Solomani Confederation (Military)

[Condottiere]

Nominal Organization

Headquarters Troop
. Squadron Headquarters
.. Captain
.. Lieutenant [Captain]
.. Cornets
... eight

.. Quartermaster
.. Paymaster
.. Spymaster
.. Taskmaster

.. Drillmaster
.. Schoolmaster
.. Dockmaster
.. Ironmaster
.. Motormaster
.. Webmaster
.. Toastmaster
.. Scoutmasters
... eight

... administration detachment
.... (Paymaster)
.... Clerical Specialist
.... Clerical Operator
..... three
... maintenance and transportation detachment
.... (Ironmaster)
.... (Motormaster)
.... Mechanical Specialists
..... two
.... Mechanical Operator
..... four
... medical and nutrition detachment
.... Dockmaster
.... Medical Specialist
.... Medical Operators
..... three
.... Cook
.... Culinary Operators
..... three
... signals detachment
.... Webmaster
.... Communications Specialist
.... Computer Specialist
.... Remote Operations Specialist
.... Sensor Operations Specialist
.... Radio Operators
..... eight

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Patrol Ship

L. It sort of occurs to me, that if I changed the hull configuration to planetoid, I can get out of the firmpoint trap.

M. Hundred tonne hull would have eighty tonnes usable, and still be considered a smallcraft.

N. Plus, cheaper hull.

O. One hundred twenty three and three quarter tonnes would have ninety nine usable tonnes.

P. Which would be one hardpoint, and one firmpoint.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Patrol Ship

Q. The obvious comparison is going to be the four hundred tonne Gazelle class close escort.

R. I actually didn't copy it, since the concept flowed out of the requirement to have a smallcraft category primary hull, to allow the pilot/smallcraft specialization to maximize manoeuvrability.

S. It's just, there's only so much you can do with usable volume under hundred tonnes, and a thirty five tonne jump drive.

T. And the temptation is to have standard sized secondary hulls, so that logistically, it would be easier to store them on a larger spacecraft.

U. And, presumably, fit them neatly on the exterior of the hull.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Patrol Ship

V. I think that we'll have the Confederation Navy just manufacture three standard sizes of jump drives.

W. The thirty five tonner, since I've come to the conclusion that they are not going to bother with small starships, except in specific niche roles.

X. One of which would be infiltration and strategic reconnaissance, which could be shoved off to Security, who'd be more than happy to consign that to Planet Fifty One.

Y. The other would be insystem long range patrol, which would be the one hundred parsec tonne Venture Drive.

Z. Since I did invent it, I'm not going to discard it.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Patrol Ship

1. We're going to drop the one hundred and five tonne jump drive.

2. Even though it gives a neat four thousand parsec tonnes.

3. The Confederation Navy will just stuff, if inefficiently, upto nine thirty five tonne jump drives to achieve a desired performance for a starship.

4. Though, member navies and private concerns are free to design and build any particular sized jump drive.

5. Difference being, that the Confederation Navy has the concentrated industrial capacity to mass produce a limited number of standardized engineering models.

6. Next up would be the three hundred fifteen tonne model.

7. That would default to twelve and two fifths thousand parsec tonnes.

8. Two of which would push a six and one fifth kilotonne destroyer four parsecs.

9. Which is large enough to be considered a capital build.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Patrol Ship

A. Finally, the thirty one and a half hundred tonner.

B. Defaults to one hundred twenty five and four fifths thousand parsec tonnes.

C. Having three standard sizes limits Confederation Navy vessels to a certain ranges of tonnages, but simplifies maintenance and repair vastly.

