Shipyard
General Notes
If you play SFB long enough, you will inevitably come up with ideas for new ships or improved versions of existing ships. Eventually, you will try to make SSDs out of those ideas and, if you are foolish and persistent enough, put them up on the web. Here are my offerings.All of these ships are my inventions. Some were inspired by the
efforts I saw others do that I thought could be done
differently. Many are blatantly obvious (e.g. Fed TGA). As a
result, some of these may be identical, or nearly identical, to
ships done by others. That doesn't mean either person copied
from each other; it just means some ideas are very common. My
primary focus is on the Federation, as they are my favorite
empire, but I have diversified my portfolio as inspiration has
struck.
| General | Federation | Klingon | Romulan | Kzinti | Gorn | Tholian |
| Orion | Hydran | Andromedan | Lyran | WYN | ISC | LDR |
| Seltorian | Jindarian | Vudar | Paravian | Carnivon | Flivver |
Ship Studies
Occasionally a random idea with pop into my mind that will
involve more than just one ship. In such cases (assuming I don't
stop myself first), I will create a whole set of ships around
the idea. Just to give them their own heading, I am collectively
calling these "Ship Studies".
Barbarian Light
Cruisers
When I first got Module C4, I was curious as to how all of the
various war cruisers would compare with a fairly well define
common denominator that the Barbarian Light Cruiser provided.
While I first planned on doing this a long time ago, I never
took the time to complete the whole thing. For no apparent
reason, the base project is now complete.
Escort Carriers
I created an entire class of ships called Escort
Carriers. They are carriers with the weapons of an
escort of the same size. Since they can protect
themselves, they don't need dedicated escorts, allowing their
escort requirements to be fulfilled by standard warships.
These were (correctly) rejected, as they would completely change
carrier doctrine and use in SFB. However, I think they are
cool, and present them here.
General
Photon-Armed Freighter: I have never fully
understood why the Federation never made photon armed
freighters. No they aren't that scary, but with the larger
engines the photons can be effectively used, particularly on the
large freighter. Plus the phaser armed version is
completely ineffective and two drone racks just isn't going to
do much. If you are going to spend the money to arm a
freighter, at least you can give it some teeth.
Used by the Federation and Orions operating in Federation
territory.
(F-AS) (ssd)
(F-AL) (ssd)
Photon-Armed Auxiliary: Same rationale applies (in
spades) to the various Auxiliary Cruisers introduced in R8.
Everyone else gets the option to use some form of heavy weapons
on their auxiliaries, but the Federation is left with drones or
phasers. If you are going to spend that much money to create an
auxiliary cruiser, the least you can do it give it some
weapons to use. Used by the Federation. (Could have been used by
Orions in Federation territory, but I don't think they used
auxiliaries.)
The AWR refit on the Large and Huge auxiliaries only converts
enough to reload the photons. (No, overloads were not considered
"reloading".) It wasn't deemed cost efficient to convert all of
the APR.
(S-AC) (ssd)
(L-AC) (ssd)
(H-AC) (ssd)
Actually, I walk back that comment on the Huge auxiliary. While
two or three drones isn't impressive for the main armament,
seven drone racks for the Huge auxiliary makes a lot of sense,
particularly with its horrible turn mode. I leave the photon
version above, however, as it completes the set.
General Attrition Units
In general, most worlds used defensive forces provided by
whatever major empire they were located in or were close to.
These worlds couldn't afford the costs of creating their own
units and the major empire in question would always sell the
equipment at very reasonable prices guaranteed to be less than
what the world would have to pay to build their own or get them
from somewhere else. This would create a long-term dependency
for these worlds on the empire for replacements and parts (and
future upgrades), which would bind the world to the empire
whether they ever formally joined or not. This was a very
beneficial win-win scenario that worked for decades, until the
General War reached its peak.
When the General War reached its peak, this implicit deal
crumbled. The empires were then at an economic nadir and they
were running out of resources to fuel their war machines. They
were also having to make existential decision on what they
wanted to save and what they could save. Without enough
resources to go around, they started to strip resources from
what they felt they couldn't save (or could afford to lose) in
order to protect what would be saved (or they would at least try
to save). As a result, many worlds had their former benefactor
empires strip them of any defensive asset the empire thought
could be of use, leaving the sacrificial worlds to their own
devices with virtually no defenses.
This caused the various worlds to realize the bad part of the
deal they had struck all those years ago and decide to take a
new path. Fortunately, an alternative had dropped into their
laps. Using these designs (for fighters and gunboats), many of
these abandoned worlds were able to resupply their own defenses.
They would buy and sell with each other, such that even with
only a few producer worlds, these designs were able to
proliferate much farther than would have been expected. The
fighters spread to virtually everywhere and the gunboats spread
nearly as far. Surprisingly, invading empires had little issue
with these forces as long as the worlds would properly play the
game. With at least the main worlds able to defend themselves,
it meant fewer resources were needed to keep piracy in check. No
world's forces were sufficient to mount an actual threat, and
the invaders didn't have to spend any resources at all for their
defense. As long as they paid their newly instituted taxes and
contributed to the new empire's overall war machine, these
defense forces were ignored and permitted as an act of
expediency. While the intention was always to clean things up
once the new empire's holdings were cemented, this never
happened.
General Drone Fighter (FTR): All empires exported
fighters to their member and client worlds by the droves. While
not necessarily a relevant threat to most dangers, they were
still often better than nothing and did help dissuade most
incursions. These fighters tended to be older (e.g. Z-Vs) or
just plain garbage export models (e.g. F-20s). Once the general
war started, most Federation worlds with any kind of influence
would resist the standard fare (F-16s and F-20s) and insist on
the much more capable F-18B. As this trend continued, a couple
of the worlds were able to gain access to the underlying designs
of that fighter, allowing them to manufacture their own spare
parts. Over the course of a decade or so, those designs changed
as corners were cut and efficiencies were introduced. The end
result was a fighter that was still, in essence, an F-18B (i.e.
the game statistics are the same), but was different and not
able to add the type-III rails seen on the F18-B+ and F18-C or
to otherwise improve the drone loadout, like on the F-18C.
When the supply limitations hit, worlds simply became much more
self-sufficient, and a small handful of worlds were able to
realize great profits in selling these simpler "civilian"
fighters to other worlds. This allowed the fighter to spread far
and wide, becoming the de facto standard for independent
worlds throughout the Alpha and Beta Sectors. No diagram is
provided as this fighter is identical to an F-18B.
General Plasma Fighter (FTP): The only exception to this
reach were worlds deep within the "eastern" empires where
plasma-D munitions were easier to create and manage. While the
use of the drone fighter reached far into Gorn and Romulan
territory, the eastern half of these empires, plus all of the
ISC empire, was the deployment area for these fighters. The
general drone fighter was modified into a form that was
equivalent to the G-18B. As with the generic drone fighter,
because of the efficiencies built into the reduced-cost design,
it was not possible to significantly add extra munitions, but
they were able to eventually make use of the base fighter's
light rails. So, while there was no equivalent to the "D" refit,
there was a "K" refit made available. No diagram is provided as
this fighter is identical to the G-18B and (eventually) G-18K.
