Story/Background/Faction information.
http://www.wyrdysm.com/phpBB2/viewtopic ... 4431#64431
Ships
Explorer
First off we have the Explorer Patrol craft. Small, lightly armed and armored, the Explorers only saviour is its speed. The explorer is rarely used in actual combat situations, it is usually employed as a scout in front of a main battlefleet, being the only ship in the fleet that can be relied upon to escape from anything sucessfully. The Explorer can also be found in military policing roles, where its speed and if necessary, weaponry can be invaluable.
Sentry
Secondly we have the Sentry class frigate. The sentry is armed with 4 Light Accelerator Cannons which are perfect for outgunning patrol craft and most of the time other frigates. The Sentries are easily mass produced and therefore are scattered literally all over the Alsantan empire. Each planet in the empire is often assigned 3-4 of these craft as a planetary defence force, to protect from pirates, rogue asteroids and various other space related threats.
Sentinel
Next is the Sentinel Destroyer. This is the largest military ship the average civilian in the empire will ever see. The Sentinel was originally intended to be a remodel of the Sentry frigate, but the designers found that the new design was more useful in the destroyer role, as its superior armour and weaponry slowed it down. The Sentinel is very heavily armed, but suffers for this speedwise. These are often assigned as support for battlefleets and one will usually be attributed to the Defence force of vital/threatened planets.
Guardian
The Guardian Light Cruiser is a symbol of the Navies military might. Lone Guardians have often faced down fleets of small pirate craft and emerged victorious. Of all the ships in the Alsantan navy, ask a child in the empire his favourite and it will most likely be the Guardian light Cruiser.
The class has had a lot of media coverage, including films and TV series' featuring heroes of the navy, most often seen at the helm of one of these ships. The appearance of a Guardian is often enough to inspire zealous patriotism in the inhabitants of the system. More importantly, the commiting of a Guardian to any defencive combat is a serious message to the attackers. The empire is paying close attention to this infraction, your days are numbered. Being the smallest ship to sport and kind of heavy Accelerator technology, the Guardian can often destroy smaller craft in a single, heavy tungsten core shot.
Vanguard
The Vanguard heavy cruiser is a simple, utilitarian design. Heavily armoured and the smallest ship sporting any kind of shield technology, the Vanguard is considered too large to be committed to defence fleets. Instead, the Vanguard is usually used as a flagship for explorative/invasion fleets, where its size and considerable firepower can be used to maximum effect. Sporting both a Heavy and a medium accelerator Cannon, the Vanguard can send 4 of the Heavy Tungsten shells downrange at once, as well as a large complement of smaller accelerator weaponry. The toughness of the Vanguard is only multiplied when the new shielding is taken into account. Although the reactor of the Vanguard can only power 1 shield per side. Most Vanguard captains prefer to shield the back of their ships with this, protecting the weaker rear armour and engines from flanking attacks.
Protector
The smallest ship in the fleet capable of bringing laser weaponry to bear, the Protector is only ever employed in outsystem activities. The crew of the Protector classes are highly trained, hand picked elites. The cream of the navy. For its size, the Protector is deceptively quick, although it sacrifices armour for this advantage. This is not so worrying though, as the Protector's reactor can supply enough power to generate 4 shield barriers, enough to effectively cover both flanks of the ship. The protector and any ships larger than it are kept secret from most people in the alsantan empire, and are only seen in imperial space if they are travelling through it on destinations outside secured territory.
Liberator
Information not yet available.
Defender
Information not yet available.
Technology
Shielding
The new shield projectors are fitted to any ship with a reactor large enough to cope can project a limited energy field over a certain area, described by some commanders as having a similar effect to placing a large, metal barrier in the desired area. The strength of the barrier depends on the reactor strength, basically, the shields are as strong as the amount of power supplying them. Captains usually prefer to use this technology to shield their flanks from attack, as the reinforced prows of all Alsantan ships are tough enough already. The main downfall of this technology is that the fragile generators have to be placed on the outside of the ship, and so are easily sniped off by accurate, informed opponents.
Accelerator Weaponry
A devastatingly simply idea, Accelerator cannons use magnetically assisted cannon technology to hurl a huge, superdense ferrous-tungsten alloy projectile into space towards a target. The projectiles are quick, but unguided and so hard to aim without advanced targeting equipment.
In larger guns, the force of the shot is sometimes so great that the projectile can crack as it leaves the barrel, effectively sending multiple smaller projectiles towards the target. At short ranges this is rarely noticeable, as the projectile travels so quickly it is difficult to notice it split, but as the range increases, the coherency of the shot suffers, rendering it more vulnerable to point defence technology.
HELRASM missile systems.
Missiles have been used since the dawn of space combat, but the HELRASM (High explosive long range anti ship missile) system is one of the most effectively designed to date. The system relies on missile speed, and advanced point defence countermeasure systems to make sure it can deliver its impressive high explosive payload rather than older methods of simply trying to overwhelm point defences with masses of missiles. The impact and explosive force of a HELRASM missile is often so great that it can cripple smaller ships with just a single detonation. The great advantage of the missile system is it requires very little power to run effectively, and so can be used alongside other main weapons. However, the missile tubes are large and unwieldy, and so the Alsantan navy prefers to use the system on larger ships.
Plasma Weaponry.
Used exclusively on the Defender Battleship, plasma lances project low duration, highly concentrated streams of superheated gas. Ineffective at long range, the plasma lances are most deadly when they are employed over short distance, where as little heat as possible is lost.
They aren't going to be winning any beauty awards i know, but for a start i don't think they are bad. They are meant to look functional and utilitarian and I think/hope that shows.
Cheers!
(More to come! Ran out of time
)http://www.wyrdysm.com/battleshipsforev ... _Ships.zip
Download link!
