began to buckle from multiple breeches. In the end her drives failed, she was adrift and losing power, struggling to reach her hated foe. But it was not to be.
There is still debate regarding what happened next. The Voshtar exploded in a blinding flash, utterly destroyed. The Ermingard and Farhadi claimed it was they who destroyed her, but others disagree. Some point to the Voshtar's design, she had ample escape capsules and ship procedure was to ready both her pinnaces for launch anytime the Voshtar went to alert status. At least some of the crew should have been able to escape, but not a single craft or pod was launched. They suggest that rather than surrender, rather than allow the Voshtar to be taken as a prize, the crew chose to die with their ship and rigged her to self destruct.
In the aftermath, House Rheinhardt never recovered. By the time 11 yr old Viktor Rheinhardt became Count Rheinhardt the family fortune was all but gone, most of its estates sold or seized, its patents stolen in legal disputes. His inheritance consisted of a fraction of its former wealth and a data crystal containing the complete ship schematics for the Voshtar, his grandfather's broken dream. Quietly, and without announcement Count Viktor Rheinhardt sold the remaining family assets, took a last remaining ship and disappeared into a self imposed exile. House Ermingard had lost much of their fleet and found themselves becoming a near vassal of their allies House Farhadi. House Harada recovered, but the stigma of their betrayal has been a stain they cannot erase. The Imperial Navy reacted with a decree by the sector admiral, no such attack near an Imperial shipyard would ever again be tolerated, any so reckless as to do so would be met with the full might and fury of the Imperial Navy. No noble has cared to test the decree.
Okay, so I love a good story. :wink: BTW, the noble houses are entirely made up and I've not gamed out the battle so I've very little idea what the actual fleet compositions would be, that's going to be another part of this little project. I do want to design several different huscarle cruisers and escorts around different design philosophies, I think it will make for a fun and interesting project. But naturally I started with the ship that inspired all of it... the Voshtar.
Before I post the ship specs, keep in mind several things when evaluating the design. One, she's not an Imperial Navy ship, she was designed to be the flagship of a noble. Her mission is only partly that of a warship, she was also built for diplomacy, leading trade missions, and as a personal yacht for the Count. Karl Rhenhardt (like much of his family at that point) were also scientists and engineers, so the Voshtar was also the personal yacht of very geeky nobility. I tried to keep all that in mind as I designed her, giving her her own character rather than just making a min/maxed fighting ship. Lastly, keep in mind the rules of engagement she was designed for, huscarle fleets in Deneb are limited to 2000 dT or less, so she has no need to engage anything larger and was not designed to.
(continued 1/2)
Should be more than enough and quite roomy, well for a starship.