General Gunboat: Once the WYN started making their own
gunboats, they found they were able to over-produce them to a
very large extent. Since they did not have the meat-grinder of
the General War to continuously destroy them, they were able to
have a very consistent over-production of gunboats. Rather than
needlessly horde this excess, they chose to sell them to anyone
willing to buy them. Even before the General War's economic
exhaustion set in, WYN Freedom Fighters could be found at a
great many worlds throughout the Kzinti, Klingon, and Lyran
areas of influence; a few even finding their way to the edge of
the Federation's border.
The WYN gunboat was already a design study in efficiency and
compromise. They were one of the smallest gunboats, and they
weren't as hardy as some of the larger gunboats (e.g. ISC
gunboat). But, they were still very effective. As they spread
out, the already spare WYN design was analyzed and reverse
engineered. This allowed many worlds to build parts and
components for the gunboat, greatly simplifying the maintenance
and update of their forces. Eventually, someone took the next
step.
A design group took one of those second-hand reverse engineered
designs and rebuilt it from the ground up. They didn't make any
huge changes, but took the opportunity to wring out any further
inefficiencies and costs from the design they could. For the
base design, they standardized on only drones and phasers,
discarding the disruptor. They reduced the phaser-1s down to
phaser-2s so that the civilian infrastructure could more easily
support them. The drone racks were kept as type-A so that they
could be easily maintained, and they made sure to include full
schematics for Type-I drones so that any world that could build
the gunboat could also fully arm it themselves. The majority of
the hull is built as a unified design that doesn't vary in the
combat builds. The one exception is the modular nose. Once
built, the module used in the nose could not be changed, but
four standard modules were built, all of which used the same
power, conduit, and access connections. The standard modules
were the phaser module, the drone module, the ADD module, and
the scout module. With a bit of extra work, an additional module
was developed, which created a cut-rate leader. The results of
these plans was a relatively inexpensive flotilla that still had
most of the effectiveness of the original designs, but was
significantly less expensive to build and maintain, and was much
easier to build. Almost immediately, the designs were available
to anyone who wanted them, and instances of the gunboat could
eventually be found virtually everywhere. While the design group
never gave a designation to the gunboats, they were called the
"Free Fighter" PF, as a play on the WYN "Freedom Fighter" name.
Of course, it stuck and how it became known.
The base design of general gunboat used two drones and two
phaser-2s. The most common weapon configuration was to place a
third phaser-2 in the modular nose. However, it was not uncommon
to see a third drone rack or even an ADD rack used instead.
(Because of the standard design used for the majority of the
gunboat, the other two drone racks were fixed. So, even if there
was an ADD in the nose, the other two drone racks remained
unchanged.) Another option was to house a special sensor to make
a cheap scout. Only having a single special sensor provided no
back-up, but the trade-offs and significantly reduced cost were
considered worth it. Trying to fit in two special sensors would
have required many changes to the base design. Having a single
special sensor allowed it to be installed using the standard
modular nose approach. The final option was to mount a
transporter and tractor (with shuttle) in place of the third
phaser, which also included additional electronics needed by a
leader. This module was bulkier than the others, but it still
fit within what the design frame could handle. While this made
for a leader with less weapons than the main design (and no
shield improvements), it could still fulfill the role of a
flotilla leader and provide the missing systems to the flotilla.
This cut-rate leader design proved inadequate and still fairly
expensive for what it was, but would still see continued use as
a leader in places where the cost savings and maintenance
savings would still prove useful. Even after being superseded by
a superior leader design, many of these cut-rate leaders
continued to be built as they made excellent general utility
craft. (ssd)
Improved General Gunboat: After seeing the compromises
of the base design, improved designs were created to try and
address their inadequacies. The improved designs allowed for
more options, at the price of increased cost, higher maintenance
requirements, and longer construction times. A full leader was
introduced. It was determined that the increased capability more
than compensated for the increased construction and maintenance
costs over the cut-rate leader design, so even worlds that kept
the more basic design for the rest of a flotilla would usually
upgrade to this leader design. A more capable scout was also
introduced, providing two special sensors. This required a
non-trivial design change to move the special sensors to the
sides of the hull, breaking the unified hull design and
therefore significantly increasing the production and
maintenance costs. Because of this, the original scout design
saw continued widespread use. Both the improved leader and the
improved scout designs used a modular nose, and while neither
could use a third special sensor or a leader nose module, any of
the weapon nose modules were possible. Finally, the combat
versions gained more varied options for the modular nose, with
options that allowed for a full phaser-1 (the side phasers
remained phaser-2s, as they were integral parts of the base
design), a disruptor, a fusion beam, or a type-G drone rack
(allowing the flexibility to fulfill the roles of the D and E
variants with a single hull). A Pl-F or Pl-D were theoretically
possible, but such modules were never used with the standard
drone-armed gunboats. (ssd)
Plasma General Gunboat: When the base designs eventually made it into the plasma regions, they were basically ignored because of the drone racks that were intrinsic to the design. Then another particularly industrious designer put their mark on the design and produced a plasma version. The design was basically unchanged, except that the side drone racks were changed to Pl-D with side arcs. Pl-D were chosen over Pl-F because of the higher firing rate, greater flexibility and minimal impact on the design (already being ready for racks). The modular nose capability was retained, and modules for the phaser-2, phaser-1, scout channel were retained, and modules containing a Pl-F or a Pl-D were created. Only the improved leader design was used, but both the standard scout and improved scout designs were used. As with the initial versions, the improved leader and improved scout designs could use any of the weapons nose modules, but couldn't use the nose module with a special sensor. (The improved scout design is not shown as it is unchanged except for whichever module is used.) (ssd)
Utility General Gunboats: The non-combat utility version
designs used the same unified construction approach as the
combat hull, but based on the cargo version of the WYN gunboat.
The differences are that the cargo space has a modular design so
that it can be configured as either cargo space, barracks, or
mine racks; that the auxiliary reactor is replaced by a tractor
and shuttle mech-link; and that the phasers used were phaser-2s.
Those three versions were the most common variants, with the
mine version a distant third.
The original cut-rate leader design was fairly quickly phased
out of use as a leader by the improved leader design. Despite
that, production of the cut-rate leader design as still high as
it was transitioned into the role of a general utility gunboat
(basically a "super-workboat"). This ship was still primarily
used by governments and local militaries, but as an independent
utility craft. It did occasionally find its way into private
hands, though that was very rare due to the weaponry and lack of
cargo space.
A fighter conveyor version did exist, but it did not use the
modular design, and was rarely built. (It was usually easier to
just fly fighters or shuttles to where they were needed, rather
than carry them.) A survey version based on the improved leader
and scout did exist, but was so expensive it was almost never
made. It was simply cheaper to build, buy, or charter a small
survey freighter instead. (ssd)
General Workboat: There was no workboat version because
the base WYN workboat was already as efficient as the design
could get. As a result, the WYN design was simply used without
any modifications. The design was spread with the above gunboat
designs, and thus the workboat was available anywhere, becoming
the most ubiquitous of all the workboats. And with the full
schematics available, there were more than a few hand-built
models flying the space-ways.
