Solomani Confederation (Military)

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Armaments and Neapolitans

G. If you want to budgetize this, there are only three available disadvantages.

H. Energy inefficiency is not available to turret based weapon systems.

I. Inaccuracy for a turret would spread it to the weapon systems it hosts.

J. Inflated size would mean two hundred kilogrammes more, but doesn't mean more available internal usable volume, just a fatter turret.

K. To put that in perspective, instead of allocating one tonne per hundred for a turret, you allocate one and one fifth tonne per hundred.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Armaments and Neapolitans

L. Though, logic dictates that in order to permit a similar inflation by the hosted three weapon systems, you do get an extra one hundred and fifty kilogrammes extra volume inside.

M. For said installed weapon systems, inaccuracy doesn't matter, if you never need to shoot.

N. And, again, energy inefficiency is explicitly excluded, as an option.

O. The problem with inflation is, when installing them in a non inflated weapons platform.

P. Though, that does cause contradictions when transplanting them into virtual existence on a non inflated fixed mount.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Armaments and Neapolitans

Q. Usually, when an enlarged component is refitted, we make up the difference by taking it out of cargo.

R. That's not usually how it works in real life.

S. Modular components either fit in their slot, or they don't.

T. We could say, that because they are easier to manufacture, because of larger parts, Confederation produced turrets cost three quarters that of default, at the expense of being one quarter larger.

U. Which would explain the popularity of virtually enlarged fixed mounts.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Armaments and Neapolitans

V. Which does leave us with the intermodularity with other turrets and fixed mountings.

W. Fixed mountings are virtual, and we just virtually enlarge them, and get a twenty five percent discount.

X. Single and double default turrets probably could find the space to fit one or two enlarged weapon systems, inside.

Y. Quadruple turrets, inflated, cheaper and upto four enlarged weapon systems.

Z. Quadruple turrets, default, maybe three enlarged weapon systems.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Armaments and Neapolitans

1. So, standard Solomani Neapolitan turret would weigh in at one and one fifth tonne.

2. Cost two megastarbux, one and four fifths since it's mass production.

3. Requires one power point to come online, five if using the beam laser that round.

4. Each turret with one or more missile racks holds 12 missiles (missile racks on Firmpoints hold four missiles).

5. I'll assume that that Firmpoints variant applies to the mounted fixture option.

6. Each Hardpoint-mounted sandcaster holds 20 sand canisters and costs Cr25000 to refill.

7. Sandcasters on Firmpoints hold four canisters and cost Cr5000 to refill.

8. Again, I'll assume the Firmpoints variant applies to the mounted fixture option.

9. Though, I would have thought canisters would be six or seven, per caster.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Armaments and Neapolitans

A. So, in theory, in any default variant of a one tonne turret, with at least one missile launcher, and one sand caster, you could have upto four weapon systems, twelve missiles, and twenty canisters.

B. That's a pretty good bargain.

C. Not being either an engineer, nor a physicist, this seems pretty defiant of a couple of natural laws.

D. As would the virtual nature of missile launcher, plus four missile rack, and sand caster, plus four canisters, in a mounted fixture.

E. And of course, the gunner's workstation, that like other workstations, would have been likely half a tonne.

F. But, we'll assume, seems more likely a quarter tonne.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Armaments and Neapolitans

G. In theory, increasing the volume of the turret, should also increase the ammunition capacity.

H. Assuming, the ammunition itself remains at default size.

I. Though, the turret machinery itself would increase in size, so ammunition capacity increase would be incremental.

J. Twenty percent capacity increase would fourteen and two fifths from twelve.

K. And twenty four, from twenty.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Armaments and Neapolitans

L. Sort of surprised you couldn't squeeze in a battery, for the energy weapon systems.

M. Maybe, in exchange for all those missile and canisters.

N. Self sustaining turret.

O. Get the gunner into a spacesuit, and that would take care of life support.

P. Temporarily.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Armaments and Neapolitans

Q. Deflation is out.

R. I don't think we need resilience.

S. Yields don't work on missiles, perhaps sand, but I'd rather take my chances on the dice.

T. Doubt we need them to be easy to repair, considering we want them deployed in numbers.

U. Intense focus is for lasers and particle accelerators, which leaves out plasma and fusion.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Armaments and Neapolitans

V. No idea how long range works on default missiles, and seems a waste of single dice beam laser.

W. Outside for the lolz, long ranged sand casting would be subject to (in)accuracy.

X. Accuracy, in general, is useful.

Y. Energy efficiency, probably less so, as compared to really power hungry weapon systems.

Z. The Neapolitans, despite their offensive potential, are really meant as deterrence, and failing that, defence.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Armaments and Neapolitans

