Large bays are now pretty powerful, which you would think a weapon system occupying 500 Dtons should be. I was doing some back of the envelope math and I though that the hardpoint count for the now much larger bays seems rather small compared to their firepower. This is probably too late to be considered, but maybe for those who like to see capital-class ships that aren't packed to the gills with big turrets and such this alternative might be reasonable. Essentially it's harkening a little back to the idea of naval vessels.
Large Bays: Consumes 500 dtons hull space and 100 hardpoints. A ship may mount one large bay per 5,000 Dtons displacement.
Medium Bays: Consumes 250 dtons hull space and 50 hard points. A ship may mount one medium bay per 2,500 Dtons displacement.
Small Bay: Consumes 100 dtons hull space and 10 hard points. A ship may mount one small bay per 1,000 Dtons displacement.
Using this, I could build a 30,000 Dton light cruiser. A mix of weaponry might be 2 large bays (1,000 tons, 100 hardpoints), 4 medium bays (1,000 tons, 100 hardpoints) , 6 small bays (600 tons, 60 hardpoints) and 40 turrets (40 tons and 40 hardpoints). You could change a few things around and add in some barbettes if you wanted more firepower in your secondary armament. While this ship isn't bristling with armaments like a book design would be, it does bring the number of weapons down to a much smaller size. Combat would be a bit easier I think with fewer guns to point at the other side that you need to keep track of. Plus ship combat would probably take more turns because you could not dish out as much damage in one attack. It also means that you have to choose more wisely with your weapons mix if you want to be able to apply enough defensive weapons for defense. This still gives me plenty of room for engines, fuel and other things. If this were a missile ship I would have plenty of room for ammunition.
To give a water-equivalent of this, it could be considered a light cruiser with a pair of 8" turrets in the A/Z positions, a pair of 5" turrets port and starboard, and two pairs of 3" turrets, also port and starboard. The remaining 40 turrets (20mm Bofors) would be mounted in various places around the ship. In some ways this would be more akin to warships in the early 1900s that had smaller caliber weapons in casemates along each side to engage small attack craft.
Large Bays: Consumes 500 dtons hull space and 100 hardpoints. A ship may mount one large bay per 5,000 Dtons displacement.
Medium Bays: Consumes 250 dtons hull space and 50 hard points. A ship may mount one medium bay per 2,500 Dtons displacement.
Small Bay: Consumes 100 dtons hull space and 10 hard points. A ship may mount one small bay per 1,000 Dtons displacement.
Using this, I could build a 30,000 Dton light cruiser. A mix of weaponry might be 2 large bays (1,000 tons, 100 hardpoints), 4 medium bays (1,000 tons, 100 hardpoints) , 6 small bays (600 tons, 60 hardpoints) and 40 turrets (40 tons and 40 hardpoints). You could change a few things around and add in some barbettes if you wanted more firepower in your secondary armament. While this ship isn't bristling with armaments like a book design would be, it does bring the number of weapons down to a much smaller size. Combat would be a bit easier I think with fewer guns to point at the other side that you need to keep track of. Plus ship combat would probably take more turns because you could not dish out as much damage in one attack. It also means that you have to choose more wisely with your weapons mix if you want to be able to apply enough defensive weapons for defense. This still gives me plenty of room for engines, fuel and other things. If this were a missile ship I would have plenty of room for ammunition.
To give a water-equivalent of this, it could be considered a light cruiser with a pair of 8" turrets in the A/Z positions, a pair of 5" turrets port and starboard, and two pairs of 3" turrets, also port and starboard. The remaining 40 turrets (20mm Bofors) would be mounted in various places around the ship. In some ways this would be more akin to warships in the early 1900s that had smaller caliber weapons in casemates along each side to engage small attack craft.
