HAFS Falchion class Patrol Corvette:

One of the reasons why the Human Alliance Navy first formed was to deal with piracy and some of the most famous early battles were against Pirates. Because of this, light patrol vessels were a priority with the Falchion class being one of the first classes built by the Human Alliance Navy. It was an extremely important class in the early Human Alliance Navy and served with distinction. Hundreds of these vessels were built and they were augmented by the larger Chevalier class escort cruisers. At the time of its construction, the Falchion class was considered extremely fast and well armed.

The ships were the main light craft of the Human Alliance Navy until it was replaced the Ferret class missile corvette. Because of the need for larger numbers of strike vessels due to war coming, huge numbers of the missile corvettes were made. Over eighty thousands Ferret class corvettes were built in total between the Human Alliance and the Consortium of Civilized Worlds. During the war, most Falchion class patrol corvettes were assigned rear duties while Ferret class missile corvettes fought on the front line. In addition to anti-piracy patrols, the corvettes also escorted convoys when larger vessels were not available for the role. The Falchion made many records for lengths of deployment for such small vessels.

After the war, the military needed to be radically cut with the Falchion class being one of the first classes to be retired. While the ships had given good service, there were simply too many newer Ferret class corvettes in service. At the same time, the Falchion classes faster than light speed was limited compared to most newer vessels and it was considered uneconomical to refit the vessels with newer faster than light drives. Before the Human Alliance went to war, there were plans to built a version of the Falchion with improved faster than light drives and more powerful shields but the upgraded version was dropped when war broke out and replaced by the Ferret (which uses some of the components which were original developed for the improved Falchion including shield generators)

Many of the patrol corvettes were sold to Human Alliance member planets and independent planets where they continued to perform similar duties to what they had for the Human Alliance. Some ended up being sold to mercenary groups who used them for a great variety of roles. A small number ended up in the hands of pirates who operated them in the opposite role of what they were designed to do. While a few independent planets still operate these ships, virtually all have been retired from the forces of Human Alliance worlds. Often, the Hunter class destroyer is found operating in similar roles along with the Proctor class heavy fighter. The Consortium Scimitar class patrol ship, even though far larger, operated often in a similar role to the Falchion class and many of the Scimitar class take their name from Falchion class vessels. Some heavy fighters, such as the BIF-88 Bisento are actually more heavily armored and carry more powerful force fields than the old patrol corvette.

Still, there are still a surprising number of these old corvettes in service although far less than there has been in the past. As might be expected, the Free Worlds Council operates a number of these old corvettes due to accepting ships wherever they can find ships. Several companies specialize in the repair of these ships with the old production facilities long shut down. There is also a large amount of salvage yards for these vessels including a huge facility set up on a moon where the ships are effectively crash landed by remote and then stripped for parts. There are some groups who simply cannot afford to purchase new ships.

Some of the remaining Falchion class patrol corvettes have been greatly upgraded with improved engines, shields, and electronic systems. Some of the upgrades include the adaption of new components, both civilian and military, in order to bring these ships back to front line capabilities. One company strips these ship down to their basic frame and virtually completely rebuilds the entire vessel. While extremely expensive, it is still less expensive than a new built vessel with similar capabilities would be. As well, the company upgrades old Human Alliance fighters designs. There is not enough interest to built new vessels of the Falchion design but the company has created for itself a niche in the market for itself. In most cases, larger ships are more expensive to fully upgrade than to build a new ship as well. While shields and weapons can usually be replaced on larger ships, such as cruisers, replacing the main engines on such ships is not considered to be economical.

In many ways, the Falchion class can be considered a half-way class between a heavy fighter and a destroyer. In appearance, it looks like a very large fighter. Some of the systems carried are more similar to those carried on fighters while others are more comparable to those carried on small starships. The ship is armed with a single heavy laser similar to what is mounted on several human alliance vessels in turrets. It is mounted along the spine of the corvette and is fixed to fire forward. The weapon has a limited rate of fire and in addition, the corvette has four forward firing pulse lasers similar to those carried on the Osprey and other Human Alliance fighters. Instead of having dedicated missile launchers, the corvette mounts four large missile bays in the fuselage. Each bay can carry four cruise missiles or eight long range missiles. In addition, the corvette has four smaller bays which it can carry cruise missiles in. Finally, for close in defense the corvette mounts a pair of rail gun turrets.

The design is lacking in automation compared to newer designs and requires a much larger crew than would otherwise be needed. It has a crew of twenty-four, the same crew as as the far larger Hunter class destroyer. Because the Falchion was designed for anti-piracy roles, the ship was designed around being able to carry a dozen marines in addition to the ship’s crew. These troops can be fitted with light power armors for boarding actions. Of course the need to carry thirty-six onboard a tiny corvette means the ship is extremely cramped. There is no space for embarked craft although these craft are capable of atmospheric landings.

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: FFL-01.

Vehicle Type: Patrol Corvette.

Crew: 24 (3 to 4 officers).

Troops: 12 marines.

Vehicle, Robots, and Power Armors:

Power Armors:

Light Power Armors (Maximum)

M.D.C. By Location:

	Forward Mounted 12 cm Heavy Laser Cannons (1):	600
	Nose 2 cm Laser Cannons (4):	30 each
	10 mm Electromagnetic Rail Gun Turrets (2, fuselage):	80 each
	Heavy Missile bays (4, Fuselage):	125 each
	Medium Range Missile bays (4, Fuselage / Wing Roots):	80 each
	[1] Bridge:	500
	[2] Main Body:	1,600
	[3] Variable Force Field:	400 a side (2,400 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 does not have an auxiliary bridge. Even if the bridge is destroyed, 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] Depleting the M.D.C. of the main body will put the corvette out of commission. All internal systems will shut down, including life support and internal gravity. The ship itself will be an unsalvageable floating wreck.

