Consortium Aegis class Area Defense Missile Ship:

Although the Archer Class Battlecruiser gave the CAF a potent weapon against the Kreeghors new Defiler and Eradicator cruisers, in one way it was not a very efficient weapon: It was too powerful, and did not carry the right weapons mix and was rather too expensive to use as a escort for other ships.

To fulfill the need for a ship which could provide missile support for a carrier group, the CAF design bureau took the basic hull design of the Archer, and redesigned its weapon compliment to be centered around Long Range Missile Launchers. Incidentally the fitting of long range missile launchers in capital missile launcher fittings meant that space was left over, meaning that maintenance of the long range missile launchers is much easier. The large parts commonality between the Archer and the Aegis classes also aids in lowering costs and improves logistics.

The Aegis looks like almost exactly like a Archer Battlecruiser (upon which it was based), with most of the exterior of the ship looking exactly the same. Just like with the Archer the most prominent feature of the Aegis class is the large amount of missile bay covering hatches on the ships hull, and since the hatches covering the missile bays were NOT redesigned, some of the long range missile launchers lie behind the huge hatches designed for cruise missile launchers. The only way to distinguish a Aegis from a Archer is to look at the ships beam weaponry, for here the two ships have very different emplacements. Not visible is the fact that the armor is slightly inferior to those on the Archer Battlecruiser although shields remain the same.

Just as with the Archer class much of the ships interior has been given over to cavernous missile bays and magazines, but more room was left for fighters, powered armors and especially freight. A item which is similar is the lack of extensive recreational areas in the ship, despite the complaints that this got from the evaluation and regular crews of the Archer class battlecruiser. This may actually signal the return to totally combat orientated ships, and a leaner, more streamlined CAF. Especially compared to some of the HAFN and early Wolfen designs, the CAF warships had become more and more luxurious (for warships that is....) in the last centuries.

The ships engines are copies of the ones fitted into the new Champion class cruiser, as these have been found to perform well, and are very size efficient. The difference is that six of them had to be fitted to give the ship enough power and acceleration. A bonus to this is that because so much of the ships weaponry is missile based, relatively more power is available for the engines.

The ship is quite large, but as has been remarked, most of that size is to fit the huge load of missiles. The ships main battery consists of two heavy Graser cannons which have good power and range, enabling the ship to fight frigates and corvettes, as only one or two hits will destroy such small craft. Even cruisers will think twice before getting caught by these weapons. Its secondary weaponry are eight graser cannons, which give the ship the ability to fight corvettes and frigates at lower ranges too. Lastly it has four heavy mass drivers, enabling the ship to hold its own against targets that are impervious to energy as well.

The real armament are the missile launchers, and here the ship excels: It has only two capital scale missile launchers, these weapons are for ship to ship combat, and give the heavy escort a reasonable long range punch. The real armament is a series of no less than sixteen long range missile batteries. In addition to being capable of being used for ship to ship combat, these missiles give the Aegis the ability to provide anti fighter and anti cruise missile fire for a entire carrier group, and this is their main purpose. To this end, half of all long range missiles carried are fitted as Multi Warhead missiles, allowing the engagement of enormous amounts of fighters and missile volleys. All of these weapons are normally covered by large hatches that swing open to allow them to fire.

For its own defense the ship carries eight medium range missile launchers, and for point defense it carries sixteen GR-1000 railguns, sixteen particle beam cannons, and surprisingly, six tachyon scatter beams. This configuration of its point defense is the second test by CAF engineers to see if this array, previously only found on ships build or designed by the New Coventry shipyards (and on the Archer), is truly more effective than the usual mix of railguns, particle beams and mini-missile launchers that CAF ships carry. A added bonus is that this array has much longer range than the standard CAF Point Defense array, and this assists the ship in its role as escort and protector for other ships.

