Hello!
This is something I came up with a couple of years ago for a campaign I was planning to run; I found it in my files this morning and wondered if anyone might be interested. It describes the navy of the Senlis Foederate, a small CT pocket empire in Trojan Reach sector, detailed in Leviathan. Feel free to pick holes in concept and ship design!
Richard
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Introduction
It was readily apparent from the foundation of the Foederate that a strong navy would be an absolute requirement. It was surrounded by four larger states – the Imperium to coreward, the Zhodani to spinward and the Florians and Aslan to rimward. It is for this reason that the Senlis Navy is larger than its size would indicate.
Initial Conclusions
An examination of the location of the Senlis Foederate makes it highly likely that, in the event of a Fifth Frontier War, it will be one of the first targets for the Zhodani, once it has passed through Egyrn subsector. There is no way that the Foederate could support a large enough navy to prevent occupation, and given the cold state of relations with the Third Imperium, it seems unlikely that they would assist.
The Navy was designed with this in mind. Instead of a heavy fleet, the concept was to create a fleet that could support itself for a long period of time. Caches of equipment and small bases were set up in the outer solar systems and asteroid belts of the Foederate, and also at similar places in the independent solar systems of Bantral and Kydde. Another obvious requirement was a higher jump capacity than normal for a small empire, Jump-3.
This led to the construction of fleets that were more dependant on smaller ships than on their own firepower. Budgetary requirements also meant that, predominantly, obsolete Imperial designs would have to be used. After the Third Frontier War, there was an opportunity to buy up quantities of Imperial equipment, and the Foederate jumped at the chance.
The Foederate has planned for the inevitable fighter and material losses; not only are many cached in secret depots, but a large credit reserve has been built up with the Bank of Glisten, to purchase naval supplies as and when required. Having been slowly built up over more than a century, it now approaches GCr3. (Three billion credits).
Senlis Navy
4 Stardust Class Carriers: Rhodan, Bell, Pucky & Khrest
18 Caribbean Class Close Escorts: Caribbean (class ship), Jamaica, St. Kitts, Barbados, Cuba, Grenada, Dominica, St Lucia, Martinique, St Eustatius, Curacao, Bahamas, Caicos, Haiti, Montserrat, St Martin, Antigua, Nevis
102 Viper Class System Scouts: (identified by numbers 569-671)
4 Optic Class Couriers: Shadow, Spectrum, Radiant, Parallax
8 Kinnock Class Fuel Ships: (identified by numbers 4-12)
16 Rodger Young Class Transports: (identified by numbers 45-61)
24 Wild West Class Freighters: (identified by numbers 24-48)
Standard Task Force
1 Stardust Class Carrier
1 Optic Class Courier
2 Kinnock Class Fuel Ships
4 Rodger Young Class Transports
4 Caribbean Class Close Escorts
6 Wild West Class Freighters
Task Force Bell is stationed at Senlis, Task Force Pucky is stationed at Magen and Task Force Khrest is stationed at Orsasch. Task Force Rhodan is also stationed at Senlis, but at the outset of a war will proceed on a secret course through the subsector.
Ship Roles
The Carriers will serve as the flagship of its task force. Rhodan is the flagship of the fleet. They carry the fighters that constitute a significant fraction of the fighting force of the fleet, as well as serving in a command & control capacity.
The Close Escorts will serve to protect the flagship, fuel ships, and to run quick patrols through occupied systems. They will also be employed to accompany fighters as heavy support.
The System Scouts are stationed as follows: 35 in Senlis, 25 in Magen, 25 in Orsasch, 7 in Bantral, 7 in Kydde, and 3 in Caraz. Their job is to patrol the system they are stationed in, and provide periodic reports as to the status of these systems. In peacetime, they are assigned to law enforcement duties. In war, they will cause as much damage to enemy vessels as possible.
The Couriers job is to maintain communication between the Task Forces.
The Fuel Ships will maintain station at convenient Gas Giants and supply fuel to the ships. Rather than simply being ‘flying gas tanks’, they instead carry fuelling sub-ships to serve the fleet. Their survival is of paramount importance.
The Transports are designed to transport large numbers of troops quickly. They will fly through the upper atmosphere to evade COACC as much as possible, whilst dropping their marines off in the fast G-Carriers. The marines must be kept in suspension for as long as possible, as there is insufficient space for them for long periods.