D. Not to mention, training and equipment familiarization of the Technical Branch.

E. If a refit is necessary, it's a lot easier to just pop out, and in, the same sized engine.

F. Though, it's quite possible, that actual performance may vary.

 

[Condottiere]

Tonnage TL - Range - Model

3'150 - 14 - 5 - Beijing b/ei
3'150 - 14 - 4 - Prometheus a/rs
3'150 - 12 - 3 - Victory b/ei
0'315 - 14 - 5 - Dingir b/ei
0'315 - 12 - 3 - Texas b/ei
0'035 - 15 - 6 - Quicksilver b/ei
0'035 - 14 - 5 - Courier b/ei
0'035 - 13 - 4 - Marathon b/ei
0'035 - 12 - 3 - Striker b/ei
0'035 - 11 - 2 - Dassault b/ei
0'012.875 - 12 - 3 Raptor b/ei
0'010.3 - 12 - 3 - Extrication b/ei o/s
0'010 - 11 - 2 - Scout b/ei
0'010 - 11 - 2 - Salvation b/is o/s
0'010 - 09 - 1 - Venture b/is

Tonnage TL - Range - Model - Megastarbux

3'150 - 15 - 4 - Galatea fe2 - 5'906.25
3'150 - 14 - 5 - Beijing b/ei - 3'543.75
3'150 - 14 - 4 - Prometheus fe1 - 5'197.5
3'150 - 12 - 3 - Victory b/ei - 3'543.75
0'315 - 14 - 3 - Aldebaran s - 590.625
0'315 - 14 - 5 - Dingir b/ei - 354.375
0'315 - 14 - 4 - Alabama fe1 - 519.75
0'315 - 13 - 4 - Cruizer b/ei - 354.375
0'315 - 12 - 3 - Texas b/ei - 354.375
0'315 - 09 - 1 - Lonestar b/ei - 354.375
0'035 - 15 - 6 - Quicksilver b/ei - 39.375 [exclusive fleet Fleet Courier]
0'035 - 14 - 5 - Courier b/ei - 39.375 [Fleet Courier]
0'035 - 14 - 4 - Plataea fe1 - 57.75
0'035 - 14 - 3 - Thermopylae s - 65.625
0'035 - 13 - 4 - Marathon b/ei - 39.375
0'035 - 12 - 3 - Striker b/ei - 39.375
0'035 - 11 - 2 - Commerce b/ei - 39.375 [marketed to commercial sector]
0'035 - 09 - 1 - Dassault b/ei - 39.375
0'010 - 09 - 1 - Venture b/is - 8.0 [mass production adjusted]


b/budget, ei/energy inefficient, fe/fuel efficient, is/inflated size, s/stealth

 

[Condottiere]

The higher and lower ends were actually fairly simple.

The Venture model is the cheapest default jump drive possible, a one shot variant at five sixteenth of the cost can only be used three times, and the artisanal builds, are based, I would suppose, on trying to build an uncustomed engine, and the average cost is way higher both for that, and certainly for the Venture type performance.

I haven't calculated it, but for junker construction rules, it's probably a better bet to build a highly technologized variant, since the costs are fixed to default, and the highly technologized variant costs fifty percent more.

At the upper end, you start off with the Victory class battlecruiser, and can use the same drive for the Zeus class, and any other major combatant or capital starwarship that doesn't need more than three parsec range.

The two exceptions to this are the new Prometheus class fast dreadnought, which needs a range of four parsecs, and the Beijing class deep strike cruiser, which ups the ante to five parsecs.

In comparison to the continued production of Promethii postbellum, it would appear that the Beijing models would have a limited run, but, if you assume the definition of a battlecruiser, in the Confederation Navy, changes to a capital starwarship with five parsec range, they would be installed in those, which, I figure would make up one quarter of the new capital starwarship construction.

Which leaves us with the Galatea model, which would be used to propel the the technological level fifteen successor class of fast dreadnoughts, conceptualized to cram more armament on the, more or less, same sized hull.

 

[Condottiere]

In fact, if you do adjust the tonnages of the canonical classes a tad bit, I've worked out a rather neat distribution table for the four parseckers, which turns out to be a ratio of four to one.


