About a hundred years in my current campaign's future, the Clovis Class is one of the earliest standard cruisers to be commissioned and built by the Rule of Man.
Images in Gallery
Clovis, Ship Class, Cruiser
The Clovis Class Missile Cruiser was one of the first major 'Ambassador Ships' to areas of the Vilani Empire that saw little or no action during the Interstellar Wars.
Though originally designed for use in the Nth Interstellar Wars, budgetary concerns limited the initial run only four ships. It wasn't until after the naval coup in 2316AD and the Terran Confederation and Vilani Imperium were merged together by Grand Admiral Hiroshi Estigarribia into the Rule of Man that the Clovis was produced in much greater numbers.
Although designed as a main battle cruiser, its long range, relative speed, and ability to live off the land made it one of the admiralty's favored 'first contact' vessels, and hundreds were assigned roles independent of larger fleets, each assigned a handful of fast auxiliary and scout craft for mission flexibility. Mission length as assigned from Dingir was usually anywhere from 2-3 years. Once the capital was moved to Hub/Ershur, mission length was increased to 3-5 years.
Early examples of the Clovis were named after famous French, Gallic, Norman and Frankish military leaders. This was later expanded to include French castles and weapons, then Francophile colonies both on Earth and amongst the stars, and finally famous individuals of French descent.
Variants:
The Cherokee Class Scout Cruiser variant of the Clovis had only 10 missile launchers and ordnance, and removed the PA bays and downgraded the powerplant requirement to match. Instead, it carried a much larger complement of ship's vehicles, scientific equipment, staterooms for additional scientists, including anthropologists and language experts, and a larger space devoted to mission specific cargo. Though only a handful of Cherokees were made, and losses were high due to the nature of their mission, several were made famous while expanding the borders of known space well beyond that of the First Imperium.
Cherokee Class ships were initially named after eastern American tribes (Choktaw, Creek, Huron etc.). Oddly, the naming convention took a turn during the mid 24th century, and was changed to that of subject races of the First Imperium (Geonee, Bawapakerwa-a-a-awapawab, Answerin, etc.)
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Though initially designed just to see the scale of a 50,000 ton ship compared to my other, more player-centric ship models, I kinda got sucked in and did a lot more work with it than I expected to.
Now in my mind, though still a fairly generic 'heavy cruiser', I see the Clovis as the "Star Trek 5 Year Mission" ship of the early Second Imperium - state of the art (for the time), long range/long mission, functional, "Only ship in the Quadrant", and ridiculously heavily armed (We come in peace/ shoot to kill!).
Usable in other campaigns as a spooky hulk, as a client state's 'state of the art' ship design, as a 'Lost Tribe' cruiser, as very late Interstellar Wars era battleship, as salvage - you get the idea.
Images in Gallery
Clovis, Ship Class, Cruiser
The Clovis Class Missile Cruiser was one of the first major 'Ambassador Ships' to areas of the Vilani Empire that saw little or no action during the Interstellar Wars.
Though originally designed for use in the Nth Interstellar Wars, budgetary concerns limited the initial run only four ships. It wasn't until after the naval coup in 2316AD and the Terran Confederation and Vilani Imperium were merged together by Grand Admiral Hiroshi Estigarribia into the Rule of Man that the Clovis was produced in much greater numbers.
Although designed as a main battle cruiser, its long range, relative speed, and ability to live off the land made it one of the admiralty's favored 'first contact' vessels, and hundreds were assigned roles independent of larger fleets, each assigned a handful of fast auxiliary and scout craft for mission flexibility. Mission length as assigned from Dingir was usually anywhere from 2-3 years. Once the capital was moved to Hub/Ershur, mission length was increased to 3-5 years.
Early examples of the Clovis were named after famous French, Gallic, Norman and Frankish military leaders. This was later expanded to include French castles and weapons, then Francophile colonies both on Earth and amongst the stars, and finally famous individuals of French descent.
Variants:
The Cherokee Class Scout Cruiser variant of the Clovis had only 10 missile launchers and ordnance, and removed the PA bays and downgraded the powerplant requirement to match. Instead, it carried a much larger complement of ship's vehicles, scientific equipment, staterooms for additional scientists, including anthropologists and language experts, and a larger space devoted to mission specific cargo. Though only a handful of Cherokees were made, and losses were high due to the nature of their mission, several were made famous while expanding the borders of known space well beyond that of the First Imperium.
Cherokee Class ships were initially named after eastern American tribes (Choktaw, Creek, Huron etc.). Oddly, the naming convention took a turn during the mid 24th century, and was changed to that of subject races of the First Imperium (Geonee, Bawapakerwa-a-a-awapawab, Answerin, etc.)
--------------------------------------
Though initially designed just to see the scale of a 50,000 ton ship compared to my other, more player-centric ship models, I kinda got sucked in and did a lot more work with it than I expected to.
Now in my mind, though still a fairly generic 'heavy cruiser', I see the Clovis as the "Star Trek 5 Year Mission" ship of the early Second Imperium - state of the art (for the time), long range/long mission, functional, "Only ship in the Quadrant", and ridiculously heavily armed (We come in peace/ shoot to kill!).
Usable in other campaigns as a spooky hulk, as a client state's 'state of the art' ship design, as a 'Lost Tribe' cruiser, as very late Interstellar Wars era battleship, as salvage - you get the idea.
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