The Transports carry food and other supplies required by the fleet. If possible, they will load up at any convenient facility as often as they can. These ships are considered expendable once emptied, and may be converted into temporary orbiting stations.
Stardust Class Carrier: Using a 1000-ton hull, the Stardust Class Carrier is a light fighter carrier, first used during the Third Frontier War. This durable design is still used in quantity on the frontier, specifically for patrol duties. It has Jump Drive-R, Manoeuvre Drive-M, and Power Plant-R, giving a performance of Jump-3 and 2g acceleration. There is fuel tankage of 380 tons, sufficient for one Jump-3, four weeks power plant usage and 50 tons for the fighters. Behind the control room is a computer Model/5. There are 30 staterooms, 24 of which are rigged for double occupancy, and 12 low berths. There are ten double turrets, five of which mount pulse lasers while the other five mount sandcasters. The ship carries 30 fighters. These fighters are divided into three squadrons of ten, two of which are armed with beam lasers, with the other armed with missile racks. Cargo capacity is 2 tons. The ship is unstreamlined.
The vessel carries a crew of 52: Captain, Pilot, Navigator, 7 Engineers, 2 Medics, 10 Gunners, and 30 Fighter Pilots. The vessel costs 1051.95 MCr and takes 27 months to build.
Caribbean Class Close Escort: Using a 400-ton hull, the Caribbeam Class Close Escort is designed for extended patrol and support operations, in concert with other craft. Since replaced by the Gazelle Class Close Escort. It has Jump Drive-F, Manoeuvre Drive-K, and Power Plant-K, giving a performance of Jump-3 and 5g acceleration. There is fuel tankage of 224 tons, sufficient for one Jump-3, two flights of the ship’s boat and eight weeks power plant operation. At the heart of the ship is a computer Model/4. There are 6 staterooms, 5 rigged for double occupancy, and 6 low berths. There are four triple turrets, two mounting beam lasers and two mounting missile racks. The ship carries a Ship’s Boat, armed with a pulse laser.
The vessel carries a crew of 11: Captain, Pilot, Navigator, 3 Engineers, Medic, 4 Gunners and 1 ship’s boat pilot/engineer. The vessel costs 249.7 MCr and takes 11 months to build.
Viper Class System Scout: Using a 100-ton hull, the Viper Class System Scout is designed for in-system use only, covering the star systems of the Foederate. This ship was based on a failed Imperial prototype, bought cheaply in numbers by the Foederate. It has Manoeuvre Drive-B and Power Plant-B, giving a performance of 4g acceleration. There is fuel tankage of 60 tons, sufficient for six weeks power plant operation. Behind the bridge is a Computer Model/1. There are two staterooms. There is one turret, mounted with double pulse lasers.
The vessel carries a crew of 2: Pilot, and Engineer/Gunner. The vessel costs 31.6 MCr and takes 9 months to build.
Optic Class Courier: Using a 200-ton streamlined hull, the Optic Class Courier is a specialist ship designed for relaying urgent messages and carrying important personnel or supplies between the fleet and the home base. This is a specialist type, designed solely for the Foederate. It has Jump Drive-C, Manoeuvre Drive-E and Power Plant-E, giving a performance of Jump-3 and 5g acceleration. There is fuel tankage of 110 tons, sufficient for one Jump-3 and four weeks normal power plant operation. Behind the bridge is a Computer Model/3. There are four staterooms, three rigged for double occupancy. There is one turret, mounted with double pulse lasers. Cargo capacity for 5 tons.
The vessel carries a crew of 4: Pilot, Navigator, Engineer, Medic and Gunner. The ship costs 145.1 MCr and takes 11 months to build.
Kinnock Class Fuel Ship: Using an 800-ton streamlined hull, this is a Fuelling vessel. Rather than storing large amounts of fuel itself, it acts as a carrier for fuelling cutters, which do the actual work. This class was another failed Imperial prototype. It has Jump Drive-M, Manoeuvre Drive-D and Power Plant-M, giving a performance of Jump-3 and 1g acceleration. There is fuel tankage of 320 tons, sufficient for one Jump-3, for the power plant for four weeks and sufficient reserve fuel for multiple runs of the carried craft. At the heart of the ship is a computer Model/3. There are 7 staterooms, all of which are rigged for double occupancy. The ship carries six cutters, fitted with fuelling modules, and two fighters equipped with beam lasers.