Federation
Dreadnought Carrier (DNV): A DNG modified to carry a
full compliment of F-14 fighters. It loses some weapons to make
room for the widened shuttle bay. The shuttle bay has been
completely redesigned so that there are opposing doors on either
side of the secondary hull, rather than a single door at the
front. There are two balcony positions at each door. It can
operate with either two (like the CVS) or three (like the CVA)
escorts. (ssd)
Improved New Jersey Battlecruiser (BCJ+): I
have always felt that the BCJ was pathetically under
powered. What is the point of giving a cruiser 6 photons
if you can't use them? The BCJ+ has the power to use those
photons. It is a very simple refit (conceptually), and
just rearranges some of the labels on the saucer: the AWR
becomes Battery, the Battery becomes Lab and the Lab becomes
AWR. The BCJ+ uses the same shock restrictions as the base
BCJ. (ssd)
Heavy Battlecruiser Carrier (BVC): This version of
the BC trades the "optional" weapons in to expand the shuttle
bay. While this only carries a half-squadron of fighters, as
opposed to the full squadron carried by the "real" BCV, this
ship has the advantage of being a quick conversion of the
existing ships. The "real" BVC uses what is, for all intents and
purposes, a completely new secondary hull. This ship uses the
same secondary hull as the standard BCs. (ssd)
Armed Tug (TGA): Here is what I think the tug would
have looked like if it had been given an offensive
capability. I only gave it two photons, because they are
there to make it painful to attack, not to make it a full
warship in its own right. Also increased the shields and
phasers slightly. This does make the BT a little nastier,
but the BT is still no better than its Klingon
counterpart. (ssd).
Drone Frigate (FDB): This is a drone bombardment
frigate. I never really understood how the Klingons and
Kzintis could manage to stick 6 drone racks on a frigate, but
the Feds could only manage 3. That's just dumb. Here
is a proper drone frigate. It is designed to be used in a
three ship squadron of two FDB and one FFS. (ssd)
NCL and Variants
Though I have many ships I really like, probably my favorite ship across all of SFB is the NCL. One of the most frustrating things about that ship though (besides the 4-6 breakdown), is that the first thing ADB did when designing variants was to strip off the photons. And usually this was totally needless. Fortunately, I was successful in getting the two most important variants changed to put some photons back in, the NVS and NAC, but failed with the LAT. So here is the LAT and a few others.
And that 4-6 breakdown never made much sense either. It is just a disk with close mounted engines. It should be incredibly stable. What would make more sense is to make the CA's breakdown 4-6 (what with the thin "neck" and long skinny engine pylons) and the NCL's breakdown 5-6. That breakdown is just bizarre.
An interesting note: If you look at the description of the AWR refit, the completely unrefitted NCL never existed, except for any pre-production prototypes. All NCLs must either be an NCLa or NCLa+, as they are in service after the AWR refit date. (This applies to all NCL variants as well.) As a result, all of my NCL SSDs automatically include AWR, unless not equipped with photons.
New Strike Carrier (NVS): This version of the NVS
keeps the full photon load of the NCL. (Yes, doesn't have any
drones, but then neither does the D5V!) Sure, not having any
drones is a limitation, but keeping the four photons gives it
more punch, and it has two escorts to worry about defending
against drones. (ssd)
Light Armed Transport (LAT): This version of the
LTT keeps half the photons and adds an extra drone while
sacrificing only the emergency bridge (like the original
NVS). I still have no idea why this was rejected.
(Although, I can guess: ADB was probably needlessly
terrified of the LAT + BP combo, with its 8 photons. This
is unnecessary as the Klingon BT already has 8 disruptors, and
the LAT + BP can barely move!) (ssd)
New Scout (NSC): I always found it odd that while
the SC has 8 (count 'em: 8!) scout channels, the NSC has
only 4. I think splitting the difference would be a little
more effective; it should have 6. (ssd)
New Aegis Cruiser-R (NAR): This what the NER would
look like when based on the NAC instead of the NEC. It
chews up plasmas just like the NER, but now has some offensive
punch with two photons and still has the rear drone rack.
(ssd)
New Drone Cruiser (NSD): While the Federation has
proved to be completely capable of making stupid decisions, this
seems a bit egregious. Having a drone cruiser that can
also function as the fleet scout is a tremendous tactical
advantage, plus it is now able to perform bombardment missions
alone, instead of wasting valuable scout ships. Also, most
other drone ships can magically add extra drone racks (e.g.
F5D), why can't the Federation? This is a much more useful
version of the NCD. (ssd)
New Mine Sweeper (NMS): I have always felt the NMS
was a crummy ship, especially when compared to the original
MS. This version of the NMS fixes those faults and makes
some significant improvements. Two of the drone racks are
type E; they are used to destroy multiple mines per
turn. The other two remained type G for drone
defense. A pair of Ph-Gs would have been nice (in the
forward bank), but those are used exclusively on carrier
escorts. (ssd)
Alternative Designs
The base Federation ships are the DN, CA, and DD, with the CL and FF thrown in. (I am ignoring the Tug, as I am focusing on the combat ships.) The CL and FF were added as the game developed, and the DN, CA, and DD were made before the game existed. As a result, all of these ships show the effects of when they were added to the game. As a thought exercise, I tried to "fix" each of the ships and make them more consistent with each other. Note that even though the CA is the basis for these alternative designs, there is still an alternative CA.
Alternative Dreadnought (DN-A): The weird DN is
explained as being an early dreadnought that wasn't updated
until the Federation was being swept up in the General War. This
DN assumes a more reasonable progression. The existing DN
becomes known as the DNE and the existing DN+ ceases to exist.
This DN becomes the DN, and its initial refit becomes the new
DN+. All following DNs (e.g. DNG, DNH) are unchanged. (ssd)
Alternative Command Cruiser (CC-A): This is just an
extension of the CA refit. This refit keeps the full CA refit,
rather than discarding the extra power. However, as the rear
hull is rather full, the extra power is added to the saucer.
This experience led to what they could accomplish later with the
battlecruiser hull. (ssd)
Alternative Heavy Cruiser (CA-A): This is fundamentally
the same as a CA, but the APR is located in the saucer, like it
is with the CC. (ssd)
Alternative Light Cruiser (CL-A): If the Federation
had decided not to continuously update the venerable sublight
cruiser, but instead replace it with a saucer equivalent, I
imagine that it would look like this. It is based on the
NCL, but is "un-refitted" to fit back into the past. It
has no drone rack, no APR, "normal" engines, and has unequal
shields.
The plus refit is a combination of the refits for the DD and
CA: it gets the side Ph-3s and Lab/AWR conversion of the
DD refit and the drone and upgraded rear shields of CA
refit. (ssd)
War Cruiser (CW-A): As the CL+ is not the equal of
the other empires' war cruisers, the Federation would have been
forced to introduce their own war cruiser. They would have taken
the CL+, given it "hot warp" engines and beefed up the
shields. The result is a ship which is identical to the
NCLa+, but with a different name.
Alternative Destroyer (DD-A): This is an attempt to
make a destroyer more in line with those of the other empires.