For its size the ship carries surprisingly few fighters, but this should not be much of a hindrance, as it is expected to be operated close to carriers most of the time. Three squadrons of light and two squadrons of medium fighters, coupled with six heavy fighters make up the ships entire compliment. Much of the room for the extra fighters came from the fact that two of the cruise missile mounts from the Archer are empty, with no corresponding LRM launcher to fill their place. The room that was freed was used for the enlargement of the hangar and the cargo space. Its marine and power armor compliment are also rather small, with only 220 marines and 24 Silverhawks, and this too is simply because so much of the ship is magazines and launchers. There simply is not as much interior to defend as one would expect! No Battlerams are carried, as these would be useless at most of the ships combat ranges and missions.

The last, but certainly not the least part of the ships arsenal is the Battlelink Main Control System with which all ships in the class will be equipped. Since the Aegis class are meant to work in concert with other large ships, at relatively low ranges, it was decided that the Main Battlelink computers would be a standard addition to the class.

This starship design uses modified starship speed and range rules. See Revised Starship Rules for Phase World / Three Galaxies for more details.

Model Type: ADS-1.

Vehicle Type: Area Defense Missile Ship.

Crew: 515 (45 Officers, 470 enlisted).

Troops: 220 Marines (Typically 80 stay on board for ship defense), 108 fighter pilots, 24 silverhawk pilots, and can carry up to 500 passengers in addition.

Vehicle, Robots, and Power Armors:

Power Armors:

SH-CCW100 Silverhawk Attack ExoSkeleton.

Fighter Compliment:

	18	CAF SF-69 CAF Scorpion Star Interceptor.
	12	BIF-67 Katana Starfighters or SF-101 Black Eagle Starfighters.
	6	CAF LRF-25 Proctor Heavy Fighters.

M.D.C. By Location:

	25 cm heavy Graser cannons (2):	1,500 each.
	15 cm Support Graser cannons (8):	1,200 each.
	Heavy Mass Drivers (4, 2 forward and 1 on each side):	1,200 each.
	GR-1000 Gravity Rail Gun Turrets (16):	200 each.
	Point Defense Particle Beam Cannons (16):	150 each.
	Tachyon Scatter Beams (6):	200 each.
	Cruise Missile Batteries (2):	1,000 each.
	Long Range Missile Batteries (16):	600 each.
	Medium Range Missile Launchers (8):	500 each.
	Outer Hull (40 ft/ 12.2 m Area):	200.
	Inner Hull (40 ft/ 12.2 m Area):	125.
	[1] Bridge:	20,000.
	[1] Auxiliary Bridge:	20,000.
	Hanger Bay:	20,000.
	[2] Main Engines (6):	15,000 each.
	[3] Main Body:	150,000.
	[4] Variable Force Field:	12,000 a side (72,000 Total).

Notes:

[1] In reality this is how much damage needs to be done for a weapon to hit the bridge through the ship’s armor. This ship also has an auxiliary bridge. Even if both bridges are taken out, the ship can still be piloted from engineering but ship is -3 to dodge and all weapon systems will be at local control. Weapon hits near the bridge that do not penetrate the ships integrity can injure crew members on or near the bridge.

[2] Destroying the main engines means that the ship’s faster than light systems are destroyed and maximum sublight speed is reduced by half.

[3] Depleting the M.D.C. of the main body will put the battlecruiser out of commission. All internal systems will shut down, including life support and internal gravity. The ship itself will be an unsalvageable floating wreck.

[4] Shields positions can be varied and all could be combined in one shield. Shields regenerate at the rate of 5% (3,600 M.D.C.) per melee round.

Speed:

Driving on the Ground: Not Possible.

Sublight: Has a special sublight engine that allows the ship to travel up to 60 percent of the speed of light. Star Ship can accelerate/decelerate at the rate of 1.1 percent of light per melee.

Atmospheric Propulsion: Maximum speed is 450 mph (724 kph), can enter an atmosphere and can leave but is not designed for atmospheric flight.

Stardrive: Uses a Gravitonic Drive system that allows the ship to reach a maximum of 6 lightyears per hour.

Maximum Range: Effectively Unlimited by either Drive system. Carries about one years worth of supplies on board.

Statistical Data:

Length: 2,750 feet (825 meters).

Height: 620 feet (186 meters).

Width: 513 feet (154 meters).

Mass/Weight: 5.2 million tons (4.7 million metric tons).