The vessel carries a crew of 14: Captain, Pilot, Navigator, Medic, 4 Engineers, and 6 sub-pilots (two of which double as backup main pilots). The vessel costs 513 MCr and takes 25 months to build.
Rodger Young Class Transport: Using a 600-ton streamlined hull, this is a marine transport designed to transport troops in low berths to close planetary orbit and drop them for key raids on a planetary surface. Another obsolete Imperial design. It has Jump Drive-J, Manoeuvre Drive-G and Power Plant-J, giving a performance of Jump-3 and 2g acceleration. There is fuel tankage of 210 tons, sufficient for one Jump-3 and four weeks power plant operation. Behind the bridge is a computer Model/3. There are7 staterooms, all rigged for double occupancy, and 210 low berths. There is one hardpoint, with fire control, mounting a double missile rack. Cargo capacity is 7 tons. The ship carries 15 G-Carriers.
This vessel carries a crew of 11: Captain, Pilot, Engineer, 3 Medics, 3 Engineers and 1 Gunner. It also carries 3 Marine Officers in staterooms, and 210 Marines in low berths. It costs 280.35 MCr and takes 22 months to build.
Wild West Class Freighter: Using an 800-ton hull, this is a standard frontier heavy freighter of the late 900s / early 1000s. It was designed for routes requiring high Jump capacity. It has Jump Drive-M, Manoeuvre Drive-F and Power Plant-M, giving a performance of Jump-3 and 1g acceleration. There is fuel tankage of 364 tons, sufficient for one Jump-3, for two runs of each of the carried craft and for the power plant for four weeks. At the heart of the ship is a computer Model/3. There are 10 staterooms and 8 low berths. There are two hardpoints, with fire control, both mounting single pulse lasers. Cargo capacity is 205 tons.
The vessel requires a crew of 10: Captain, Pilot, Navigator, 4 Engineers, Steward, and 2 Ship’s Boat pilots (double as backup main pilots). The ship costs 381 MCr and takes 25 months to build.
This is something I came up with a couple of years ago for a campaign I was planning to run; I found it in my files this morning and wondered if anyone might be interested. It describes the navy of the Senlis Foederate, a small CT pocket empire in Trojan Reach sector, detailed in Leviathan. Feel free to pick holes in concept and ship design!
Richard
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Introduction
It was readily apparent from the foundation of the Foederate that a strong navy would be an absolute requirement. It was surrounded by four larger states – the Imperium to coreward, the Zhodani to spinward and the Florians and Aslan to rimward. It is for this reason that the Senlis Navy is larger than its size would indicate.
Initial Conclusions
An examination of the location of the Senlis Foederate makes it highly likely that, in the event of a Fifth Frontier War, it will be one of the first targets for the Zhodani, once it has passed through Egyrn subsector. There is no way that the Foederate could support a large enough navy to prevent occupation, and given the cold state of relations with the Third Imperium, it seems unlikely that they would assist.
The Navy was designed with this in mind. Instead of a heavy fleet, the concept was to create a fleet that could support itself for a long period of time. Caches of equipment and small bases were set up in the outer solar systems and asteroid belts of the Foederate, and also at similar places in the independent solar systems of Bantral and Kydde. Another obvious requirement was a higher jump capacity than normal for a small empire, Jump-3.
This led to the construction of fleets that were more dependant on smaller ships than on their own firepower. Budgetary requirements also meant that, predominantly, obsolete Imperial designs would have to be used. After the Third Frontier War, there was an opportunity to buy up quantities of Imperial equipment, and the Foederate jumped at the chance.
The Foederate has planned for the inevitable fighter and material losses; not only are many cached in secret depots, but a large credit reserve has been built up with the Bank of Glisten, to purchase naval supplies as and when required. Having been slowly built up over more than a century, it now approaches GCr3. (Three billion credits).