It has only two photons, and its refit includes a drone
rack. (ssd)
Alternative Frigate (FF-A): The Federation Frigate
has always felt wrong. To me, it has always been a
"modern" General War frigate that was "back-dated" to the Middle
Years days. If it had been introduced into the game at the
same time as the CA and DD, it most likely would have looked
different. It only takes two minor changes to fix the
problem: remove the Ph-3s and make the shields more
graduated. No line ship in the Federation fleet ever had
Ph-3s until fighters and relevant drones forced the issue.
They should be part of the refit, not the base ship. Also,
no early Federation ship has equal shields; the shields should
gradually reduce toward the rear. The refit is equivalent to the
FFG, which never gets made because it is just the refitted FF. (ssd)
Captured Ships
Captured Klingon D6 Destruction (CD6):
Since the "real" CD7 (what I called the D7F) was published in
CL23, I have decided to instead show what Kumerian's Destruction
would have looked like had it been converted instead of
returned. Note that at the time of the conversion, it
would have had the plus refit, but not the AWR refit. (ssd)
Captured Klingon D5 (CD5): Since I have a big thing
for war cruisers, here is the D5 converted to Federation
technology. Unlike the CD7, this ship is not markedly
superior to the Federation's war cruiser, but is roughly
comparable. (ssd)
Captured Klingon F5 (CF5): Probably the most likely
ship to be captured by the Federation, so I include it
here. (ssd)
Captured Romulan War Eagle (WE): Any "Eagle" ship
that Star Fleet captures and decides to convert is pretty much
guaranteed to be done as a King Eagle, as shown in CL27.
However, prior to the introduction of the King Eagle, or in the
cases were someone besides Star Fleet captures an "Eagle", they
may not be willing to fully convert the captured ship. In
such cases, any conversion will be done as cheaply as possible,
resulting in this ship. Sometimes photons may not be
available for the conversion, so, in such a case, two drone
racks would be used. This SSDs allows either configuration
to be used. (The ship must use either two photons or two
drone racks; it would not be configured with one of each
system.) This ship does not use a cloaking device. (ssd)
Captured Romulan Sparrowhawk (SPA): While the Firehawk
makes a very, very nice Federation ship, the Sparrowhawk
doesn't. Using the base conversion rules, it is left with two
photons and two drone racks. Not a very exciting weapons array
for a cruiser. A much better conversion converts all of
the plasma to photons. While I could try to convert two Ph-3
into drones (a la the RKL), I chose not to. The ship is
most likely to work on the Romulan border, so the absence of
drone racks shouldn't be a big deal. This ship does not use a
cloaking device. (base ssd) (photon ssd)
Captured Romulan Sparrowhawk Carrier (SPB): On the other
hand, having a split photon and drone armament works very well
for a carrier. This particular carrier has an added benefit in
that it carries 16 fighters to the battle, instead of just a
normal 12. This ship does not use a cloaking device. (ssd)
Purchased Hydran Knight (KN): The only known
surviving ship of the Hydrans' "Operation Federation" was a
Knight destroyer. It was too badly damaged to bother with,
this supposes it was converted for use by the Federation.
Presumably, the Federation would have paid for the hull somehow,
so as to make it a "purchased" ship, rather than a "captured"
ship. Note that it has three photons, rather than two, as
the Lancer's three fusion beams imply it has the room. Any
Federation conversion of a Lancer would likely end up looking
like this, too. (ssd)
Fighters
A-18 "Wasp" Fighter: With the
advent of Interceptors, the Federation had no adequate
response. Philosophically unwilling to commit to the use
of similar ships, the Federation had to come up with an
alternative. While the A-20 was initially thought to be
adequate in that role, it was determined to be too slow and too
difficult to field. (After all, there ended up being
only two ships in the entire fleet that carried
them: a single NVH and a single SCS.) What was
really needed was a mass produced fighter that could move fast
and still deliver a photon hit. The result is the A-18.
It is based on the design of the F-18, but replaces the two type
I drone rails with a single photon. While it is
effectively a variant of the F-18, it is not possible for one to
be converted to the other. Since it was not developed
until Y179 and did not enter mass production until Y181, it
functionally includes the "B" refit of the F-18, but was never
called the A-18B. It has 10 damage points, 2 type VI
drones, one chaff pack (it was not intended to dogfight), a Ph-3
and a single photon. The photon is, of course, limited to
a range of 12 hexes. Special rails where never
added. Speed is 15. DFR is 1. BPV is 11.
It could be deployed anywhere an F-18 could, but was primarily
used on NVSs. It replaces half of the original number of
F-18s on the carrier. In addition, the CVA could replace
its A-10s with A-18s. Other exceptions were the SCS which
never carried them as it already had A-20s and the AuxCVA and
CVA pod which typically only carried six A-18s instead of the
allowable twelve. Obviously, the fighter box for an A-18 would
have photon reloading capabilities. No escort is capable of
rearming an A-18s photon (though they can reload the drones).
A-18C: Replace the two light
rails with two standard rails in Y183. The A-18C was
fairly rare for several years as F-14s, F-15s and F-18s were all
refitted before A-18s.
Gunboats
The Federation never fielded gunboats. The stated reason was
because gunboats were suicide missions crew was assigned to,
whereas fighters (and bombers) were suicide missions crew
volunteered for. Whether that is a convincing enough argument is
up for debate, however, the numbers do justify the perspective.
A standard gunboat has a crew of 30, so a set of six of them
would have 180. With one of those being a leader, that would be
190. In comparison an entire squadron of 12 F-18s will have just
12 pilots and one EW officer (13 total). A squadron of F-101 or
F-111 will have just 6 pilots and 6 crew, for a total of 12.
That is a significant difference that adds up over time. Even if
you lose ten times as many fighter squadrons as gunboat
flotillas, you are still only losing two-thirds as many crew.
The difference is that big.
However, this hurt police and security forces. Gunboats were so
superior to skiffs and heavy shuttles, that civilian, police,
and security forces faced an economic disadvantage by not
employing them. Plus, the "loss of life" issue does apply in
this venue, as local forces will not see their gunboats go down
very often. (In fact, there might be even fewer, as it would
dissuade many minor raids, too.) Historically, they just sucked
it up and dealt with it. Below provides a way that they could
have worked around the limitation and prohibition of Star Fleet
to get gunboats.
The Federation police forces were extremely frustrated that
Star Fleet refused to allow the use of gunboats, which would
significantly improve their resources could they use them. Once
the police gunboat was approved, the fact that Star Fleet
refused to use gunboats actually became a bonus, as it means
that Star Fleet would not "steal" these forces, like they tended
to do with so many other police assets. Despite the resistance
of Star Fleet to the production of gunboats, the various police
forces were able to push this through.
There was no interceptor predecessor to this gunboat, as it took
so long to get the approvals to create the police gunboat that
the parameters of how gunboats were already well understood, and
the Federation could just leverage the experiences of the Kzinti
(and Orions).
This gunboat is designed on the outline of the ubiquitous police
cutter. It has a very standard design, but it sacrificed a
weapon system to include a transporter on the standard design.
