Design-An-Outsider-Ship Thread

Discussion regarding the Outsider webcomic, science, technology and science fiction.

Moderator: Outsider Moderators

Post Reply
Tamren
Posts: 85
Joined: Tue Mar 22, 2011 3:16 am

Design-An-Outsider-Ship Thread

Post by Tamren »

It's been a while since the last update and I felt like making something to pass the time. The game is simple, design a ship as if you were using the Master of Orion ship builder with Outsider themed components and post the result using the same template as the insider article. My focus will be on Loroi ships that could conceivably exist in the current conflict but feel free to design anything you want.

-----------------

Phalanx
Class: Formation Defence Battleship (BB)
Screens: Class IV
Max. Acceleration: 26 G
Armor Rating: 260
ECM Rating: 140

Weapon Mounts
04x2 Superheavy Blasters
12x2 Medium Blasters
08x1 Medium Blasters
36x3 Laser Autocannons
02 Anti-Missile 20-cell Box Launchers

Small Craft & Ordnance
06 Standard Shuttles
400 AMM Missiles

Note: The Phalanx is a specialized formation defence battleship intended to provide fleet wide protection in front line brawling situations where ships like the lighter Rapier would struggle to survive. It is intended to be deployed as the vanguard of battleship formations with which it shares similar speed and protection characteristics. Using its vast array of point defence guns it can sweep away torpedoes and gunboats allowing the rest of the formation to concentrate more of their fire on enemy capital ships.

The Phalanx is designed around the concept of "Bracket Fire" where it mounts more weapon emplacements than it can actually employ all at once and utilizes different subsets of the total arsenal at various engagement ranges. All of the superheavy and majority of medium blasters can be fired continuously, but as the enemies close in and medium blasters enter their optimal range, some (or all) of the superheavies will fall silent freeing up more cooling resources to power the faster firing medium blasters and laser autocannons. Gradually as the threat from enemy torpedoes and gunboats subsides, laser fire will cease and the ship can turn its attention back to enemy warships. Point defence capacity can also be held in reserve to absorb sudden swarms of enemy torpedoes fired at close range or deployed by blister torpedo.

The Phalanx is a close derivative of the Greatsword battleship with which it shares many components, the main differences being an alternate engine pod design and an elongated aft hull to provide space for a pair of AMM box launchers behind the hangar bay. Each upper and lower quadrant of the forward prongs mounts a pair of superimposed medium blaster turrets and four laser autocannons set in an arc. The engine pods mount forward facing superheavy blaster turrets "tempest style" with an additional four medium blaster turrets superimposed above them that can rotate to face the rear. On the side of each engine pod is a stubby trapezoidal "gun pod" with single medium blasters mounted on the upper and lower surfaces and eight laser autocannons, the entire gun pod can be rotated to improve the arcs of fire, especially rearwards. Rounding out the defensive coverage is four laser autocannons mounted aft above and below the hangar bay doors. The Phalanx does not have any built in capability to launch torpedoes as the warhead launcher and external rack infrastructure have been removed in favour of additional heat sinks, if necessary single warheads or blister torpedoes can be deployed from the hangar bay.
Last edited by Tamren on Sat Sep 02, 2023 5:36 am, edited 4 times in total.

Tamren
Posts: 85
Joined: Tue Mar 22, 2011 3:16 am

Re: Design-an-outsider-ship thread

Post by Tamren »

Longsword
Class: Heavy War Cruiser (CW)
Screens: Class IV
Max. Acceleration: 26 G
Armor Rating: 225
ECM Rating: 120

Weapon Mounts
02x2 Pulse Cannons
04x2 Heavy Blasters
22x3 Laser Autocannons
01x6 Anti-Missile Launcher
01x3 Anti-Missile Launcher
02 Warhead Launchers
02 External Ordnance racks

Small Craft & Ordnance
04 Standard Shuttles
60 Torpedoes
150 AMM Missiles

Note: A contemporary of the Katana war cruiser, the Longsword is optimized for protection rather than speed creating a "pocket battleship" rather than a small battlecruiser. Considerably cheaper to build and crew than a full battleship, the primary purpose of this design is to act as a close formation bodyguard for fleet and sector command ships with a secondary use as a heavy escort for battleship formations (both of whom share similar speed profiles). To that end the ship mounts a large number of point defence guns and dual antimissile launchers, but retains a heavy gun battery to reflect its battleship roots. To help draw enemy fire in critical engagements the Longsword is capable of carrying a large number of torpedoes spread between the internal magazine and paired external racks. This gives it a tertiary use as a cheaper fleet torpedo truck compared to the Halberd battleship, with the potential to eventually replace it in that role as the Halberd is no longer in production.