Power System: Anti-Matter with a 50 year life span. The ship normally only goes 10 years between refueling and refitting. Backed up with emergency fusion plants.

Cargo: Cargo holds are scattered about the ship that allows for carrying up to 60,000 tons (54,400 metric tons) of cargo in addition to standard compliment of supplies and ammunition. Each enlisted crew member has a small locker for personal items and uniforms. Ship’s officers have more space for personal items. Most of the ship’s spaces are taken up by extra ammunition, armor, troops, weapons, engine, and other equipment.

Market Cost: An Aegis will cost approximately 11 billion credits to build. No ships are available on the black market, and the CAF will not sell them to member states of the CCW. Cost does not include embarked craft.

WEAPON SYSTEMS:

Two (2) 25 cm Heavy Graser Cannons: Grazer cannons use focused gamma radiation and are very powerful. The weapon mounts have about a 25% increase in both range and damage over standard laser cannons of the same size. These mounts are slightly less powerful than the main battery but are quite powerful and any ship caught in the cannons fire will regret the situation very quickly. Like the main battery, these cannons are capable of destroying frigates in one hit or quickly crippling heavier vessels. The cannons are mounted in the sides of the ship. Batteries can be fired up to 180 degrees toward the rear on either side (can only fire one cannon at a target at that angle but can spin to be able to bring both batteries to bear) and can fire at a 45 degree angle up or down. Weapon has standard penalties to hit fighters and small targets for large starship weaponry. The weapon system cannot be used to engage targets while traveling at faster than light velocities.

Maximum Effective Range: 125,000 miles (201,000 km) in space and 125 miles (201 km) in an atmosphere.

Mega Damage: 1D6x1000 M.D.C. each and both can be combined for a total of 2D6x1000.

Rate of Fire: Maximum of two (2) times per melee per cannon.

Payload: Effectively Unlimited.
Eight (8) 15 cm Graser Cannons: Grazer cannons use focused gamma radiation and are very powerful. The weapon mounts have about a 25% increase in both range and damage over standard laser cannons of the same size. These cannons are the support battery of the ship and while quite powerful, they do not have the incredible firepower of the main battery of the heavy cruisers except when fired together. Four cannons are mounted on the top of the ship and four cannons are mounted on the bottom of the ship. Batteries can be fired up to 180 degrees toward the rear on either side and can fire at a 90 degree angle up or down. Weapon has standard penalties to hit fighters and small targets for large starship weaponry. The weapon system cannot be used to engage targets while traveling at faster than light velocities.

Maximum Effective Range: 20,000 miles (32,200 km) in space and 20 miles (32.2 km) in an atmosphere.

Mega Damage: 3D6x100 M.D.C. each, two can be combined for a total of 6D6x100, three may be combined for a total of 9D6x100, and four may be combined for 12D6x100.

Rate of Fire: Maximum of two (2) times per melee per cannon.

Payload: Effectively Unlimited.
Four (4) 20 cm Heavy Mass Drivers: This weapon replaced the heavy G-Cannon turrets because the G-Cannons did not inflict enough damage on targets and when ships are against other ships that had the spell impervious to energy, the problem was a severe handicap. A new weapon system was developed around the concept of firing a massive high density projectile at a target at incredible velocity. The projectile masses around half a ton and relies on pure kinetic energy instead of explosives.

The weapon system is not unguided but instead has limited maneuverability using a low powered contra-grav system. Guidance is through a relatively short range tachyon guidance system (Gives +3 to strike.) Because of the low maneuverability of the projectile, it has standard penalties to hit small targets such as fighters, power armors, and missiles. When projectile reaches maximum range, it is no longer guided but can be used effectively against unmoving targets in a similar manner to missiles (has same penalties.) The projectile is slower than light speed and cannot be used effectively when the starship is traveling at faster than the speeds of light.

