Spacecraft size

[Spence]

Re: Spacecraft size

 

There are several anime that contain hard SF concepts. Planetes is one' date=' although the manga is far, far better than the anime.[/quote']

 

Basically.

 

In truth, the job is important -- terrorists try and stop Earth-Moon travel by blowing up enough stuff to fill the space lanes with so much debris and travel would be suicide.

 

No. It's an anime about orbital debris technicians desperately trying to prevent the Kessler Syndrome from cutting Earth off from all access to space for a couple of generations. It's dead serious.

 

Planetes has some of the most rock-hard science I've ever seen in SF.

 

Plus' date=' it has Fee. And her cigarettes. And the chapter when she tries to get her fix is one of the funniest things I've read anywhere.[/quote']

 

Planetes!! Woot Great anime!

 

And the episode about Fee :rofl:

 

So BDH put down the forks and spoons, take an allergy pill and watch it already

[StGrimblefig]

Re: Spacecraft size

 

A couple of quick thoughts.

 

The spaceship construction yards are going to be high priority targets, wherever they are built. Therefore, they are not just going to be simple shipyards, but full-fledged military bases that house the largest collection of high-tech defensive and offensive weaponry in existence. They will also be the center of more espionage and intrigue than you can shake a shoe-phone at.

 

Regarding the combat drones, are they autonomous, or remotely controlled? If they are remotely controlled, finding and either jamming or destroying the source of the control signals would be more important than engaging the drones themselves.

 

If they are autonomous, then spoofing and confusing the drones' sensors would become the game of the day. Of course, there is also the problem of philosophy: The militaries of the current world are reluctant to put weapons firing mechanisms completely under the control of a machine. Modern jet fighters are effectively capable of becoming unmanned air vehicles, but they still need the human pilot to pull the trigger.

 

Just my opinions, take them or leave them as you wish.

[tkdguy]

Re: Spacecraft size

 

The shipyards will definitely be military bases as well. Looking at my notes, the ones I've named are Shenshou (Chinese) and Gagarin (Russian) in L4; Tyr (NATO/ANZAC) in L5. Gagarin is a Stanford Torus, while Tyr is an O'Neill Cylinder. I haven't decided what to make Shenzhou yet.

 

There is an international shipyard in L5, Asimov, which is also a Stanford Torus. However, it manufactures civilian ships for travel and commerce instead of warships.

 

Interesting ideas on the drones. I'm undecided whether to make them autonomous or not; I'm leaning toward the remote control option. I may limit their use in combat at first; at least until I get a better grasp on the system.

 

Thanks for your input. It's much appreciated.

[bigdamnhero]

Re: Spacecraft size

 

This is my first time designing FT ships' date=' so if you're familiar with the system, let me know if I'm doing something wrong. [/quote']

Nothing wrong that I can see, tho I haven't checked your math, etc. Only suggestion I might make is the defenses look dangerously light to me. A 100-mass battleship with only 5 points of armor, no screens (no good against K-Guns anyway), and only average hull integrity? A single broadside from a similarly-armed ship will strip away most of its armor and half its first row of damage boxes; a second hit, and you're already rolling threshold checks. So for the big ships you might want to consider adding a bit more armor or increasing hull integrity to Strong. Unless of course you want them to be fragile for campaign reasons; just depends on how long you want battles to last. (There was a line from one of the Honor Harrington books describing a particular vessel as "an eggshell armed with a sledgehammer"...)

 

Edit: I just re-read your previous posts, and realized you probably intended to make them fragile. Nervermind.

 

Similarly, if you're going to have missiles +/or salvo missiles on the table, I'd recommend adding an additional Point Defense System or two on the BB & BC. (Don't rely on those K-1s to shoot down many missiles!) And there's not much point in putting an ADFC on the Antares DD if it's only got 2 PDS to use with it. (My suggestion would be to drop the Thrust to 4, since it'll usually be pacing the BB/BC anyway, and use the freed-up space to add a few more PDS.) OTOH, 3 PDS on the Masada DH might be more than the ship is worth.*

 

Lastly, while it makes no difference from a tactical standpoint, salvo missile racks may not make a lot of sense on ships designed for long-range patrol, because they are one-shot weapons. Depends how far out they're going to be patrolling and how easy/hard it would be for them to get resupplied.

 

Other than that, they look good to me. Hope that helps!

 

* For non-FTers: Point Defense Systems are used to shoot down incoming missiles (and fighters, if you're using them). Area Defense Fire Controls allow a ship to use its PDS to defend another friendly ship.

[tkdguy]

Re: Spacecraft size

 

Thanks for the advice, bigdamnhero. I'll probably have to recalculate the mass and point costs. I had originally tried to include salvo missile launchers with one or two magazines, but they were too expensive.

 

I was wondering whether the armor was too weak, but K-guns also rip through armor as well, IIRC.

 

Thanks again!