1. So, the Neapolitan Mark One, would default to technological level ten, because of the beam laser.

2. Because it's a mass market product, we'll say that it retails at one and four fifths megastarbux.

3. Inflated, the volume required is one and one fifth tonnes.

4. Contains a beam laser, a sand caster, and a missile launcher.

5. Magazine capacity is fourteen and two fifths missiles in the ready rack.

6. And twenty four canisters, for the caster.

7. The gunner has a workstation for himself, to aim and fire the weapon systems.

8. The Confederation Navy still arms some of it's starwarships and auxiliaries with it.

9. Including, the Liberty class frigates.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Armaments and Neapolitans

A. What would be the upper end of the scale?

B. In theory, you could take a missile barbette, and replace four of the five launchers with other turret scaled weapon systems.

C. However, there is no indication that point defence can be performed by a laser, with a barbette.

D. Which would make the fallback position the quadruple turret.

E. Since cost wouldn't be the issue, you could exchange the missile launcher for a CoCoMisTer, and have access to torpedoes.

F. And, add either fusion gun, a particle beam, or a plasma pulse cannon.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Armaments and Neapolitans

G. The one tonne turrets are equivalent to tertiary armaments.

H. Having Neapolitans, allows a degree of independence for gunners to select the best option, for a given situation, within their area of responsibility.

I. Or, what the guys in the combat information centre direct them.

J. In any given round, they can choose to add armour against energy weapons by casting sand, shoot down missiles with point defence beam lasers, or, have a multi purpose weapon system in the missile launcher, either defend or attack.

K. That allows multiple responses to multiple concurrent situations.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Armaments and Neapolitans

L. Since it's presented as a package deal, can upgrade parts of a turret, or have to do it as a whole?

M. In order to maintain some form of standardization, the turret itself would need to remain at one and one fifth tonnes.

N. You can have the philosophical issue whether building a better weapon platform would transfer advantages to the weapon systems itself.

O. Especially, stacking together with the same advantage that had been applied to the weapon system.

P. The extreme example would be advantaging the platform, the launcher, and the missile, with accuracy, for a combined plus three.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Hulls, Pilots, and the Bigcraft Gap

1. This has been moving in an interesting direction.

2. The Confederation Navy is going to want it's most elite pilots to specialize in capital sized spacecraft.

3. Easiest, have every spacecraft capital sized.

4. Most spacecraft are going to be sized between a one tenth and five kilotonnes.

5. Or, smallcraft.

6. The rules are a little vague, as to what happens when a primary hull, through add ons, exceeds it's listed weight category.

7. If you rawdog it, you could keep the primary hull at ninety nine tonnes, add on what capacity you want, and default to smallcraft specialization.

8. It's obvious that the fly in the ointment would be organic fuel tanks for the jump drive, which, by necessity, would need to exceed that.

9. Or, bypass that, with drop tanks, which aren't dropped.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Hulls, Pilots, and the Bigcraft Gap

A. Probably the least complicate solution is to build a hundred tonne hull, and install a popup turret.

B. At hundred tonnes, you need to specialize in pilot/spaceship to get any traction out of flight school training.

C. But, you popdown the turret, you suddenly have a volume of ninety nine tonnes.

D. Which leaves you in smallcraft country.

E. A fighter jock should then feel quite at home, manoeuvring a ninety nine tonne spacecraft.

F. You'd still need to default to a ten tonne bridge, at a semimegastarbux.

 

[Fluffy Bunny Feet]

Confederation Navy: Hulls, Pilots, and the Bigcraft Gap

C. But, you popdown the turret, you suddenly have a volume of ninety nine tonnes.

Or since you don't need the turret operating in Jump space you draw IN the turret and go from 101 to 100 tons to jump.

 

[Condottiere]

That was the original idea.

But, you synergize it, to drop from a category, to allow pilots with smallcraft specialization, the best of both worlds.

The downside being, that can't use the hardpointed turret.

Also, you're paying an extra million for the popup.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Hulls, Pilots, and the Bigcraft Gap

G. Thirty five tonne default Confederation medium fighters, tend to be almost the equal of the Imperium heavy fighters.

H. The heavy fighters had a better acceleration rate, computer, and sensors.

I. The medium fighter was more agile.

J. The medium fighter also had two missile launchers, compared to the heavy's one.

J. The Confederate pilots preferred to deal with their Imperial counterparts with an over the horizon exchange of missiles.