In addition to a single heavy anti-starship projectile, the mass drive can fire a larger projectile containing eight smaller kinetic kill projectiles. Like the full scale projectile, each smaller projectile is guided and is extremely effective against smaller target such as missiles, power armors, and fighters. These smaller projectiles are extremely useful as additional point defense against missiles. These projectiles are also guided by a relatively short range tachyon guidance system (Gives +3 to strike.) Unlike missiles, volleys of four or more of these projectiles can be dodged. So that projectiles can be fired through an atmosphere, the main projectile casing is fitted with a heat shield - half damage from plasma type weapons. Single solid projectiles have 80 M.D.C. and the smaller sub caliber projectiles have 10 M.D.C. each.

Each mass driver is mounted in a special turrets that are partially recessed into the ship’s hull. The turrets have a limited firing arc. Each has a 30 degree arc of fire. Two mounts are in the front of the ship and one mounts is on the sides of the ship. The ship will make radical side turns to allow the side launchers to fire forward if on a direct approach to the target.

Maximum Effective Range: 20,000 miles (32,200 km) in space with range of 40 miles (64.4 km) in an atmosphere.

Mega Damage: Standard Kinetic Projectiles: 2D6x100+200 M.D.C. each (optional rule is that projectiles gets a critical on a natural 18, 19, or 20 due to its high penetration.) Sub-Caliber Kinetic Projectiles: 2D6x10 M.D.C. per projectile (8 smaller projectiles per larger projectile - optional rule is that projectiles gets a critical on a natural 18, 19, or 20 due to its high penetration.)

Rate of Fire: Maximum of four per melee (Each larger projectile when loaded with sub caliber kinetic projectiles has eight projectiles.)

Payload: 100 projectiles for each mass driver (400 total) -Usually 60 standard and 40 sub-caliber loaded projectiles per mass driver.
Sixteen (16) GR-1000 Heavy Point Defense Rail Guns: Gravity rail guns are in turrets that can rotate 360 and has a 180 arc of fire. The GR-1000 Rail Guns both are more powerful and have more range than the conventional rail guns and are the same rail guns which is carried in the C.A.F. Scorpion Starfighter. Considered extremely effective even compared to other gravity rail guns. Even so, the mounts are not really for use against capital ships but can devastate a fighter quickly. They are also extremely effective against targets which are imperious to energy. When used in space, projectiles are fired from rail gun at a significant fraction of the speed of light. When used in an atmosphere, projectile velocities are slower to prevent them from burning up but still are at hypersonic speeds. The gravity rail guns uses a 30 mm projectile. The weapon system cannot be used to engage targets while traveling at faster than light velocities.

Maximum Effective Range: 16 miles (26 km) through atmosphere and 1,600 miles (2,575 km) in space.

Mega-Damage: Rail gun inflicts 4D6x10 M.D.C. for a 40 round burst.

Rate of Fire: Equal to the combined hand to hand attacks of the gunner (usually 4 or 5).

Payload: 10,000 Rounds (250 bursts) each cannon.
Sixteen (16) 25 mm Point Defense Particle Beams: These weapons are used for anti-missile, anti-power armor, and anti-starfighter defense. Each Particle Beam is in a Turret that can rotate 360 and has a 180 arc of fire. The weapon system cannot be used to engage targets while traveling at faster than light velocities.

Maximum Effective Range: 600 miles (960 km) in space and range is 6 miles (9.6 km) in atmosphere.

Mega Damage: 3D6x10 M.D.C. each.

Rate of Fire: Equal to the combined hand to hand attacks of the gunner (usually 4 or 5).

Payload: Effectively Unlimited.
Six (6) Point Defense Tachyon Scatter Beams: The main purpose of this system is as an anti-missile point defense. They fire a beam which can potentially destroy an entire volleys of missiles before the strike the ship (Roll once against a volley and unless the missiles roll to dodge greater than strike roll, they are all destroyed.) The stream lasts for significant fraction of a second and missiles tend to run into the stream (Gives +4 bonus vs fast moving targets such as missiles.) This system has an interesting property that the system can actually be used at faster than light speeds because tachyons travel faster than the speed of light. Each tachyon scatter beam mount is in a turret that can rotate 360 and has a 180 arc of fire.

Maximum Effective Range: 99.4 miles (160 km) with a width of 12.4 miles (20 km), range and width is one sixteenth in an atmosphere.

Mega Damage: 2D4x10 M.D.C. each.