The first link shows the standard version. The second link shows
the combat variants (drone, phaser, and escort). The third link
shows the standard utility variants (cargo, troop, etc.). (ssd1) (ssd2)
(ssd3)
X-Ships
I am not a big fan of X-ships and probably won't put too many
up on this website. However, these two variants were too
obvious and tempting to pass up on.
Advanced Light Cruiser (NLX): This is an X-version
of the NCL. Since, like all other light cruisers, is based
on the NCL, but is not a conversion. As such, the
Federation designers took the opportunity to add a few little
details to make it more general purpose. The primary
addition was to add a little more living space (hull) and to add
lab capabilities at the expense of some auxiliary power. (ssd)
Advanced New Cruiser (NCX): This basically takes the DDX
and adds an updated NCA rear hull. The number of boxes in the
rear hull is unchanged, but they are all X-systems. It uses a
uniform arrangement of three matching engines. Since the rear
hull systems appear to have a movement cost of 1/3, and the base
hull has a movement cost of 1/2, the whole ship has the unusual
movement rate of 5/6. While it has fewer phasers than the CX, it
has twice the drone racks. It uses the shields and electronics
of the CX. (ssd)
Advanced Destroyer (DDX): This is just a
single-engine variant of the DDX. It was never developed
as the two engine version had more power, but this version just
seems to be more aesthetically pleasing. (ssd)
Klingon
Hood (FCA): Assume that the Klingons managed to
capture the Hood, instead of just blowing it up.
(SH19.0) (As an aside, how was it not
captured? With 15 transporters between the three Klingon
ships, they should have captured the Hood!)
ADB published an SSD for a Fed CA captured and converted by the
Klingons in CL23. As a result, I have taken my Hood
SSD down.
Alternative Designs
It always seemed so odd that the smaller ships didn't mount
their disruptors on their engines, but instead mounted them in
the hull.
Alternative F5 (F5-A): When the disruptors are moved to
the engines, a little more space was opened up, allowing for a
redundant tractor. (ssd)
Alternative E4 (E4-A): When the disruptors are moved to
the engines, a little more space was opened up, allowing for a
redundant tractor. (ssd)
Captured Ships
Captured Federation Light Cruiser (FCL): As a
counterpart to the CD6 above, here is the Klingon conversion of
a CL. This results in a pretty interesting ship. (ssd)
Captured Federation New Light Cruiser (FNL): As a
counterpart to the CD5 above, here is the Klingon conversion of
an NCL. While weaker than the D5, it would still do an
acceptable job. (ssd)
Captured Federation Frigate (FFF): The most likely
ship to be captured by the Klingons, so I include it here.
(ssd)
Romulan
K9S Space Control Ship (K9S): At some point the Romulans probably considered converting the Behemoth into a Space Control Ship. They would not have bothered with the conversion into a CVA as they had plenty of other carriers they could use, and the addition of just fighters would not justify the cost of converting the K9R. However, once PFs were introduced, the Romulans probably did seriously consider converting the K9R into a K9S, but would only have done it if it needed serious repairs. (It probably still was not worth pulling an undamaged dreadnought in for a conversion.)
This ship basically just uses the rear deck house identical to that of a C8S. Note, however, that it still only has a single wing phaser as it is still based on the K9R, not the C8. Ideally it would be escorted by a KDE and two K5Es, but if they are not available, various other combinations would be acceptable. (ssd)
K9P Dreadnought (K9P): Going back to the idea that Romulan fighters are somewhat pointless, but their PFs are very powerful, here is a PF only version of the K9R. Rather than using the C8S/K9S as a basis, this is a direct modification of the K9R using the ROC as a model. This includes a pair mech links on the boom, and uses half of the copious shuttle bay to get room for the repair facilities. This conversion is a dramatically simpler conversion than the K9S. (ssd)
K5R-C Frigate (K5R-C): This is the KF5R from the old Commander's edition. The original KF5R had a single plasma G that was then upgraded to a plasma S with the B-refit. In Captain's edition, the plasma was reduced to a pair of Pl-Fs (which fit the SSD better). Also, the Captain's edition rules were changed to prevent a Pl-S from being mounted on a class 4 ship. I, however, always liked the old KF5R better than the new K5R, so here it is (including its Pl-S). (ssd)
K1 Gunboat (K1): The Romulans have a "KR" version of just about every other class of Klingon ship, but one was never done for the G1 gunboat. After making the conversion, I was quite impressed with how effective a PF it is. It has two Ph-1, a rear Ph-3, and three Pl-Fs with very wide arcs. These are very nice little ships. The first link shows the combat flotilla. The second link shows the utility variants (cargo, troop, etc.). (ssd) (ssd)
Captured Ships
Captured Federation New Light Cruiser (NCL): This is a straight conversion of the NCL. Oddly enough, as weak of a conversion as the CA is, this ship is quite strong. It has a stronger weapons suite than the SPA, and would be able to operate with them. Its only real weak points are its limited reserve power and low breakdown rating. (ssd)
Movie-style KR Ships
I always thought it was cool in the movies how the weapons were fired from the front of the boom. So here are versions of the KR ships with the plasmas in the nose. These are functionally equivalent to the real versions, but do add some minor variations because of arcs and weapons locations. I have only done the base classes; it does not take much to then extend the idea out to all of the various variants.
As a general rule, place the heaviest plasmas farthest forward. If there are secondary plasma, put it in the wing positions. Then move the displaced phasers to the engine mounts.
Alternative K9R (K9R-A): This places the Pl-R and
Pl-Ss up front; the Pl-Fs are in the wings. The phasers
are moved to the engines. Unlike the cruisers, the number
of phasers on the K9R-A and K9R are the same, but I had to keep
the wing phasers, in addition to adding the Pl-Fs, to do
this. Without the B refit, delete the shaded shield boxes
and reduce the Pl-Ss to Pl-Gs with LF-L and RF-R arcs. (ssd)
Alternative K7R (K7R-A): This places the two Pl-Ss
up front and the Pl-Fs in the wings. The phasers are put
on the engines. The K7R-A loses a phaser over the standard
version. This is because the K7R gains a "box" on each
engine (for the plasma F), but the K7R-A only gains a single
"box" (in the boom). Without the B refit, deleted the
shaded shield boxes and reduce the Pl-Ss to Pl-Gs with the FA
arc. (ssd)
Alternative KR (KR-A): This places the two Pl-Gs up
front. The phasers are put on the engines. The KR-A
gains a phaser because of this, but the forward phasers end up
with slightly worse arcs. This is because the KR-A gains a
"box" in the boom (the two Pl-Ss take up four "boxes", but the
phasers only take up three "boxes"). The B refit (not
shown) increases the 3-4-5 shields to 22 boxes and change the
plasmas to Pl-S with FP arcs. (ssd)
Alternative KDR (KDR-A): This, ironically, gives
the ship a more conventional plasma arrangement of 1x Pl-S and
2x Pl-F instead of the standard KDR's 2x Pl-S. The Pl-S
replaces the forward phasers, and each Pl-F replaces a wing
phaser. All displaced phasers are put on the
engines. I gave the phasers the same arcs the disruptors
have on the D5. This ship effectively includes the B
refit. (ssd)
Alternative K5R (K5R-A): This results in a purely
cosmetic change. The Pl-Fs are moved to the nose and the
forward phasers are moved to the wings. Without the B
refit, deleted the shaded shield boxes. (ssd)
Heavy Plasma KR Ships
Going a step further, you can end up with a true revamping of the Kestrel fleet. Figure that the Romulans would tend toward what they currently know (heavy plasma) and only made the full transition to "standard plasma" with the Third Generation. Doing so, you end up with the following ships. (The KDR would not change.)