Prometheus - eight 3'150 tonners [251'600 tonne fast dreadnought]
Normandy - two 3'150 tonners [62'900 tonne heavy cruiser]

Madrid - four 315 tonners [12'400 tonne light cruiser]
Tau Ceti - one 315 tonner [3'100 tonne destroyer]

Kormoran - eight 35 tonners [2'400 tonne Commerce Raider]
Purity - four 35 tonners [1'200 tonne Security Reconnaissance Frigate]
Defender - two 35 tonners [600 tonne light patrol cruiser]
Fleet Courier/Thirteen - one 35 tonner [300 tonne fleet courier]


Working on formularizing the three parseckers.


In theory, the five parseckers would be:

Battlecruiser/ersatz Fourteen - nine 3'150 tonners [226'440 tonne battlecruiser]
Beijing - two 3'150 tonners [50'320 tonne deep strike cruiser]
Dingir - three 315 tonners [7'440 tonne deep strike destroyer]

Though, you could drop the battlecruiser to two hundred kilotonnes, and add a light cruiser at twenty five kilotonnes.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy - Antebellum Three Parseckers


Midway - five 3150 tonner [209'666 tonne fighter carrier]
Zeus - four 3150 tonner [167'733 tonne battlecruiser]
Victory - three 3150 tonner [125'800 tonne battlecruiser]
Zhukov - three 3150 tonner [125'800 tonne troop carrier]

Minsk - one 3'150 tonner, four 315 tonners [58'466 tonne heavy cruiser]
Yamamoto - one 3'150 tonner, two 315 tonners [50'200 tonne strike cruiser]
Washington - one 3'150 tonner, two 315 tonners [50'200 tonne fleet tanker]

Servant - five 315 tonners [20'666 tonne fleet tender]
Yarmouth - three 315 tonners [12'400 tonne light cruiser]
de Gaulle - three 315 tonners [12'400 tonne pocket carrier]
Texas - two 315 tonners [8'266 tonne light cruiser]
Bremen- two 315 tonners [8'266 tonne pocket carrier]
Hussar - one 315 tonner [4'133 tonne light troop carrier]

Striker - eight 35 tonners [3'200 tonne destroyer]
Tiger - two 35 tonners [800 tonne frigate]
Vezina - two 35 tonners [800 tonne missile frigate]
Samurai - two 35 tonners [800 tonne heavy patrol cruiser]
Sorensen - one 35 tonner [400 tonne corvette

 

[Condottiere]

Victory model equipped starwarships are pretty easy to deal with, since an increase in tonnage can be dealt with an additional module.

If it weren't canon, I'd have given the Midways six, to make them quarter megatonners.

Two modules would have been 83'866 tonnes, and I'm rather sceptical that that would be worth it, since you might as well continue to hundred kilotonnes; seventy five kilotonnes probably should be the maximum for that category.

Which leaves us with the middle of the field.

Presumably, they could have unique series of jump drives customized to their tonnages, rather than mix and matching, but, under current rules, the sweet spot is exactly fifty kilotonnes, which is why I thought it more likely the Beijings would more fit that, which conveniently matched the performance of their specific model.

Since I tend to self impose a limit of nine ganged jump drives, that caps tonnage at thirty seven and one fifth kilotonnes for the three fifteens; you would need at least seven of them to exceed the twenty five kilotonne increased hull points.

The Yarmouth class are actually fifteen kilotonnes, but I wondered if it was actually worth giving them four three fifteen models to increase it to 16'533 tonnes.

I was sort of thorn between maintaining the symmetry of four to one, or increasing the tonnage of frigates to twelve hundred, though logic would dictate a separation between them, and a heavy patrol cruiser.

The reason no biparsecker models were introduced, is that while a monosecker could be used for insystem jumps, and neighboring hex patrolling, the bisecker doesn't contribute anything that a trisecker wouldn't.