Rate of Fire: Maximum of four (4) times per melee each.

Payload: Effectively Unlimited.
Two (2) Cruise Missile Batteries: Missiles have a top speed of Mach 25 in an atmosphere and have an acceleration of 10% of light per turn (far faster than any starship) in space. Whether missiles can be shot down is calculated from the speed of target, launching starship, and missiles. When drive goes dead, missiles will continue to travel in a straight line unless set to self destruct or receives a destruct code, but have very low odds of hitting star ships (Great for hitting bases and planets because target does not move and missiles, when unpowered, are at -25% to be detected.) Cruise missiles have penalties to hit small targets but almost always smart missiles. Batteries can launch on multiple targets each at the same time. These are modern Consortium missile batteries similar to those carried on a number of warships.

Maximum Effective Range: Cruise Missile range is 8,000 miles (12,875 km) in an atmosphere and 4,000,000 miles (6,437,376 km/ 21.5 light seconds) in space

Mega-Damage & Properties: See revised Phase World / Three Galaxies missile tables for details (Anti Matter multi-warheads inflict 5D6x100 M.D.C. each.)

Rate of Fire: Can fire cruise missiles one at a time or in volleys of two (2), eight (8), sixteen (16), or thirty-two (32) cruise missiles per battery, per melee round, for a maximum of 192 cruise missiles per melee. Launchers are reloaded on the same melee and can be fired again on the next.

Payload: 64 total, 32 cruise missiles per launcher. Ship has 9 reloads of missiles (640 cruise missiles total).
Sixteen (16) Long Range Missile Batteries: Missiles have a top speed of Mach 20 in an atmosphere and have an acceleration of 8% of light per turn (faster than any starship) in space. Whether missiles can be shot down is calculated from the speed of target, launcher, and missiles. When drive goes dead, missiles will continue to travel in a straight line unless set to self destruct but has very low odds of hitting star ships (Great for hitting bases and planets because target does not move and missiles, when unpowered, are at -25% to be detected.) Long range missiles do not have penalties to hit small targets, unlike cruise missiles, and are almost always smart missiles. Batteries can launch on multiple targets each at the same time. Because of the ship expected to perform often in the area defense role, at least half the missiles are of the Multi-Warhead configuration.

Maximum Effective Range: Long Range Missile range is 3,400 miles (5,470 km) in an atmosphere and 1,800,000 miles (2,897,000 km/9.7 light seconds) in space.

Mega-Damage & Properties: See revised Phase World / Three Galaxies missile tables for details (Fusion warheads inflict 2D4x100 M.D.C. each.)

Rate of Fire: Can fire long range missiles one at a time or in volleys of two (2), eight (8), sixteen (16), or thirty-two (32) long range missiles per battery, per melee attack.

Payload: 7,680 total, 480 long range missiles per launcher, with a total of 2,880 Multi Warhead missiles.
Eight (8) Medium Range Missile Batteries: Weapon system is used for hitting enemy robots, fighters, and missiles (both cruise and long range missiles.) Missiles have a top speed of Mach 15 in an atmosphere and have an acceleration of 6% of light per turn in space. Weapon system can be used on multiple targets simultaneously.

Maximum Effective Range: Medium Range Missile range is 160 miles (257.5 km) in an atmosphere and 80,000 miles (128,750 km/0.43 light seconds) in space.

Mega-Damage: Varies with medium range missile type (Multi-warhead heavy warheads inflict 5D6x10 M.D.C. each - See revised Phase World / Three Galaxies missile tables for details.)

Rate of Fire: Can fire medium range missiles one at a time or in volleys of two (2), four (4), eight (8), or sixteen (16) medium range missiles per launcher.

Payload: 320 per launcher for a total of 2,560 medium range missiles.

Other Systems:

Battlelink Main Control System: The Main Battlelink computer provides the Aegis with the ability to share targeting data with other capital ships in the area, which provides all ships participating in the link with improved targeting solutions and hit chances, both for their point defense, as well as their capital weapon systems. For more information regarding the Battlelink, go to Phase World Battle Link.

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Writeup by Mischa (E-Mail Mischa)

Revisions by Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune).

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