Senlis Navy
4 Stardust Class Carriers: Rhodan, Bell, Pucky & Khrest
18 Caribbean Class Close Escorts: Caribbean (class ship), Jamaica, St. Kitts, Barbados, Cuba, Grenada, Dominica, St Lucia, Martinique, St Eustatius, Curacao, Bahamas, Caicos, Haiti, Montserrat, St Martin, Antigua, Nevis
102 Viper Class System Scouts: (identified by numbers 569-671)
4 Optic Class Couriers: Shadow, Spectrum, Radiant, Parallax
8 Kinnock Class Fuel Ships: (identified by numbers 4-12)
16 Rodger Young Class Transports: (identified by numbers 45-61)
24 Wild West Class Freighters: (identified by numbers 24-48)
Standard Task Force
1 Stardust Class Carrier
1 Optic Class Courier
2 Kinnock Class Fuel Ships
4 Rodger Young Class Transports
4 Caribbean Class Close Escorts
6 Wild West Class Freighters
Task Force Bell is stationed at Senlis, Task Force Pucky is stationed at Magen and Task Force Khrest is stationed at Orsasch. Task Force Rhodan is also stationed at Senlis, but at the outset of a war will proceed on a secret course through the subsector.
Ship Roles
The Carriers will serve as the flagship of its task force. Rhodan is the flagship of the fleet. They carry the fighters that constitute a significant fraction of the fighting force of the fleet, as well as serving in a command & control capacity.
The Close Escorts will serve to protect the flagship, fuel ships, and to run quick patrols through occupied systems. They will also be employed to accompany fighters as heavy support.
The System Scouts are stationed as follows: 35 in Senlis, 25 in Magen, 25 in Orsasch, 7 in Bantral, 7 in Kydde, and 3 in Caraz. Their job is to patrol the system they are stationed in, and provide periodic reports as to the status of these systems. In peacetime, they are assigned to law enforcement duties. In war, they will cause as much damage to enemy vessels as possible.
The Couriers job is to maintain communication between the Task Forces.
The Fuel Ships will maintain station at convenient Gas Giants and supply fuel to the ships. Rather than simply being ‘flying gas tanks’, they instead carry fuelling sub-ships to serve the fleet. Their survival is of paramount importance.
The Transports are designed to transport large numbers of troops quickly. They will fly through the upper atmosphere to evade COACC as much as possible, whilst dropping their marines off in the fast G-Carriers. The marines must be kept in suspension for as long as possible, as there is insufficient space for them for long periods.
The Transports carry food and other supplies required by the fleet. If possible, they will load up at any convenient facility as often as they can. These ships are considered expendable once emptied, and may be converted into temporary orbiting stations.
Stardust Class Carrier: Using a 1000-ton hull, the Stardust Class Carrier is a light fighter carrier, first used during the Third Frontier War. This durable design is still used in quantity on the frontier, specifically for patrol duties. It has Jump Drive-R, Manoeuvre Drive-M, and Power Plant-R, giving a performance of Jump-3 and 2g acceleration. There is fuel tankage of 380 tons, sufficient for one Jump-3, four weeks power plant usage and 50 tons for the fighters. Behind the control room is a computer Model/5. There are 30 staterooms, 24 of which are rigged for double occupancy, and 12 low berths. There are ten double turrets, five of which mount pulse lasers while the other five mount sandcasters. The ship carries 30 fighters. These fighters are divided into three squadrons of ten, two of which are armed with beam lasers, with the other armed with missile racks. Cargo capacity is 2 tons. The ship is unstreamlined.
The vessel carries a crew of 52: Captain, Pilot, Navigator, 7 Engineers, 2 Medics, 10 Gunners, and 30 Fighter Pilots. The vessel costs 1051.95 MCr and takes 27 months to build.
Caribbean Class Close Escort: Using a 400-ton hull, the Caribbeam Class Close Escort is designed for extended patrol and support operations, in concert with other craft. Since replaced by the Gazelle Class Close Escort. It has Jump Drive-F, Manoeuvre Drive-K, and Power Plant-K, giving a performance of Jump-3 and 5g acceleration. There is fuel tankage of 224 tons, sufficient for one Jump-3, two flights of the ship’s boat and eight weeks power plant operation. At the heart of the ship is a computer Model/4. There are 6 staterooms, 5 rigged for double occupancy, and 6 low berths. There are four triple turrets, two mounting beam lasers and two mounting missile racks. The ship carries a Ship’s Boat, armed with a pulse laser.