It also simplifies stock keeping units.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy - Manoeuvre Drives


Tonnage TL - Thrust - Acceleration Cap - Model - Megastarbux

0.0500 - 9 - 5.00 - 1 - Ultralight
0.0875 - 9 - 8.75 - 1 - Superlight
0.1750 - 9 - 17.5 - 1 - Light
0.3500 - 9 - 35.0 - 1 - Medium
0.4900 - 9 - 49.0 - 1 - Heavy
0.7000 - 9 - 70.0 - 1 - Superheavy
0.9900 - 9 - 99.0 - 1 - Ultraheavy

0.1000 - 10 - 010.0 - 2 - Ultralight
0.1750 - 10 - 017.5 - 2 - Superlight
0.3500 - 10 - 035.0 - 2 - Light
0.7000 - 10 - 070.0 - 2 - Medium
0.4900 - 10 - 098.0 - 2 - Heavy
1.4000 - 10 - 140.0 - 2 - Superheavy
1.9800 - 10 - 198.0 - 2 - Ultraheavy

0.1500 - 10 - 015.0 - 3 - Ultralight
0.2550 - 10 - 025.5 - 3 - Superlight
0.5250 - 10 - 052.5 - 3 - Light
1.0500 - 10 - 105.0 - 3 - Medium
1.4700 - 10 - 147.0 - 3 - Heavy
2.1000 - 10 - 210.0 - 3 - Superheavy
2.9700 - 10 - 297.0 - 3 - Ultraheavy

0.2000 - 11 - 020.0 - 4 - Ultralight
0.3500 - 11 - 035.0 - 4 - Superlight
0.7000 - 11 - 070.0 - 4 - Light
1.4000 - 11 - 140.0 - 4 - Medium
1.9600 - 11 - 196.0 - 4 - Heavy
2.8000 - 11 - 280.0 - 4 - Superheavy
3.9600 - 11 - 396.0 - 4 - Ultraheavy

0.2500 - 11 - 025.0 - 5 - Ultralight
0.4375 - 11 - 43.75 - 5 - Superlight
0.8750 - 11 - 87.50 - 5 - Light
1.7500 - 11 - 175.0 - 5 - Medium
2.4500 - 11 - 245.0 - 5 - Heavy
3.5000 - 11 - 350.0 - 5 - Superheavy
4.9500 - 11 - 495.0 - 5 - Ultraheavy

0.3000 - 12 - 030.0 - 6 - Ultralight
0.5100 - 12 - 051.0 - 6 - Superlight
1.0500 - 12 - 105.0 - 6 - Light
2.1000 - 12 - 210.0 - 6 - Medium
2.9400 - 12 - 294.0 - 6 - Heavy
4.2000 - 12 - 420.0 - 6 - Superheavy
5.9400 - 12 - 594.0 - 6 - Ultraheavy

0.3500 - 13 - 035.0 - 7 - Ultralight
0.6125 - 13 - 61.25 - 7 - Superlight
1.2250 - 13 - 122.5 - 7 - Light
2.4500 - 13 - 245.0 - 7 - Medium
3.4300 - 13 - 343.0 - 7 - Heavy
4.9000 - 13 - 490.0 - 7 - Superheavy
6.9370 - 13 - 693.0 - 7 - Ultraheavy

0.4000 - 14 - 040.0 - 8 - Ultralight
0.700 - 14 - 070.0 - 8 - Superlight b - 1'050'000
0.700 - 14 - 070.0 - 8 - Superlight - 1'400'000
0.4375 - 14 - 43.75 - 5 - Superlight ee3 - 656'250
1.4000 - 14 - 140.0 - 8 - Light
2.8000 - 14 - 280.0 - 8 - Medium
3.9200 - 14 - 392.0 - 8 - Heavy
5.6000 - 14 - 560.0 - 8 - Superheavy
7.9200 - 14 - 792.0 - 8 - Ultraheavy