[3] Shields positions can be varied and all could be combined in one shield. Shields regenerate at the rate of 5% (120 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 50 percent of the speed of light. Star Ship can accelerate/decelerate at the rate of 0.8 percent of light per melee.

Atmospheric Propulsion: Maximum cruise speed is Mach 1.80 (1,370.2 mph / 2,205.1 kph), can enter and leave an atmosphere because flight system is using contra grav.

Stardrive: Uses a Gravitonic Drive system that allows the ship to reach a maximum of 2.5 light years per hour.

Maximum Range: Effectively Unlimited by either drive system. Carries about eight months years worth of supplies on board although can be stretched to twelve in an emergency.

Statistical Data:

Length: 240 feet (73.1 meters).

Height: 38 feet (11.6 meters).

Width: 76 feet (23.24 meters) the body or 144 feet (43.9 meters) at the wing body.

Mass/Weight: 1,650 tons (1,496.8 metric tons).

Power System: Advanced Fusion with 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 40 tons (36.3 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: Ship would cost about 250 million credits to manufacture in present time in the Three Galaxies. Ships are no longer being produced. These ships normally sell for 150 to 300 million credits.

WEAPON SYSTEMS:

One (1) 12 cm Heavy Laser Cannon: Mounted in the centerline of the corvette, the heavy laser cannon is part of the spine of the vessel and fires directly forward. The heavy laser cannon is used against frigates as well as against heavily reinforced targets. Mostly used against large vessels, when used against small targets (Fighters, missiles, power armors, etc.) weapon have a penalty of -5 to strike. The weapon system cannot be used to engage targets while traveling at faster than light velocities. In addition, cannot be combined with the light pulse lasers.

Maximum Effective Range: 16 miles (25.8 km) through atmosphere and 16,000 miles (25,800 km) in space.

Mega Damage: 2D6x100 M.D.C. per shot.

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

Payload: Effectively Unlimited.
Four (4) Nose Mounted 2 cm Laser Pulse Cannons: These weapons are mounted in the forward end of ship and fire forward. Each gun has an arc of fire of about 30 degrees. These weapons are virtually identical to those carried on the Vixen and Osprey star fighters. As well as being able to be combined, cannons can each be fired separately. Cannot be combined with the 12 cm laser cannon.

Maximum Effective Range: 6 miles (9.7 km) through atmosphere and 600 miles (966 km) in space.

Mega-Damage: 2D4x10+10 per single blast, 4D4x10+20 for two, and 8D4+40 for four (Costs one attack in all cases.)

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

Payload: Effectively Unlimited.
Two (2) 10 mm Electromagnetic Rail Gun Turret: One is mounted in a turret on the top of the corvette with the other mounted on the bottom of the vessel with each turret able to rotate 360 degrees and has a 180 degree arc of fire. Unlike rail-guns mounted on most phase world star fighters, the rail guns work through the use of electromagnetics instead of through gravity. The rail gun still fires projectiles at incredible velocities compared to rail guns on Rifts Earth and projectiles are fired from rail guns at a significant fraction of the speed of light. It is mainly used against starfighters and missiles and is effective against targets that are impervious to energy.

Maximum Effective Range: 8,000 feet (2,440 meters) in an atmosphere and 150 miles (240 km) in space.

Mega Damage: 20 round burst inflicts 2D4x10+10 M.D.C., one round inflicts 2D6+2 M.D.

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

Payload: 2,000 Rounds (100 Bursts).
Four (4) Heavy Missile Bays: The corvette has four heavy missile bays. Each missile bay can carry four cruise missile or eight long range missiles. Each bay must carry all the same type ordnance although different bays can carry different ordnance. A Cruise missile is normally carried when on an anti-capital ship role and long range missiles when fighting other starfighters. Cruise Missiles have a top speed of Mach 25 in an atmosphere and in space has an acceleration of 10% of light per turn (far faster than any starship.) Long Range Missiles have a top speed of Mach 20 in an atmosphere and in space has an acceleration of 8% of light per turn (faster than any starship.) Whether weapons can be shot down is calculated from the speed of target, launcher, and missile. 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 starships (Great for hitting bases and planets because the target does not move and missile when dead is at -25% to detect.) Cruise missiles have penalties to hit small targets but all missiles are all considered smart missiles.

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 and 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 (Cruise Anti-Matter warheads inflict 4D6x100 M.D.C. each and Long Range Fusion warheads inflict 2D4x100 M.D.C. each.)

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

Payload: Four (4) cruise missile or eight (8) long range missiles per missile bay (maximum of 16 cruise missiles or 32 long range missiles.)
Four (4) Medium Range Missile Bays: In the fuselage of the corvette are four medium range missile bays mounted along the “wing roots”. Weapon system is used for hitting enemy robots, fighters, and long range and cruise missiles. Missile has a top speed of Mach 15 in an atmosphere and in space has an acceleration of 6% of light per turn. Normally used for anti-fighter and point defense. Weapon system can be used on multiple targets.

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 (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.

Payload: Sixteen (16) medium range missiles per bay for a total of 64 medium range missiles.

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Writeup by Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune).

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