Ecgwynn Heavy Minesweeper (Modified Boadicea class Cruiser):

While most minesweepers in the Three Galaxies are relatively small vessels, a number are converted from larger vessels. There are a number of advantages of heavy minesweeper designs including heavier armor, better shields, and greater batteries. Most are converted cruisers however there have been a number of battleships converted into minesweepers as well.

The Ecgwynn was originally a standard Boadicea class cruiser. As with a number of the old cruisers, it was retired from Human Alliance military service. Afterwards, the cruiser served in a variety of different independent defense forces and eventually ended up in the hands of mercenaries.

Eventually however, the cruiser was considered too old by the mercenary company and not worth upgrading. As a result, the old vessel was sold as scrap. It was used as a parts hulk and was stripped of quite a number of systems in order to maintain other Boadicea class cruisers in operation.

Even though largely stripped, the hull of the ship was in good shape however and another mercenary group saw promise in it. They wanted a vessel which they might convert into a heavy minesweeper and the vessel seems to be a good choice. The hull was then towed to a shipyard which might be able to convert the vessel to its new configuration. In order to reduce costs, a civilian yard was used.

In many ways, the conversion of the Ecgwynn is one of the more simple conversions. In addition, the conversion was actually assisted by the fact that many weapon systems had already been stripped out. So that the cost of the conversion might be reduced, it was decided to use older weapon system wherever possible. Otherwise, civilian systems are used extensively.

While the Boadicea class cruiser mounts four long range missile batteries and two cruise missile batteries, the conversion of the Ecgwynn changed this to eight long range missile batteries. As is the common tactic with regards to minesweepers, the vessel engages mines at maximum range using long range missiles. Special mine hunting sensors allows for the detection and tracking of mines.

In order to make room both for the more powerful mine hunting sensors and additional point defense, the four anti-ship lasers are removed although the two 28 cm heavy particle beams were retained. The particle beams were considered extremely useful with engaging ground based batteries while remaining in orbit.

For point defense, the converted cruise mounts sixteen point defense lasers, twelve point defense rail guns, and twelve mini-missile batteries. There has been some discussion of upgrading the close range batteries, possibly replacing the lasers with variable focus particle beams and the mini-missile batteries with medium range missiles.

In converting the cruiser, the hull was slightly reinforced and additional armor was added in a number of places including protecting the bridge. In addition the original force field generator, which had been stripped out along with much of the weaponry, was replaced with a more powerful force field generator. The new force field is a modified version of the generator carried on a number of medium sized merchant vessels converted to military support roles.

Even before being stripped, the fusion plant was considered hopelessly outdated. The plant provides far less power than a civilian fusion plant of similar mass and requires a much larger crew. It was decided to use a civilian fusion plant because they are far cheaper than an anti-matter plant however. The faster than light drives were also replaced by far more efficient civilian drives from a medium freighter design. The replacement drives are capable of operating at up to three and a half light years per hour. Interestingly, it was decided to retain the original normal space drives even though they are slow. It is possible that future upgrades might replace them.

Even with the greater point defense and long range missile battery, the various upgrades to the vessel allows a reduction in the ship’s crew from just under three hundred and fifty to around two hundred and sixty. Even with requiring a much smaller crew, the ship is often operated undermanned, vastly increasing the workload of the crew. While a hulk, crew quarters were gutted and were extensively refitted.

The normal marine compliment is reduced but the power armor compliment is increased compared to the standard Boadicea class cruiser. This is usually a mixture of “Knock Off” Silverhawk designs used for giving the ship additional protection against missiles. Commonly this is the “Stormcrow” design. In addition, the converted cruiser usually carries eighteen light fighters which also perform medium range defense for the Ecgwynn. The Hyena is operated because the fighter is inexpensive as well as being reasonable capable.

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

Model Type: CL-06 (Modified).

Vehicle Type: Heavy Minesweeper (Converted Cruiser).

Crew: 264 (ship can be run by 80 crew) - 32 Officers and 232 Enlisted.

Troops: 20 marines ( typically stay on board for ship defense), 24 “Knock Off “ Silverhawk Pilots, and 24 fighter pilots.

Vehicle, Robots, and Power Armors:

Power Armors & Robots:

“Knock Off” Silver Hawk Power Armors.

Fighter Compliment:

MSX-128 “Hyena” Light Starfighters.

M.D.C. By Location:

	Main 28 cm Particle Beam Batteries (2):	1,200 each.
	Point Defense Electromagnetic Rail Gun Turrets (12):	150 each.
	Double Barrel Point Defense Laser Turrets (16):	150 each.
	Long Range Missile Batteries (8):	400 each.
	Mini-Missile Launchers (12):	100 each.
	Outer Hull (40 ft/ 12.2 m Area):	120.
	Inner Hull (40 ft/ 12.2 m Area):	80.
	[1] Bridge:	6,500.
	[1] Auxiliary Bridge:	6,500.
	Hanger Bay:	5,000.
	[2] Main Engines (2):	8,500 each.
	[3] Main Body:	28,000.
	[4] Variable Force Field:	4,000 a side (24,000 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 converted cruiser 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% (1,200 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 0.65 percent of light per melee.

Atmospheric Propulsion: Maximum speed is 300 mph (480 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 3.5 light years per hour.

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

Statistical Data:

Length: 580 feet (176.8 meters).

Height: 145 feet (44.2 meters).

Width: 240 feet (73.2 meters).

Weight/Mass: 112,000 tons (101,600 metric tons).

Power System: Advanced Fusion with a 25 year life span. The ship normally only goes 5 years between refueling and refitting.