0.4500 - 15 - 045.0 - 9 - Ultralight
0.0875 - 15 - 087.5 - 9 - Superlight
0.1750 - 15 - 175.0 - 9 - Light
3.1500 - 15 - 315.0 - 9 - Medium
4.4100 - 15 - 441.0 - 9 - Heavy
6.3000 - 15 - 630.0 - 9 - Superheavy
8.9100 - 15 - 297.0 - 9 - Ultraheavy

005.00 - 400 tonne far trader [1] - 1.25
008.75 - 240 tonne fleet courier [1] - 3.64583
017.50 - 300 tonne patrol ship [1] - 5.833
035.00 - 800 tonne mercenary cruiser [1] - 4.375
315.00 - 6'200 tonne frigate - 5.08
3'150.0 - Victory [2] - 5.0079


The basis of Confederation Navy fighter programmes is the technological level fourteen thirty five tonne medium fighter, with it's technological level fifteen successor now in production.

Engine configuration would be diamond for maximum manoeuverability, which would be four times 0.7 tonne engines.

If a superheavy needed that acceleration, eight times 0.7 engines; light smallcraft two times 0.7.

Fleet speed is acceleration factor/five, which would make it slower than the Imperium standard of factor/six, but a lot of Confederation starwarships have manoeuvre drives with maximum energy efficiency, combined with Deep Space Manoeuvre Systems, that allow them to go where most other Imperium ships can't follow.

For the more powerful drives, tonnage follows standard volumes, which should help in warehousing spares.

Since standard engines are used, acceleration depends on number installed, over volume, rather than customized versions; which does open the question, as to repairs, maintenance, and spare parts for everyone else, since the alphabet drives have been abandoned, outside the obvious minimum default ten tonner jump drive.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy - Manoeuvre Drives


Defaults to factor/three acceleration, slow would be factor/one, fleet factor/five, fast factor/seven.

Ninety nine tonne shuttle - civilian variant likely factor/three acceleration; airline economics says that the lower number of engines, reduces maintenance costs, though not really reflected in Traveller; you could tie this in with a forty nine tonne shuttle, since basically it's half the tonnage, and more likely to be used commercially, since it only needs a cockpit, and not a bridge, for flight operations.

Factor/three seems most suitable for an orbit to ground connector, since most colonized planets wouldn't necessarily stray far beyond Terran standard, and the basic model(s) would be technological level/ten.

Defaults to, if used at full throttle, twenty nine point seven power points; with three advantages at technological level thirteen, 7.425 power points, though that would be, assuming default design, 8.92 megastarbux thruster with one and one fifth tonne budget basic fusion reactor at 0.36 megastarbux, compared to technological level ten 4.455 megastarbux budget thruster and three and three quarters tonne budget basic fusion reactor at 1.125 megastarbux, tonnage difference 3.2925 tonnes.

I'm not that up to snuff with airline economics in the Sixth Millenium, but assuming you can't always fill every last seat, and comparatively fusion reactors don't really gobble up that much fuel, the technological level ten variant seems a better bargain.

Interplanetary travel is another issue, especially if time comes into play.

Constant acceleration makes that a game of diminishing returns, and if it's outer system, you have to add a Deep Space booster.

High Guard's terminology seems to be that a slow smallcraft is factor/three.

Interstellar standard, during this era, is technological level twelve, which would make factor/six accessible.

It's not so much that the Confederation is about half to one technological level behind the Imperium, it's more that the Confederation wants to keep it simple, so that maintaining their technologized civilization is easier, especially, since they are pushing rimwards, into unindustrialized space.

Also, it's cheaper.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Solar Sailors And Iron Hulls

1. Sailing ships bestow a certain aesthetic, to both gameplay and spacecraft design.

2. So do Victorian ironclads.

3. Predreadnoughts, you've already moved on to composite armour.

4. While I'm not sure of the Beijing class deep strike cruisers, which when modified sit at that perfect fifty kilotonne sweetspot.