The vessel carries a crew of 11: Captain, Pilot, Navigator, 3 Engineers, Medic, 4 Gunners and 1 ship’s boat pilot/engineer. The vessel costs 249.7 MCr and takes 11 months to build.
Viper Class System Scout: Using a 100-ton hull, the Viper Class System Scout is designed for in-system use only, covering the star systems of the Foederate. This ship was based on a failed Imperial prototype, bought cheaply in numbers by the Foederate. It has Manoeuvre Drive-B and Power Plant-B, giving a performance of 4g acceleration. There is fuel tankage of 60 tons, sufficient for six weeks power plant operation. Behind the bridge is a Computer Model/1. There are two staterooms. There is one turret, mounted with double pulse lasers.
The vessel carries a crew of 2: Pilot, and Engineer/Gunner. The vessel costs 31.6 MCr and takes 9 months to build.
Optic Class Courier: Using a 200-ton streamlined hull, the Optic Class Courier is a specialist ship designed for relaying urgent messages and carrying important personnel or supplies between the fleet and the home base. This is a specialist type, designed solely for the Foederate. It has Jump Drive-C, Manoeuvre Drive-E and Power Plant-E, giving a performance of Jump-3 and 5g acceleration. There is fuel tankage of 110 tons, sufficient for one Jump-3 and four weeks normal power plant operation. Behind the bridge is a Computer Model/3. There are four staterooms, three rigged for double occupancy. There is one turret, mounted with double pulse lasers. Cargo capacity for 5 tons.
The vessel carries a crew of 4: Pilot, Navigator, Engineer, Medic and Gunner. The ship costs 145.1 MCr and takes 11 months to build.
Kinnock Class Fuel Ship: Using an 800-ton streamlined hull, this is a Fuelling vessel. Rather than storing large amounts of fuel itself, it acts as a carrier for fuelling cutters, which do the actual work. This class was another failed Imperial prototype. It has Jump Drive-M, Manoeuvre Drive-D and Power Plant-M, giving a performance of Jump-3 and 1g acceleration. There is fuel tankage of 320 tons, sufficient for one Jump-3, for the power plant for four weeks and sufficient reserve fuel for multiple runs of the carried craft. At the heart of the ship is a computer Model/3. There are 7 staterooms, all of which are rigged for double occupancy. The ship carries six cutters, fitted with fuelling modules, and two fighters equipped with beam lasers.
The vessel carries a crew of 14: Captain, Pilot, Navigator, Medic, 4 Engineers, and 6 sub-pilots (two of which double as backup main pilots). The vessel costs 513 MCr and takes 25 months to build.
Rodger Young Class Transport: Using a 600-ton streamlined hull, this is a marine transport designed to transport troops in low berths to close planetary orbit and drop them for key raids on a planetary surface. Another obsolete Imperial design. It has Jump Drive-J, Manoeuvre Drive-G and Power Plant-J, giving a performance of Jump-3 and 2g acceleration. There is fuel tankage of 210 tons, sufficient for one Jump-3 and four weeks power plant operation. Behind the bridge is a computer Model/3. There are7 staterooms, all rigged for double occupancy, and 210 low berths. There is one hardpoint, with fire control, mounting a double missile rack. Cargo capacity is 7 tons. The ship carries 15 G-Carriers.
This vessel carries a crew of 11: Captain, Pilot, Engineer, 3 Medics, 3 Engineers and 1 Gunner. It also carries 3 Marine Officers in staterooms, and 210 Marines in low berths. It costs 280.35 MCr and takes 22 months to build.
Wild West Class Freighter: Using an 800-ton hull, this is a standard frontier heavy freighter of the late 900s / early 1000s. It was designed for routes requiring high Jump capacity. It has Jump Drive-M, Manoeuvre Drive-F and Power Plant-M, giving a performance of Jump-3 and 1g acceleration. There is fuel tankage of 364 tons, sufficient for one Jump-3, for two runs of each of the carried craft and for the power plant for four weeks. At the heart of the ship is a computer Model/3. There are 10 staterooms and 8 low berths. There are two hardpoints, with fire control, both mounting single pulse lasers. Cargo capacity is 205 tons.
The vessel requires a crew of 10: Captain, Pilot, Navigator, 4 Engineers, Steward, and 2 Ship’s Boat pilots (double as backup main pilots). The ship costs 381 MCr and takes 25 months to build.