Visually the Longsword looks like a scaled up Katana class with thicker prongs and longer engine pods. Heavy blaster turrets are mounted forwards on the top and bottom of the engine pods, but elevated above the surface instead of flush so that they can rotate to fire backwards. Pulse cannons are moved from the top of the engines to the side. Laser autocannons are spread across the ship with eight mounted on the prongs facing forwards, six on each engine pod situated around the pulse cannon mounts, with the final two mounted aft above the hangar bay.
Last edited by Tamren on Sat Sep 02, 2023 5:36 am, edited 1 time in total.

Tamren
Posts: 85
Joined: Tue Mar 22, 2011 3:16 am

Re: Design-An-Outsider-Ship Thread

Post by Tamren »

Stiletto
Class: Heavy Destroyer (DD)
Screens: Class III
Max. Acceleration: 30 G
Armor Rating: 140 (+20 on front aspect)
ECM Rating: 140

Weapon Mounts
01x1 Pulse Cannon
04x1 Heavy Blasters
08x3 Laser Autocannons
01x3 Anti-Missile Launcher
01 Warhead Launcher

Small Craft & Ordnance
02 Standard Shuttles
18 Torpedoes
64 AMM Missiles

Note: Produced in small numbers with the intent to phase out and replace the older and far less survivable Curved Knife class, the Stiletto is an expensive but deadly fire support destroyer. Serving as the offensive counterpart to the defensive Warhammer, instead of protecting other ships in formation with wide angle turret fire it is designed to engage enemy capital ships directly. Typically deployed as an escort in heavy cruiser and battlecruiser formations, or as roaming "tank destroyer" squadrons in support of large fleet battles, they are most successful when strafing or pursuing enemy fleets at medium to long range where all but the heaviest of umiak plasma weapons cannot shoot back effectively (or at all).

From above the Stiletto has a narrow triangular silhouette reminiscent of corvette designs with a long forward wedge and narrow hull. To protect the ship against plasma fire the design presents a small target profile by partially recessing the engine pods behind the prongs, and all forward facing armour has been reinforced to light cruiser standards. The main guns are all mounted below the plane of the prongs with the pulse cannon situated under the main hull and the heavy blasters mounted on the lower forward edge of the engine pods, none of the guns are turret mounted but can traverse a roughly 45 degree arc. The placement of the laser autocannons favours the reverse with four mounted on top of the prongs and two more on each engine pod.
Last edited by Tamren on Sat Sep 02, 2023 5:36 am, edited 1 time in total.

Tamren
Posts: 85
Joined: Tue Mar 22, 2011 3:16 am

Re: Design-An-Outsider-Ship Thread

Post by Tamren »

Endless Quiver
Class: Fast Ammunition Ship (AE)
Screens: Class IV
Max. Acceleration: 28g
Armor Rating: 160
ECM Rating: 160

Weapon Mounts
04x2 Heavy Blasters
04x2 Medium Blasters
20x3 Laser Autocannons
04x6 Anti-Missile Launchers
1000-Cell Rapid Retrieval Torpedo Magazine

Small Craft & Ordnance
08 Standard Shuttles
04 Large Torpedo Transport Shuttles
02 Large Missile Transport Shuttles
Any combination of 1 MR torpedo, 2 SR torpedoes or 4 USR torpedoes per magazine cell
Additional torpedoes in cold storage and hangar spaces
4000 AMM Missiles

Note: The Endless Quiver class comes from a family of military supply ships designed for the dangerous task of underway replenishment in star systems adjacent to hostile territory or actively contested by enemy fleets. Such supply ships vary greatly in size and capability with this particular example embodying the pinnacle of performance (and cost). The spoken name of the ship translates poorly from Trade to English and refers to a mythical artifact that Loroi would commonly recognize the way humans understand names like "Mjolnir".