Cargo: Cargo holds are scattered about the ship that allows for carrying up to 1,000 tons (907.2 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: A standard Boadicea class cruiser would cost about 1.2 billion credits to manufacture in present time in the Three Galaxies. When available, these ships sell for 2.0 to 3.5 billion credits. The refit of vessel cost around 400 million credits. Cost does not include embarked craft.

WEAPON SYSTEMS:

Two (2) Main 28 cm Particle Beam Batteries: In the front of the ship are two 28 cm particle beam cannons. Weapon has standard penalties to hit fighters and small targets. These can be fired forward and can be angled up to 120 degrees aft (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 30 degree angle up or down. The weapon system cannot be used to engage targets while traveling at faster than light velocities.

Maximum Effective Range: 70,000 miles (112,650 km)in space and 70 miles (112.7 km) in an atmosphere.

Mega Damage: 1D4x1000 M.D.C. each (Both can be linked for 2D4x1000 M.D.C. for both)

Rate of Fire: Maximum of three (3) times per melee per particle beam.

Payload: Effectively Unlimited.
Twelve (12) Point Defense 15 mm Electromagnetic Rail Guns: Unlike most of the rail guns used on Phase World / Three Galaxies starships, these are standard electromagnetic rail guns. They are used as an anti-starfighter and missile weapon and against targets that are impervious to energy. Each rail gun is in a turret that can rotate 360 and has a 180 arc of fire. When used in space, projectiles are fired from rail gun mounts at a significant fraction of the speed of light. The weapon system cannot be used to engage targets while traveling at faster than light velocities. Rail gun uses 15 mm depleted uranium projectiles.

Maximum Effective Range: 16 miles (26 km) through atmosphere and 800 miles (1,290 km) in space.

Mega-Damage: Rail gun inflicts 3D6x10 M.D.C. for an 80 round burst.

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

Payload: 16,000 rounds (200 bursts) each cannon.
Sixteen (16) Point Defense 2 cm Lasers in Double Mounts: used as an anti-starfighter and missile weapon. Each laser turret 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: 2.5 miles (4 km) miles through atmosphere and 250 miles (402.3 km) in space.

Mega-Damage: 2D6x10 M.D.

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

Payload: Effectively Unlimited.
Eight (8) Long Range Missile Batteries: Long range missile has a top speed of Mach 20 in an atmosphere and has an acceleration of 8% of light per turn (faster than any starship) in space. Whether weapons can be shot down is calculated from the speed of target, launcher, and missile. When drive goes dead, missile will continue to travel in a straight line unless set to self destruct or receives a destruct code but has very low odds of hitting star ships (Great for hitting bases and planets because target does not move and missile when dead is at -25% to detect.) Long range missiles do not have penalties to hit small targets, unlike cruise missiles, and are all considered smart missiles. Batteries can launch on multiple targets each at the same time. Batteries have a lower number of actual launchers than the modern CAF long range missile batteries and each launcher is slightly larger in size.

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 twenty-four (24) long range missiles per launcher, per melee attack.

Payload: 1920 total, 240 long range missiles per battery.
Twelve (12) Mini-Missile Launchers: These are missile turrets used for point defense against enemy fighters and missiles. Missile has a top speed of Mach 10 in an atmosphere and in space has an acceleration of 2% of light per turn (slightly faster than any starship except if it is exceeding it maximum safe acceleration.) Batteries can launch on multiple targets each at the same time. Mini-Missile in the Phase World / Three Galaxies setting are normally smart missiles.

Maximum Effective Range: Mini Missile range is 2 miles (3.2 km) in an atmosphere and 100 miles (161 km) in space.

Mega-Damage: Varies with mini-missile type (See revised Phase World / Three Galaxies missile tables for details.)

Rate of Fire: Can fire mini-missiles one at a time or in volleys of four (4) or eight (8) mini-missiles.

Payload: 128 per launcher for a total of 1,536 mini-missiles. Cargo hold has an additional 3,072 mini-missile. Reloading launchers from cargo hold takes 1D6 minutes.

Sensor System of Note:

High Powered Mine Hunting Sensor System: This system includes radar, neutrino sensors, gravitic sensors, and tachyon based sensors. This is an active sensor system with a range of 1,242,740 miles (2,000,000 km / 6.6 light seconds) and covers a 15 degree radius cone. As stated, the system is an active system and is easily detected but gives a bonus of +15% to read sensory rolls to detect targets and a +4 on weapon systems when aiming at targets with the cone. Targets that are invisible but the invisibility is not specific to gravity sensors will also be detected.

[ Altara TM, Brodkil TM, Bushido Industries TM, CAF TM, Catyr TM, CCW TM, Consortium of Civilized Worlds TM, Coyles TM, Free Worlds Council TM, Gene Splicers TM, K-Hex TM, Kankoran TM, Kittani TM, Kreeghor TM, Kydian TM, Machine People TM, M.D.C. TM, Mega-Damage TM, Metzla TM, M’Kri Hardware TM, Monro TM, Mutants in Orbit TM, Naruni Enterprises TM, Noro TM, Paradise Federation TM, Phase World TM, Psylite TM, Rifter TM, SAMAS TM, S.D.C. TM, Seljuks TM, Splugorth TM, Sunaj TM, Trans-Galactic Empire TM, Tri-Galactic Military Service TM, United Worlds Warlock TM, U.W.W. TM, Wolfen TM, and Zembahk TM are trademarks owned by Kevin Siembieda and Palladium Books Inc. ]

[ Beyond the Supernatural®, Heroes Unlimited®, Nightbane®, Ninjas & Superspies®, Palladium Fantasy®, and Rifts® are registered trademarks owned by Kevin Siembieda and Palladium Books Inc. ]

Image drawn and copyrighted by "MK01".

More "MK01" artwork at DeviantArt

Writeup by Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune).

Return