Alternative K9R (K9R-B): Make the same changes as
in the K9R-A, but replace the two Pl-Ss with another Pl-R.
Then put the Pl-Rs in the positions of the Pl-Ss on the K9R-A,
giving them split arcs. This also leaves the two nose
Ph-1s in place, and so does not have any phasers in the
wings. The other phasers are moved to the engines.
Again, the number of phasers on the K9R-B and K9R are the
same. Without the B refit, delete the shaded shield boxes.
(ssd)
Alternative KRC (KRC-B): Move the Pl-Ss to the nose
of the boom and combine them into a single Pl- R. The
Pl-Fs are moved to the wing positions and two Ph-1s are
positioned on each engine mounts. The Pl-D racks and waist
phasers are unchanged. There is no B/L refit. (ssd)
Alternative K7R (K7R-B): This has the same plasma
arrangement as the KRC-B. Without the B refit, deleted the
shaded shield boxes. (ssd)
Alternative KR (KR-B): Replace the two Pl-Gs with a
single Pl-R. Without the B refit, delete the shaded shield
boxes. (ssd)
Alternative KDR (KDR-B): The alternative KDRs are
the same. By using the Pl-S and the two Pl-Fs, it has
already been built around the biggest plasma torpedo the ship
can carry. See the KDR-A.
Alternative K5R (K5R-B): This gets a heavy plasma
up front and moves the phasers to the wings. The overall power
is pretty equivalent because I have violated the rules by making
the heavy plasma a Pl-S. While this against the rules, this is a
truly imaginary ship, and the Pl-S just works better. If
necessary, just downgrade the Pl-S to a Pl-G. Without the B
refit, change the plasma to a fixed Pl-G with an FA arc, and
remove the shaded shield boxes. (ssd)
Kzinti
Heavy Cruiser Carrier (CVB): The more I look at the CVL,
the more I realize how the Kzinti got completely screwed on
their CA carrier. While it was a reasonable counterpart to
the D6V and CVT, by the time of the D7V, Lyran carriers, and Fed
CVS/NVS, it is completely outclassed. While it is probably too
"cookie-cutter", the Kzintis probably aught to have a wartime 12
fighter carrier on the CA hull.
The fighter bay is expanded on this ship and the rear pylons
that were mysteriously removed on the CVL were put back.
(Why were they removed!?) (ssd)
Purchased Federation Ships
At the beginning of the General War, the Kzintis were
dramatically running out of ships. While it didn't happen,
it was quite possible the Federation would have just outright
sold the Kzintis some of their own hulls so the Kzintis could
field more warships. (In the end, the Federation ended up
just funnelling them funds which the Kzintis used to make their
own ships.) Had ships been sold to the Kzinti, they would
have simply been the NCL and FF (the two ships that were
mass-produced by the Federation).
Purchased NCL (FNL): This is a Federation NCL
converted to use by the Kzintis. The phaser suite was
reduced, but disruptors and drones were added. It is
roughly comparable to the Kzinti CM, but the CM has more
firepower. They didn't number the refit, and just called
it a "plus" refit. (ssd)
Purchased FF (FFF): This is a Federation FF
converted to use by the Kzintis. Again, the phaser suite
was reduced. Also the APR in the refit was changed to
another drone. (ssd)
Gorn
PF Dreadnought (DNP): The Gorns never really
subscribed to the use of fighters. So I would have
expected to see this type of dreadnought instead of an
SCS. There are several advantages of a PF-only
dreadnought. First, it is cheaper to make. Unlike
the SCS or CVA, this is made within an unaltered DN hull;
the other two require extensive modifications to the DN hull to
fit in the carrier bays. Second, it doesn't have to carry
around marginally effective fighters. Finally, it is no
longer required to be escorted by two or three toothless
vessels; the carrier escorts that would otherwise be
required can now be replaced with actual warships. This is
a true PFT. (ssd)
Dreadnought Carrier (DNV): The Gorns never made a
CVA, but could have easily deployed a "dreadnought carrier",
which carries a single squadron of fighters. The advantage
of this is that with the sacrifice of a single transporter, the
dreadnought gets the extra firepower of a squadron of
fighters. However, as the hull is not "stretched" or
"widened" or massively altered in some other way, it is easily
constructed for little additional cost over a standard DN.
(Or is easily and quickly converted from a DN.) While it
is not required, it would have the same escorts as the CVA.
It has a single, tunnel bay (J1.59) with three balcony positions
on each side. (ssd)
PF Heavy Battlecruiser (BCP): Using the above
rationale, the Gorns could also make a PF-only BCH instead of a
BCS. The first benefit above really comes into play
because the hull of the BCS is massively altered. This
just uses a standard BCH hull, but with new wings. This is
a true PFT. (ssd)
Armed Tug (TGA): I have never understood why anyone
would be so blindly stupid as to not only replace a Pl-G or Pl-S
with a single tractor beam, but to do it twice. How many
tractors does a tug need? Five seems a bit much.
This puts the normal CL wings back onto the tug. (ssd)
Gunfighter Battle Destroyer (GBD): With the
introduction of the gunfighter frigates in CL28, I started to
wonder what a gunfighter battle destroyer would look like.
Seeing as the Gorns are willing to slap a rear disk on just
about any other DD variant to make a BDD variant, why not this
one? Interestingly, the BDD design already has so much APR
crammed into it, this design only gains a single APR. It does,
however, gain several weapons. (ssd)
Carronade Cruiser (HDF): The carronade functionality of
the Pl-F was a useful feature that some admirals and fleet
captains valued more highly than most. These leaders where able
to get a conversion of opportunity done to a handful of heavy
destroyers for use against cloaked opponents. This was simply a
standard HDD that had its Pl-S replaced by a pair of Pl-F. This
gave it a plasma load out of a total of four Pl-F, giving it
ample opportunity to make use of the carronade function. (ssd)
Heavy Fighter Gorns
I have always thought it odd that the Gorns would depend so
totally on a foreign empire to pilot all of their fighter craft.
It would seem that they would attempt to minimize that as much
as possible. As long as they have to field single-space
fighters, they don't have a choice, however. And, throughout
their history, that would be the case. However, with the
introduction of heavy fighters, they would be able to
signficantly change the equation. This would make the Gorns into
the "heavy fighter" empire.
Ideally, the Gorns would be a PF-heavy empire, as they hate
fighters and need attrition units. Unfortunately, they get
PFs behind everyone else. However, this feeds into the
idea above, as it forces them to make much heavier use of heavy
fighters during the half-decade gap between the introduction of
heavy fighters and PFs. And, even after the introduction of PFs,
they would continue to be the one empire that makes significant
use of heavy fighters.
