Ship Design Philosophy

[Condottiere]

Torpedo Pylon
0-0-0 - s t/1 - * - * - 0.1 firmpoint
0-0-0 - s t/2 - * - * - 0.1 hardpoint


The attraction here is the hundred kilostarbux for a pylon, hard point.

 

[Condottiere]

Spacecraft: Armaments and Vertical Launch System

1. Likely, torpedo tubes.

2. That can't be reloaded from the back end, but from the top.

3. Basically, muzzle loaders.

4. You could substitute a multi missile pod for a torpedo.

5. Going by Harrier, you can emplace a normal torpedo tube per hard point fixed mount, for half a tonne each.

6. But those are breechloaders, though not automated.

7. I don't think muzzle loaders take up less space, but probably cost less, let's say half that of breechloaders.

8. If you want more than three launchers per hard point, you have to coopt a bay.

9. Workstation(s) for personnel, and presumably, you can utilize ninety percent of the bay space to install muzzle loading launchers.

 

[Condottiere]

Spacecraft: Engineering and Gravitic Manoeuvre Drive(s)

1. Let's try this simplified efficiency performance system

2. The limit is one thousand diameters from a gravity well.

3. Every diameter less increases maximum acceleration potential by one hundredth of a percent.

4. That means, at one diameter, the manoeuvre drive is rated at one hundred nine and ninety ninth percent of listed rating.

5. That means, factor/one manoeuvre drive would have a potential acceleration of 1.0999 gee at sea level.

6. Then, you have a drop off of one percent per diameter.

7. So that at one thousand ninety nine diameters you have have maximum acceleration of one percent of listed performance.

8. That means, for a factor/one manoeuvre drive, acceleration would be 0.01 gee.

9. Potential usage, however, requires larger power expenditure.

 

[Condottiere]

Spacecraft: Engineering and Gravitic Manoeuvre Drive(s)

A. Default factor/one is one percent volume, and requires ten energy points per tonne.

B. Limited range disadvantage drops to a hundred diameters, at seventy five percent cost.

C. In theory, orbital range drops to, Terran norm [1'250/12'742] about one and one tenth diameter at two disadvantages.

D. Limited range would be 1.099 gee at sea level for a factor/one manoeuvre drive, 1.0 gee at a hundred diameters, 0.1 gee at one hundred ten diameters, and 0.01 gee at one hundred twenty diameters.

E. Sharper increase of one percent in potential acceleration, per diameter, and a sharper fall off, at ten percent per diameter after a hundred, and ten percent of one tenth of the original acceleration per diameter, after that.

F. Orbital range for factor/one, would be one gee at sea level, 0.1 gee at 1.1 diameters, 0.01 gee at 1.2 diameters; 1.01 gee at 0.9 diameters.

 

[Condottiere]

Spacecraft: Engineering and Gravitic Manoeuvre Drive(s)

G. Intermediate would be ten diameters, sometimes referred to as gravitic.

H. Factor/one at sea level would 1.09 gee, ten diameters at one gee, 0.1 gee at eleven diameters, and 0.01 gee at twelve diameters.

I. For every gee above the rated manoeuvre factor, energy requirement becomes hundred percent, plus percentage of extra gee factor times ten.

J. You could adjust cost between limited range and full, by 0.03 percent per diameter discount.

K. Cost discounts would bypass disadvantages, and allow you to tune your engine to range.

 

[Condottiere]

Spacecraft: Engineering and Gravitic Manoeuvre Drive(s)

L. We have two disadvantages that limit diameters.

M. We could have two advantages that increase range.

N. For one advantage point, Extended Range.

O. For ten percent more cost, and a higher technological level.

P. Twelve hundred and fifty diameters.

 

[Condottiere]

Spacecraft: Engineering and Gravitic Manoeuvre Drive(s)

Q. The analogue for orbital could be deep spacing.

R. Increases range to hundred thousand diameters.

S. But power requirement beyond a thousand diameters also multiplies by a factor of ten.

T. Cost would be twenty five percent premium, and require two advantages.

U. Figuring out which gravity well is within range might be somewhat challenging.

 

[Condottiere]

Startrucks: Opulent Spaceships - Sci-Fi Yachts and Pleasure Craft

Spacedock delves into sci-fi's fanciest yachts and pleasure vessels.

 

[Condottiere]

Startrucks: How to Name a Sci-Fi Spaceship

Spacedock delves into the fine art of naming spaceships.

1. Bucket versus beast.

2. Confederation Navy would likely name a carrier Enterprise.

3. Optionally, Enterprizing.

 

[Condottiere]

Spacecraft: Armaments and Mass Drivers, Orbital Or Otherwise

1. Bombardment technological level eight, strike technological level ten.

2. Range remains generally short, until large bayed bombardment jumps to medium.

3. Let's assume both types have the same ammunition for their respective sizes, and cost.

4. Also, magazines correspond, basically six per bay.

5. You could, in theory, have one ball bearing chambered.

6. Bay costs bombardment/strike, small (forty/twenty five), medium (sixty/thirty five), large (eighty/fifty).

7. In either case, wouldn't bother aiming at a manoeuvring target.

8. Bay energy requirements bombardment/strike, small (fifteen/thirty five), medium (twenty five/fifty), large (thirty five/seventy five).

9. Bay damage bombardment/strike, small (three/seven times ten), medium (four/ten times twenty), large (six/twelve times a hundred).