5. And the Normandy class heavy cruiser, which can make do with two of Prometheus model thirty one and a half hundred tonne jump drives at sixty two kilotonnes.

6. I'd say even the above two aren't really manufactured anymore, postbellum.

7. The cruiser budget cannibalized for black projects (infiltration cruisers), and to increase number of line of battle ships, and of course, battlecruisers.

8. But, you're still going to need something cheap to cover the cruiser gap in peacetime.

9. If only for show.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Solar Sailors And Iron Hulls

A. Primitive hulls cost, default, fifteen kilostarbux per tonne.

B. However, hull points are halved, which touches the hull minimum size of five tonnes.

C. Which may make the title more appropriate as Solar Sailors And Aluminium Hulls.

D. Dispersed structure drops hull minimum size to 5.555555 tonnes for one hull point.

E. Lighten that, and it's 6.172839 tonnes.

F. Cost would be 5'625.00 kilostarbux per tonne.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Solar Sailors And Iron Hulls

G. Unfortunately, you can't install manoeuvre or jump drives on a primitive hull.

H. If it's just a spacecraft, you could attach a separate booster module, with a manoeuvre drive, to bypass this restriction.

I. In either case, maximum acceleration a primitive hull can tolerate is factor/three.

J. Why this restriction also applies to a full hull pointed planetoid, and, presumably, structurally sound, who knows?

K. Thus, the acceleration restriction sets the stage for the Age of Sail aesthetic.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Solar Sailors And Iron Hulls

L. The question becomes as to tonnage, armament, hull armour, and jump range.

M. Acceleration settled with a cap of three.

N. Considering the inherent fragility, doesn't seem much point to really capitalize to the hundred kilotonne milestone.

O. Crew size and close quarters with a spinal mount doesn't require sweetspotting at fifty kilotonnes, since you wouldn't actually want to close with the enemy.

P. Using existing, and likely salvaged or leftover engineering from current production lines, range could potentially be upto five parsecs.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Solar Sailors And Iron Hulls

Q. Speed in the traditional sense would actually be jump range.

R. Specified number of masts would be expressed as number of jump drive modules.

S. Which would max out at nine times three hundred fifteen tonnes), with a performance of 111'600 parsec tonnes.

T. For fleet range, that would be a capacity of twenty seven and nine tenths kilotonnes.

U. For a three parsecker, thirty seven and one fifth kilotonnes.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Solar Sailors And Iron Hulls

V. Vessel nomenclature does deserve some effort.

W. I thought that galleon would be a suitable term for the largest of the sailors.

X. Though, galleass would be a variant that installed a spinal mount.

Y. Which, in our case, would be the standard 2'975 tonne factor/one technological level/thirteen particular accelerator.

Z. Since the standard meson guns factor/three technological level/twelve was twenty two and a half kilotonnes, and the factor/five technological level/fourteen was thirty three and three quarters kilotonnes.

 

[Condottiere]

Confederation Navy: Solar Sailors And Iron Hulls

1. The basis of a solar sailor, or an interstellar sailor, would consist of two parts.

2. You'd have what we would term the (primary) hull, and the rigging.

3. The rigging would consist of pods, drop tanks, other attachments, and/or welded on pieces, mostly manufactured of primitive hull materials.

4. Since primitive hulls cannot support either jump or manoeuvre drives, the (primary) hull itself would be default (High Guard).

5. As, presumably, some, or all, of the rigging would be of primitive materials, acceleration cannot exceed factor/three.

6. The difference between pods and welded on hulls is significant.

7. Pods allow any type of hull configuration, usually standard, streamlined, spherical, closed, or dispersed.

8. The pods would count towards the primary hull as a holistic whole, especially regarding the primary hull control centres, though the pods themselves can isolate their control centres.

9. Welded on hulls automatically default to dispersed configuration, are a holistic whole with the primary hull, though it's unclear if you can isolate their control centres.