When the Federation introduced the Gorns to fighters, the Gorns understood the need, but didn't like them because they couldn't fly them. They had to hire Federation mercenaries to fly for them. Plus, the Federation only sold them fighters after having fulfilled their own needs first. So, when they were introduced to the idea of heavy fighters, they quickly took to it. After designing the G-30 and G-40, and realizing they could easily be configured to accept a Gorn pilot, the Gorns quickly retrofitted their fleet to make use of the heavy fighters.
All carriers are converted to carry 6 heavy fighters instead of
12 single-space fighters. (The CVA would carry 12 heavy
fighters in violation of normal rules. The SCS would carry 6
heavy fighters and 6 PFs in violation of the normal
rules.) The BDV and HDW also carry heavy fighters, but
only have partial squadrons because of their smaller size.
Most carriers made use of the G-30, however the supply of G-30s
was sometimes insufficient, and they would have to make due with
G-40s. Also, carriers that only carried superiority fighters
(e.g. HDV or auxiliary carriers) always carried G-40s, not
G-30s. As quickly as the supplies would allow, bases were also
converted over to the G-30s, with each hanger module being
configured to hold 3 G-30s. (Hanger modules so configured
would only be deployed in pairs.) Again, however, supplies of
G-30s were not as much as desired, and many bases had to operate
with G-40s for the entire war.
Purchased Federation Ships
The Gorns don't have much of a production schedule, and the
HDD is a pretty light war cruiser. If the Federation had wanted
to, they probably could have supplied some NCL hulls to the
Gorns to be converted to their use. They wouldn't have bothered
with the FF, as the BDD (and even the DD) is better than
anything they could convert from a Federation FF. That is
definitely not the case for the NCL.
Purchased NCL (FNL): This is a Federation NCL
converted to use by the Gorns. The weapons were converted as
described in the Fed/Romulan Anarchist article, but with one
exception. The rear drone rack, instead of being converted to
hull, is instead converted to a rear firing plasma torpedo.
Also, the marine contingent and shuttle arrangement reflects the
Gorn preferences. (ssd)
Tholian
Disruptor Dreadnought (DN): I never fully understood why
the Tholians could replace a pair of Ph-3s with a pair of
photons, but couldn't do it with disruptors. This ship assumes
that the lessons with the photons allow them to use disruptors,
too. The DN is just a DP with disruptors in place of the
photons, giving a total of six disruptors. (I used the
"corrected" hull form from CL29.) (ssd)
Space Control Ship (SCS): This takes the CVA to its
full extreme to be a Space Control Ship. The wonderful
thing about the CVA is that it already has the 6 tractor
beams. One option was to just put mech links on the
tractors and have an SCS with no repair. Instead I deleted
some systems to make room for a minimal repair suite. And
since the fighter bays are all external, I just left them, so it
retains the full 24 fighters. (The fighters are mounted
forward in the center, and on the sides. The PFs are
mounted on the bottom and the top rear.) (ssd)
Orion
Heavy PF Tender (CPF): Instead of wasting time
converting obsolete CAs into carriers, they should have made
them into PF Tenders instead. First, it is cheaper and
easier to produce (just add mech links and stuff the cargo with
repair equipment). Second, it is far more
effective. The CPF can be used either offensively with a
full weapons load in addition to the PFs, or in a support
role. In the support role it would usually carry two
special sensors, a drone rack and an ADD rack. (Two drones
racks would be used if the ship also had OAKDISC.) Only
PFs in the last two positions can be repaired. This is a
true PFT. (ssd)
Super Salvage Cruiser (SSL): This takes the
improvements of the SGS, but doesn't use the fighters or
PFs. It simply performs the role of a Salvage Cruiser, but
with the bigger hull and engines. (ssd)
Super PF Tender (SPT): This takes the improvements
of the SGS, but it only carries PFs. There are no
fighters. The beauty of this ship is that it can now do
what a real Orion is supposed to do: capture cargo. It is
a full PFT, with repair, but also has a very (for an Orion)
spacious cargo hold where lots of loot can be kept. This
can be considered the perfection of Orion design in their
original role. Because of its utility, it would rarely
used in the mercenary role. (Unlike the SGS, which is used
almost exclusively in the mercenary role.) (ssd)
Super Salvage Carrier (SSV): This takes the improvements
of the SGS, but it only carries fighters. It is a true
carrier, with a full squadron of 12 fighters, but still has as
much cargo space as the original Salvage Cruiser. (While
nice, the SPT is a much better use of the hull.) (ssd)
Heavy Cruiser - Hydran (CAH): Despite the difficulties of
operating as such, Hydran pirates did exist. And there were more
of them than might have otherwise been expected. One of them
dreamed of the day they could rise high enough to command an
enforcer ship of their own. Had they been able to do so, they
would have refitted the life support systems to be
Hydran-normative and eliminated the drone racks from the design.
Unfortunately, they were never able to rise higher than the
captain of a fusion-armed LR before their untimely demise. This
is what was envisioned. The drone racks are replaced with fusion
beams, and each pair of phaser-3s is replaced with a single
phaser-G. (No option mount could carry a phaser-G, limiting the
total to these two.) They would never have used drone racks, and
the removal of the integral drone racks made adding any back
nonsensical. (ssd)
Heavy Cruiser - Lyran (CAL): There arose a Lyran enforcer
captain in the Daven cartel that was able to convince their
crime boss to do a little customizing on their enforcer CA. This
ship trades out their drone racks for ESGs. However, since ESGs
can't be mounted in the wings of Orion ships, the swap is a
little more complicated. This change cuts the phaser-3 armament
in half, but that is more than made up for by the presence of
the ESGs and their arcs do improve. It also adds in two mech
links to carry gunboats when the opportunity arises. While this
conversion was successful enough to not be changed back, even
after the Lyran captain who instigated the modification moved
on, the ship remained unique. A third ESG cannot be mounted in
the forward option mounts. (ssd)
Hydran
All new Hydran ships presented here have no "class names". There are so many, I don't know them all, and, if I do pick an unused one, it will probably be used for something else. Consequently, I will just go with a more standard class description for my Hydran ships.
Combo Medium Cruiser (CMC): A medium cruiser version of
the Cheyenne, it sports both fusion and hellbores. Since it has
to have an odd number, it favors the hellbore. It also trades
two APR back for two fighters. There are no launch tubes, as
they are irrelevant with only two fighters and two shuttle bays.