 

[Condottiere]

Spacecraft: Armaments and Mass Drivers, Orbital Or Otherwise

A. A lot depends on what you want to use them for.

B. If it's planetary bombardment, and/or space combat.

C. There are alternatives, that have advantages and disadvantages for those roles, and not just with each other.

D. Most obviously, would be a meson gun.

E. Outside of cost and energy requirement, meson screens would disrupt an attack.

F. But I tend to be allergic to close planetary bombardment.

 

[Condottiere]

Spacecraft: Armaments and Mass Drivers, Orbital Or Otherwise

G. Atmospheric interference tends to limit use of energy weapon systems.

H. With the exception of meson weapon systems.

I. Extending the range of the large mass drive gives me stand off to long.

J. If the point is to pulverize a locality, you could drag in a kinetic spinal mount.

K. Otherwise, you probably would opt for surgical strikes.

 

[Condottiere]

Spacecraft: Armaments and Mass Drivers, Orbital Or Otherwise

L. Related to mass drivers, are rail guns.

M. You have rail guns platformed on turrets and bays.

N. Right up to spinal mounts.

O. For bays, you might as well go straight to large.

P. Since you jump to medium range, and extending it at technological level twelve gives you long range.

 

[Condottiere]

Spacecraft: Armaments and Mass Drivers, Orbital Or Otherwise

Q. In theory, gunner/ortillery supercedes gunner/capital when targetting sitting ducks.

R. In practice, gunner/ortillery doesn't matter, since if you can target a flying duck, you can target a sitting duck.

S. Part of targetting is predicting where the target will be when the ordnance, or ray, arrives.

T. And if any factors will interfere with the trajectory.

U. If the target isn't moving, or moving in a predictable away, it simplifies calculations.

 

[Condottiere]

Spacecraft: Armaments and Mass Drivers, Orbital Or Otherwise

V. The rail gun is definitively not mentioned as orbital bombardment or strike.

W. Though, with an armour penetration of ten, you think bunker busting.

X. You target an urban centre with it, it's certainly going to leave a big crater.

Y. The orbital strike mass driver has double the damage of either the two other ones.

Z. But for large bay variants, they outrange it.

 

[Condottiere]

Spacecraft: Armaments and Mass Drivers, Orbital Or Otherwise

1. This should probably go with the Solomani military thread, but I don't feel like switching.

2. I don't think that the Solomani Navy would bother trying to arm their starwarships with a budgetted technological level ten railgun bay, because with a short range, you're asking for trouble.

3. Bump it up technological level twelve, premiumize it for twenty five percent, and add two advantages to long range, and you have something usable, at least for outer space.

4. I don't see much point in a technological level thirteen variant, at fifty percent premium, unless you want to idiot proof it with easy repair.

5. Five tonnes actually takes up some space, though affordable at seventy five kilostarbux.

6. Presumably, it looks like a giant slug.

7. Damage is six to thirty six hundred points, long range, armour penetration ten, at five hundred tonnes, compared to a factor/one spinalled rail gun at technological level ten, medium range, armour penetration twenty, four to forty eight thousand damage, at thirty five hundred tonnes.

8. Twenty five power points, eighty seven and a half megastarbux, versus, five hundred power points, five hundred megastarbux.

9. Five tonne slug, at seventy five kilostarbux, versus twenty tonne slug, at two hundred kilostarbux.

 

[Condottiere]

Spacecraft: Armaments and Mass Drivers, Orbital Or Otherwise

A. Rail gun should avoid the gunner/ortillery requirement for accuracy.

B. The solid slugs probably won't need maintenance.

C. Despite blast ten, rail guns probably do count as surgical strikes.

D. Magazine of twelve is sixty tonnes, which leaves four hundred forty tonnes for gun, reloading mechanism, and work stations.

E. I don't think better materials or aerodynamic design would increase the range of the rail gun, in space.

F. So slugs are going to be manufactured at whatever their base technological level, is.

 

[Condottiere]

Spacecraft: Armaments and Mass Drivers, Orbital Or Otherwise

G. That could be technological level ten.

H. If it's the same material as that of mass drivers, then technological level eight.

I. Large mass driver bay ammunition weighs twenty tonnes and costs one fifth of a megastarbux.

J. The same as a rail spinal mount's

K. And tends to scale at ten kilostarbux per tonne, from small mass driver bay at two tonnes and twenty kilostarbux, upto fifty tonnes and half a megastarbux.

 

[Condottiere]

Spacecraft: Armaments and Mass Drivers, Orbital Or Otherwise

L. Turret rail guns ammunition is twelve rounds at one tonne, at five kilostarbux; two damage, armour piercing four.

M. Barbette rail guns ammunition is twelve rounds at two tonnes, at ten kilostarbux; three damage times three, armour piercing five.

N. Small bay rail guns ammunition is twelve rounds at twelve tonnes, at one hundred eighty kilostarbux; three damage times ten, armour piercing ten.

O. Medium bay rail guns ammunition is twelve rounds at twenty four tonnes, at three hundred sixty kilostarbux; five damage times twenty, armour piercing ten.

P. Large bay rail guns ammunition is twelve rounds at sixty tonnes, at nine hundred kilostarbux; six damage times hundred, armour piercing ten.

 

[Condottiere]

Spacecraft: Armaments and Mass Drivers, Orbital Or Otherwise

Q. In terms of efficiency, factor/six rail gun spinal mount, with a twenty tonne slug at one fifth of a megastarbux.

R. That's like four standard torpedoes in cost, and sixty in volume.

S. Twenty one kilotonnes at technological level ten, three kilopops, three gigastarbux, damage twenty four to one hundred forty four thousand, armour piercing twenty.

T. Technological level thirteen variant would be sixteen and four fifths kilotonnes, three kilopops, three and nine tenths gigastarbux.

U. Basically, battleship grade, though medium range is somewhat iffy.