Zhodani Strike Frigate Build (WIP) - I need some help ! (Calling all Science Guys)

[Meteoric Assault]

I have a two builds a 2750 Strike Frigate or a 3000dt Strike Frigate both J4, M4 each has a fighter contingent and ZSNLF Contingent for small scale raiding and ground actions. But where I need some help understanding exactly what kind of target is game for a 50dt Particle Accelerator compared to a 100dt Particle Accelerator. Ships I get, but say the target is a high port? or can PA’s be effective against ground targets?

 

[mike wightman]

For bombardment you want meson bays, for everything else missile bays.

PAWS in Traveller are very effective against installations in a vacuum, they are useless in an atmosphere. However in the real world
a charged particle accelerator would work just fine in an atmosphere, especially if following a pilot laser, while the neutralised particles are best use in a vacuum.

 

[kilemall]

I have a two builds a 2750 Strike Frigate or a 3000dt Strike Frigate both J4, M4 each has a fighter contingent and ZSNLF Contingent for small scale raiding and ground actions. But where I need some help understanding exactly what kind of target is game for a 50dt Particle Accelerator compared to a 100dt Particle Accelerator. Ships I get, but say the target is a high port? or can PA’s be effective against ground targets?

Which rules?

Generally speaking by CT Striker they are terrifying against no/low atmo and useless against higher density atmospheres.

So usually ships or space stations.

 

[kilemall]

For bombardment you want meson bays, for everything else missile bays.

PAWS in Traveller are very effective against installations in a vacuum, they are useless in an atmosphere. However in the real world
a charged particle accelerator would work just fine in an atmosphere, especially if following a pilot laser, while the neutralised particles are best use in a vacuum.

Translation, you could spec a bombardment PA gun or a space combat gun, but it won’t do both.

 

[Meteoric Assault]

CT rules Call it HG / Striker…. I was thinking against hard industrial targets to degrade infrastructure

 

[mike wightman]

Translation, you could spec a bombardment PA gun or a space combat gun, but it won’t do both.

Yes it would, you just don't neutralise the beam as it leaves the accelerator.

 

[mike wightman]

CT rules Call it HG / Striker…. I was thinking against hard industrial targets to degrade infrastructure

Meson gun bays.

 

[Spinward Flow]

I have a two builds a 2750 Strike Frigate or a 3000dt Strike Frigate both J4, M4 each has a fighter contingent and ZSNLF Contingent for small scale raiding and ground actions. But where I need some help understanding exactly what kind of target is game for a 50dt Particle Accelerator compared to a 100dt Particle Accelerator. Ships I get, but say the target is a high port? or can PA’s be effective against ground targets?

If the context is a TL=14 Frigate, you basically have 3 options.
A 100 ton Particle Accelerator Bay weapon is better than either a 50 ton Particle Accelerator Bay weapon OR 10x Particle Accelerator Single Barbettes.

Why? Well @ TL=14 using LBB5.80 ...
100 ton Bay ... Code: 9 = base 4 to hit, 280 total tons (weapon, power plant, fuel, not including crew), MCr395
50 ton Bay ... Code: 5 = base 6 to hit, 140 total tons (weapon, power plant, fuel, not including crew), MCr200
100 ton Bay ... Code: 6 = base 6 to hit, 150 total tons (weapons, power plant, fuel, not including crew), MCr340

Realistically speaking, you're best options in the 2750-3000 ton hull displacement range @ TL=14 would be:
1x 100 ton Particle Accelerator Bay (code: 9)
1x 50 ton Missile Bay (code: 9)
+various turret weapons to make up the remainder.



That said, if you can pare your displacement down to slightly under 2000 tons (1900-1999), you'll still get a hull size -1DM while still being "almost as powerful" of a starship, meaning your Frigate design might not take quite so many hits so quickly.

Of course, in the sub-2000 ton range, you would only be able to mount a single bay weapon (100 ton particle accelerator) along with up to 9 turrets (mix of missiles, sandcasters and whatever else you might be able to spare EPs for after paying for a model/8fib computer) would be the smarter play, I'm thinking.

 

[whartung]

Multiple meson bays are a wonderful ortillery platform for tactical and close support, but not so much strategic bombing. Unless you bring several ships. 10 ships with 10 bays, 100 tubes would certainly ruin someones day, but even on a City scale, they're pretty small. You could certainly reduce a City with it, it'll just take a while.

 

[kilemall]

Yes it would, you just don't neutralise the beam as it leaves the accelerator.

I understood it to be ionized/charged for in atmo, neutron for space. You fire a charged beam in space the protons are going to be pushed away from each other and the laser isn’t going to help.

 

[Meteoric Assault]

Multiple meson bays are a wonderful ortillery platform for tactical and close support, but not so much strategic bombing. Unless you bring several ships. 10 ships with 10 bays, 100 tubes would certainly ruin someones day, but even on a City scale, they're pretty small. You could certainly reduce a City with it, it'll just take a while.

Target key infrastruture: Power, Water, Communication & a High Value Target like a C2 Node or city hall.

 

[warwizard]

I'm your gearhead for T4. AFIK a particle accelerator for bombardment needs to be charged and fired from deep enough in the atmosphere to keep from defoccussing the beam in near vaccuum. Specify your target accelleration, configuration and streamlining what jump, accelleration and agility needed while doing the things like firing the PA bay or pumping for jump. Do you need the standard 2 weeks + emergency rations for another week or do you recycle everything and only need food? Do you carry a teleporting psionic assult squad? small craft? Active sensors and what types, folding arrays? Beam pointers and master fire directors, or is there a psionic with life sense that can do the job? Need all the same answers for your carried fighters. Yes I saw J-4 and M-4... frontier refuelling as this is a raider?