Similar in design to a strike carrier but more compact with an internal volume filled with cellular torpedo magazines instead of open hangar bays, it is very expensive but fast and highly capable, incorporating special equipment not found on generic supply freighters. The ship's high speed allows it to cross the charred steppes to provide timely support to distant strike groups and picket squadrons before withdrawing at a similar pace, minimizing exposure to attack and increasing the the tempo of supply operations. When deployed in support of large fleet battles it can operate alongside carrier groups and other second line support formations rather than withdrawing with the rest of the unarmed supply train.

The ship incorporates several hangars, a large multilevel main hangar bay inside the aft hull for personal shuttle operations, and a pair of specialized linear loading docks set along the top of the main hull. Warships seeking resupply can send their standard shuttles to cycle through an automated system that docks the shuttle, fills its cargo bay with a prepackaged bundle of torpedoes or missiles drawn from the magazine, then queues it for launch through a series of tubes. Dozens of shuttles can cycle through the system simultaneously whose pilots never have to leave their seats. To transport bulk orders or oversized ordnance like blister torpedoes the ship can deploy its own complement of shuttles, including a specialized set designed to handle munitions (these may be detailed later).

Fully loaded ammunition ships of this size represent an uniquely absurd concentration of material wealth and so are heavily armed (though they will only employ this arsenal as a last resort). Mounting only moderate armour due to volume and mass limitations the design compensates with battleship grade defensive screens, a boosted ECM suite and firepower comparable to a heavy cruiser. Taking advantage of the ship's deep missile reserves, no less than four antimissile launchers are mounted atop the main hull. The ship does not have any torpedo launchers but is capable of opening large hatches on the surface of the ship (the same hatches used to load the magazine), exposing the magazine cells to vacuum and essentially transforming the ship into a massive external ordnance rack.

Demarquis
Posts: 433
Joined: Mon Aug 16, 2021 9:03 pm

Re: Design-An-Outsider-Ship Thread

Post by Demarquis »

Although I do not anticipate contributing to this thread in any way, I do nevertheless enjoy reading about your creative designs. Thanks!

Tamren
Posts: 85
Joined: Tue Mar 22, 2011 3:16 am

Re: Design-An-Outsider-Ship Thread

Post by Tamren »

You're welcome. I have a few more ideas in the pipeline but I got sidetracked catching up on the miscellaneous questions thread which is now up to several hundred more pages than it had when I last read it.

Tamren
Posts: 85
Joined: Tue Mar 22, 2011 3:16 am

Re: Design-An-Outsider-Ship Thread

Post by Tamren »

Fletcher
Class: Missile Transport Shuttle
Crew: 2
Screens: Class I
Max. Acceleration: 20g

Small Craft & Ordnance
400 AMM Missiles

Note: The Fletcher class is a specialized supply shuttle designed to rapidly transport and dispense large numbers of AMM missiles. In form and function it resembles a Highland shuttle superimposed over a wide disk shaped magazine designed to hold 400 missiles.

The shuttle can be employed in several ways. When large numbers of missiles are required to supply carriers and ships mounting AMM box launchers, the shuttle will land inside a hangar bay and transfer missiles directly to the ship's magazine using a dedicated belt feed system. For ships that lack special handling equipment the shuttle can pack and dispense missiles on pallets for easier storage. The shuttle can also dock externally to the ubiquitous 3 or 6-tube AMM missile launcher mounted on nearly every Loroi warship and refill the ship by running the launcher reloading mechanism in reverse. For smaller warships this is typically the fastest method and does not require use of a hangar bay (which may be too small to fit a large shuttle) leaving it open for other operations. On rare occasions a Fletcher may use this docking ability to operate in a salvage role by supplying external power to drain the missile reserves of crippled warships before they are towed away or scuttled.

Fletchers are typically deployed in the underway replenishment role on dedicated ammunition ships. They can also be found in carrier groups operating in a planetary invasion role to manage the vast number of AMM-D missiles used to bombard orbital or planetary targets. When conducting supply operations Fletchers operate at the "top and bottom" of the pack, their large capacity allows them to handle bulk orders in a single trip as well as sequentially top up whole squadrons of ships with small amounts of missiles that wouldn't be enough to fill a standard shuttle. In this way it acts as a logistical speed multiplier, handling jobs that would be inefficient for standard shuttles while simultaneously freeing up shuttle resources to perform other deliveries in parallel.

Although it isn't designed for combat the shuttle can "cold launch" missiles by ejecting them through the ventral turret reloading mechanism and igniting the rocket motors once they drift to a safe distance, essentially functioning as a 6-tube anti-missile launcher.

Post Reply