[Nyrath]

Re: Spacecraft size

 

If they are autonomous' date=' then spoofing and confusing the drones' sensors would become the game of the day.[/quote']

Well not to put too fine a point on it, but spoofing and confusing the drone's sensors works equally well with manned fighters.

 

Even with current day jet fighters, most of the combat occurs with your opponent too far away to see. If you do see them, you'll see a microscopic pin point dot on the forward horizon, and three-tenths of a second later the enemy will have whooshed past you and is now a rapidly shrinking microscopic dot on the rear horizon.

 

The human eye is woefully inadequate to use for a fighter's sensor suite.

[L. Marcus]

Re: Spacecraft size

 

. . . Is it just me, or is Nyrath exceptionally sneaky these days?

[Nyrath]

Re: Spacecraft size

 

. . . Is it just me' date=' or is Nyrath exceptionally sneaky these days?[/quote']

Are you sure it is sneakiness or just Alzheimer's? As I grow older, much to my annoyance, I have a tendency to forget. If a thread goes on too long I can forget what it was about.

 

Why haven't the scientists discovered a cure for old age yet?

[tkdguy]

Re: Spacecraft size

 

Are you sure it is sneakiness or just Alzheimer's? As I grow older, much to my annoyance, I have a tendency to forget. If a thread goes on too long I can forget what it was about.

 

Why haven't the scientists discovered a cure for old age yet?

Well, I did resurrect this thread several months after it had gone inactive. I figured asking about the FT write-ups were relevant to the thread, since we touched on it here. So it's not you fault you forgot about it.

[bigdamnhero]

Re: Spacecraft size

 

Thanks for the advice' date=' bigdamnhero. I'll probably have to recalculate the mass and point costs. I had originally tried to include salvo missile launchers with one or two magazines, but they were too expensive.[/quote']

Yeah, SMLs get pricey real fast. SMRs are a great compromise at a tactical level. You just need to make sure they make sense at a campaign level, ie - how long until I can resupplied. Of course it's your game; you could always just say that ships carry spare missiles internally, but they can only reload the rack in between battles or whatever.

 

I was wondering whether the armor was too weak' date=' but K-guns also rip through armor as well, IIRC.[/quote']

True. There's certainly no point in having armor left over after all the hull boxes have gone bye-bye.

[L. Marcus]

Re: Spacecraft size

 

Why haven't the scientists discovered a cure for old age yet?

The owners of Big Med are probably hogging it, the bastards . . .

[StGrimblefig]

Re: Spacecraft size

 

Well not to put too fine a point on it' date=' but spoofing and confusing the drone's sensors works equally well with manned fighters.[/quote']

True, but with autonomous drones, if you have the option of turning them against their builders. Enemy pilots have the annoying tendency to use the radio when their friends are shooting at them.

 

I would guess that there would be a continual evolution of the drones, as new capabilities and countermeasures are introduced.

 

Even with current day jet fighters, most of the combat occurs with your opponent too far away to see. ...

The human eye is woefully inadequate to use for a fighter's sensor suite.

Also true, and yet they still train fighter pilots on dogfighting techniques.

 

Although aerospace fighters dogfighting in orbit would be very different from doing so in an atmosphere.

[tkdguy]

Re: Spacecraft size

 

Here are a couple of ships the Russians and Chinese have in their fleets:

 

Kirov Class Battlecruiser

 

History: The Kirov class battlecruiser was built by RKK Energiya in 2057 as a warshiship, amidst growing tension between the western and eastern powers.

 

Description: The Kirov class battlecruiser is a large ship, almost as wide as it is long. It is often used as the flagship of any task force. It is designed for front-line combat, heavily armed and having extensive defenses.

 

TMF: 90

NPV: 254

 

Hull (average integrity): 27 (7/7/7/6)

Armor: 2

Thrust: 4

Fire Controls: 3

Armaments: 2 class 1 K-guns (all arcs), 2 class 2 K-guns (2xFP/F/FS), 1 class 3 K-gun (forward arc only), 2 salvo missile racks (1xFP/P/AP, 1xFS/S/AS)

Defenses: 4 point-defense systems, 2 area defense fire controls

 

 

Jiangxi Class Guided Missile Destroyer

 

History: The Jiangxi class destroyer was built by the China Academy of Space in 2059 as a combat support ship, in preparation for the imminent war.

 

Description: The Jiangxi class destroyer is a small and fast ship. It was designed for hit-and-run missions, attacking larger ships and space stations with missiles then making a swift retreat. Despite having a large number of warheads, it is only lightly armed and defended.

 

TMF: 40

NPV: 100

 

Hull (average integrity): 11 (3/3/2/2)

Armor: 1

Thrust: 6

Fire Controls: 1

Armaments: 1 class 1 K-gun (all arcs), 6 missiles (from More Thrust)

Defenses: 2 point-defense systems