 

[Meteoric Assault]

I'm your gearhead for T4. AFIK a particle accelerator for bombardment needs to be charged and fired from deep enough in the atmosphere to keep from defoccussing the beam in near vaccuum. Specify you target accelleration, configuration and streamlining what jump, accelleration and agility needed while doing the things like firing the PA bay or pumping for jump. Do you need the standard 2 weeks + emergency rations for another week or do you recycle everything and only need food? Do you carry a teleporting psionic assult squad? small craft? Active sensors and what types, folding arrays? Beam pointers and master fire directors, or is there a psionic with life sense that can do the job? Need all the same answers for your carried fighters. Yes I saw J-4 and M-4... frontier refuelling as this is a raider?

I am not a T4 guy, but the focus on my question was the comparison of the firepower between 50dt to 100dt PA bay weapon how much is enough for its Mission?

 

[Rupert]

For bombardment you want meson bays, for everything else missile bays.

That depends on whether nukes are on the table or not and what the target world's defences are like. A missile bay firing nukes can obliterate the infrastructure and major population centres of a low-medium population world with ease.

A meson bay is a precision weapon compared to that.

 

[warwizard]

I am not a T4 guy, but the focus on my question was the comparison of the firepower between 50dt to 100dt PA bay weapon how much is enough for its Mission?

A lot of the questions still apply to earlier rulesets esp the agility and configuration ones. The psionic teleporting assult squad usually will not need transport to the target, so no assult shuttle. I am making assumptions from the mission statement that this will be a independant force without the fleet tenders or other support elements that come with a fleet. So contested frontier refuelling must be a part of the specifications for this ship. There comes a point where the designer needs to make a decision to put in a fuel shuttle/large craft to be standing by with a load of fuel, or to have the ship itself configured to do the fuel scooping and refining itself. There are pros and cons for each approach. "The amateur studies tactics, the professional studies logistics."

 

[Meteoric Assault]

The Tactical Brief is to Interdict and harass imperial lines of communication and commerce between Caladblog, Iderati & Mertactor, Refueling is by gas giant.
Three strike Frigates @ 1 ship’s Boat (3), 4 - 10dt Fighters (total 12) , and a Section of ZSNLF (total 57 troops) These are not the Guard Commandos perse, but enough to smash small settlements and gather intell.

 

[warwizard]

OK is that 18 grunts and an officer in the ZSNLF section per ship?

 

[warwizard]

I would put the troops in an open troop bay with bunks at 1/4 DT each with the officer/ senior NCO getting 1/2DT partition within the bay for a total of 5DT. They have an armory aboard for their combat armor and personal weapons and two squad support weapons, and perhaps a couple of m3 worth of demolitions, so perhaps 2 DT if not battledress, or 5 DT if battledress or armored vacc suits. Also two technicians to maintain/ repair the equipment, assigned from the ship's crew. Ship's boat 2 crew, 19 passengers, 30DT if combat armor, 40DT if battledress or armored vaccsuits as the bulky suited people need bigger seats. Boat is moderately armored and configured for airframe streamlining allowing for evasive maneuvering while doing the meteoric assault landings. laser coms with radio backup, passive sensors, and all the G's and agility that can be piled on with these limits. The 10DT fighters get 6G 6 agility but only two flt computers of the lowest level. I am assuming these are to accompany the ship's boat and lay chaff, and jamning to help the troops to make it to the target. Second mission is merchant ship destruction a laser pod or two under the wings provides the punch and a passive sensor and manual targeting at fairly close range. Hanger is 80DT (2X volume of the fighters) + 60DT or 80DT for the ship's boat. 10 DT fuel reserve for the boat and fighters. Total committed tonnage 200DT give or take a bit.

 

[whulorigan]

I understood it to be ionized/charged for in atmo, neutron for space. You fire a charged beam in space the protons are going to be pushed away from each other and the laser isn’t going to help.

No. Ionized/Charged (i.e. proton or electron or ion) with laser guide beam for atmosphere, neutral Hydrogen atom for space. You strip the electron from the hydrogen atoms, electromagnetically accelerate the protons down the barrel to near lightspeed and pass the beam through the stripped electron "cloud" as the beam leaves the barrel so that it self-neutralizes.

So for a multi-modal P-Beam, you just choose whether or not to neutralize the beam at the muzzle and have an optional laser guide beam for use in atmosphere.

 

[Meteoric Assault]

I would put the troops in an open troop bay with bunks at 1/4 DT each with the officer/ senior NCO getting 1/2DT partition within the bay for a total of 5DT. They have an armory aboard for their combat armor and personal weapons and two squad support weapons, and perhaps a couple of m3 worth of demolitions, so perhaps 2 DT if not battledress, or 5 DT if battledress or armored vacc suits. Also two technicians to maintain/ repair the equipment, assigned from the ship's crew. Ship's boat 2 crew, 19 passengers, 30DT if combat armor, 40DT if battledress or armored vaccsuits as the bulky suited people need bigger seats. Boat is moderately armored and configured for airframe streamlining allowing for evasive maneuvering while doing the meteoric assault landings. laser coms with radio backup, passive sensors, and all the G's and agility that can be piled on with these limits. The 10DT fighters get 6G 6 agility but only two flt computers of the lowest level. I am assuming these are to accompany the ship's boat and lay chaff, and jamning to help the troops to make it to the target. Second mission is merchant ship destruction a laser pod or two under the wings provides the punch and a passive sensor and manual targeting at fairly close range. Hanger is 80DT (2X volume of the fighters) + 60DT or 80DT for the ship's boat. 10 DT fuel reserve for the boat and fighters. Total committed tonnage 200DT give or take a bit.

You sound like you are having too much fun