A middle ground between the Mongol and Tartar. (ssd)
Armed Medium Carrier (CMV): An armed variant of the
Cossack. It reduces its fighter group to a more standard twelve
fighters, but gets the full weapons suite of a Mongol. Which is
better depends on what is wanted from a Hydran carrier. (ssd)
Armed Destroyer Carrier (DDV) An armed variant of the
Uhlan. It reduces its fighter group to a more typical size,
though it uses an unusual ten fighters, but gets the full
weapons suite of a Lancer. Which is better depends on what is
wanted from a Hydran carrier. (ssd)
War Destroyer Carrier (DVW): A version of the DWV that
removes the fusions for more fighters. The mobile carrier is an
"odd duck" in the Hydran fleet because it is the only carrier
smaller than a heavy battlecruiser that retains its heavy
weapons. Plus it has a remarkably small fighter group for its
hull size. (It is the same as other mobile carriers, whereas
other Hydran carriers carry more fighters than other empires'
carriers on equivalent hull sizes.) Taking out the fusions
allows the other systems, down to the hull, to be pushed fore,
allowing for a bigger shuttle bay. It now carries a full
squadron of 12 fighters, and the shuttle bay adds in a handful
of launch tubes. (ssd)
Armed Tug (TGA): This is a Caravan with some
weapons. It sacrifices some internal cargo space to put
the weapons back in. It has the same weaponry and power as
a Ranger, but only has a third of the fighters. It only
has fusions, as I figure the Hydrans wouldn't put any of their
fairly scarce hellbores on a support ship. Plus, the fusions
would scare just about anything short of a full warship. (ssd)
Hellbore Fleet
With the official Hydrans, the hellbore weapon is used sparingly and rarely. Their primary focus is always on the fusion beam; both on ships and on their innumerable fighters. However, what if the Hydrans focused on the hellbore to the exclusion of fusions and fighters? What if they made a much more conventional fleet? As a thought exercise, I decided to try and find out.
I mainly focus on the leaders, as they are the only ships with mixed weaponry. All of the non-leader ships are hellbore only and, with the exception of the new and old heavy cruisers, carry no fighters. In this conversion, the general rule is that fusions are turned into phasers and fighter boxes are deleted. Fighters are occasionally turned to power, but only when noted below. While it is tempting to change at least some of the fighters into power, I felt that was "dishonest". The power curve of the ships remains the same; the weapons just become much more effective.
I didn't make class names for any of the ships. Instead I just refer to them as the standard classes they are, but with an "H" in front to designate that they are part of the hellbore fleet.
Dreadnought (HDN): Based on the standard Paladin, it
gets the six hellbores it should have always had. The other two
fusions are turned into phasers. Some of the fighters are
exchanged for extra power and some for shuttles, and the rest
are deleted. (ssd)
Heavy Battlecruiser (HBC): Based on the Overlord, it
exchanges its fusions for phasers, changes half the fighters to
shuttles, and deletes the other half. This ship is now the ship
it was always born to be. It is absolutely devastating. (ssd)
Command Cruiser (HCC): Based on the Lord Bishop, it
exchanges its fusions for phasers and deletes the fighters. (ssd)
Heavy Cruiser (HCA): The Dragoon is almost the
perfect model for what I am trying for, except that it has three
fighters. This variation simply removes the fighters (and their
boxes) from the ship (which is how it is almost always used,
anyway). (ssd)
New Command Cruiser (HNCC): Based on the
Iroquois Chieftain, it simply removes the fighters, but keeps
the shuttle boxes (giving the same number of shuttles as the
HNCA). (ssd)
New Heavy Cruiser (HNCA): Based on the Iroquois, it simply
deletes the fighters (just like the Dragoon). (ssd)
Medium Command Cruiser (HMCC): Based on the Apache, it
exchanges its fusions for phasers. It already doesn't have any
fighters. (ssd)
Medium Cruiser (HCM): A standard Tartar.
Light Command Cruiser (HLCC): Based on the Baron, it
exchanges fusions for phasers, and deletes the fighters. (ssd)
Light Cruiser (HCL): A standard Traveler.
War Destroyer Leader (HDWL): Based on the Lion Hunter. It
exchanges its fusions for phasers, and deletes its fighters. A
wonderful little ship that you wish could have a third hellbore.
(ssd)
War Destroyer (HDW): A standard Rhino Hunter.
Destroyer Leader (HDL): Based on the Warrior. It
exchanges its fusions for phasers, and deletes its fighters.
(The SSD may not look like that, as some extra rearranging of
the boxes was done.) This makes an amazing Hydran destroyer with
six Ph-1s and the power to use its hellbores. (ssd)
Destroyer (HDD): A standard Knight.
Frigate Leader (HFL): Based on the Crusader. It swaps it
fusions for phasers. It only has Ph-2s, but with six and a
hellbore, it packs a pretty good punch none the less. (ssd)
Frigate (HFF): A standard Cuirassier.
Captured Klingon D7 (HD7): This is an optimized D7H. It
removes the fighters and fusions, and changes the rear security
into a much needed APR. It also gets the full shield refit. (ssd)
The above only focuses on the main combat fleet elements. While
the causal fighters are all removed, dedicated carriers would
still need to exist, and they would use standard Stinger fighter
groups, with most using fusions and a couple per squadron with
hellbores. Outside the very large carriers (like the Iron Duke
and Overseer) which can effectively deploy hellbores, most
carriers will accentuate the fighter group and lack any heavy
weapons. So, carriers like the Cavalier, Cossack, Uhlan, and
Sythian would be completely unchanged. Meanwhile the Vampire
Hunter would trade out its fusion beams for more fighters, as
with the DVW above. The escorts would not change and any that
carry additional fighters would continue to do so. So, even
though their main fleet wouldn't be causal carriers, they would
still use a lot of Stingers in their fleets. They would just be
carrier (and escort) based, with those carriers carrying more
fighters that are typical for their class.
On the other hand, all auxiliary ships and police ships would
still use fusion beams. They are serving a different function,
so the fusion beams suit their functions quite well. Besides,
they just don't have the power required to operate hellbores.
The Gendarme would not carry casual fighters. Auxiliaries
occasionally would. Some Hunters would also exist, but purely
for use by the police forces.
An increased number of hellbore armed gunboats would be
operated with fleet elements, but the bulk would still be armed
with fusions. Most bases and all police and auxiliary type
operations would simply use fusion armed gunboats.
Lyran
Gunfighter War Destroyer (GDW): The Lyrans really love to make trimarans out of catamarans, whether they are needed or not. (Even more than Gorns love to add rear disks.) So, if they ever really did make any gunfighter frigates, it is almost guaranteed they would at least try to make a gunfighter war destroyer. Interestingly, this ship does not gain any more disruptors than the GFF, but it does get more Ph-1s and lots more power. (ssd)
Flivver
PF Tender (PFT): The Flivver PFT is based on the CW
hull. While it loses its hyperdrone racks, it gains special
sensors and a full PF flotilla. (ssd)
Destroyer PF Tender (DPF): The Flivver DPF is based on
the ubiquitous DW. Like the full size PFT, it trades out its own
weapons for special sensors and the firepower of a PF flotilla.
(ssd)
Fast Patrol Ship (PF): The Flivver PF is a straight
application of standard Flivver design. The center warp engine
provides hoverwarp power, but the booster packs do not. As a
result, the PFs are somewhat more limited in their ability to
use hoverwarp. Standard hyperdrone racks are just too large to
put into such a small hull, so a smaller version of the rack was
designed. The smaller rack has only two magazines and only four
rounds per magazine. Other than its size and capacity, it works
exactly like a full sized hyperdrone rack. As with drone armed
PFs, the Flivver PF is incapable of reloading its own racks; all
reloads are done by the tender. (ssd)
Page last modified Wednesday, 01/19/23.