Confederation Gilgamesh class Destroyer (Wing Commander):


The Gilgamesh class destroyer first entered service in the mid Twenty-Six Fifties and was developed as a replacement for the Exeter class destroyer. As with most destroyers, the primary role is escort but the firepower of the Gilgamesh is far greater than the vessel it replaced and the ship can go toe to toe with virtually any other Kilrathi capital ship. Gilgamesh class destroyers have earned a reputation as a dangerous ship killer, credited with the destruction of a large number of Kilrathi frigates, destroyers, and light cruisers during their years in service. Even the Captain of Kilrathi heavy cruisers are cautious when dealing with a Gilgamesh destroyer.


During the Battle of Earth, Third Destroyer Squadron, under the command of Commodore Polowski, charged the Kilrathi super carrier armada and engaged at point blank range. While huge numbers of the Destroyers were destroyed or crippled in the battle, they were able inflict severe against the carriers. After the Battle of Earth, all surviving Gilgamesh destroyers have been assigned second line service and have been replaced by Sheffield class destroyers in front line service. Still, the surviving Gilgamesh class destroyers are to be retained for the immediate future and have been thoroughly refitted and are still considered extremely lethal.


Ships of this class were named after mythic heroes, notable ships were the Beowulf, Hector, Siegfried, and Herakles. The ships are extremely fast for destroyers and can out accelerate virtually any other capital ship. Due to this, the destroyers have the ability to make a run for it if they are overwhelmed. This high acceleration also allows them to catch other ships trying to escape. The same engine is also carried on the Wake Island class escort carrier. The destroyers are armed with a pair of anti-matter cannons as well as carrying anti-capital ship missiles. Due to the ship’s small size, there is no space for fighters and has no real provisions for Flag personnel.


Notes of game conversion:


Because of the nature of the Video Game / Novel series “Wing Commander” and the needs to put the starship into game mechanics, the starship has several modification compared to the Video Game and Novels. The most important change it to change top speed to acceleration. Like fighters in Star Wars and original Battlestar Galactica, the fighters appear to act as if they are in the atmosphere even when they operating in space. This is incorrect. The Television series Babylon 5 and the new Battlestar Galactic are good series to watch to get a clearer idea on how space vehicles would probably maneuver although still not a perfect perspective. The starship has been modified to uses my revised phase world starship rules and can hold their own against most C.A.F and Kreeghor starships. See Revised Starship Rules for Phase World / Three Galaxies for more details.


Model Type: Gilgamesh Destroyer
Vehicle Type: Escort
Crew: 250 (10 Officers, 15 Chief Petty Officers, and 225 Enlisted)
Troops / Passengers: Can embark up to 25 additional personnel (50 with extreme overcrowding)


Vehicles:

1General Purpose Shuttle


M.D.C. By Location:

Anti-Matter Guns (2):2000 each
Heavy Laser Cannon Turrets (5):300 each
Light Point Defense Mass Drivers (6):120 each
Cruise Missile Launchers (12):500 each
Hanger Bay (1):800 each
[1] Bridge:2,400
[2] Engineering section:4,200
Main Engines (2):2,000 each
[3] Main Body:9,200
[4] Variable Force Field:3,000 per side (18,000 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 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] Destroying the engineering section means that ship FTL propulsion systems are destroyed and maximum sublight acceleration is reduced to ten percent of normal (using navigational thrusters).
[3] Depleting the M.D.C. of the main body will put the Destroyer 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% (900 M.D.C.) per melee.


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 0.45 percent of light per melee.
Atmospheric Propulsion: The destroyer cannot operate within an atmosphere. If the ship enters an atmosphere, it will crash.
Stardrive: The destroyer mounts a jump drive which is capable of jumping instantly from a fixed point in a system to another fixed point in a system. These points are weaknesses in the fabric of space and have been mapped in most cases. Fuel is hydrogen which the destroyer scoops from space to fuel the jump engine.
Maximum Range: Effectively Unlimited by either drive system. The destroyer has about one year worth of supplies on board.


Statistical Data:
Length: 1023.62 feet (312 meters)
Height: 267.72 feet (81.6 meters) for hull and 299.9 feet (91.4 meters) including antenna
Width: 444.6 feet (134.5 meters)
Weight: 11,023.2 Tons (10,000 metric tons) fully loaded
Power System: Fusion with a 20 year life span. The ship normally only goes 5 years between refueling.
Cargo: Cargo holds are scattered about the ship that allows for carrying up to 500 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. Ships officers have more space for personal items. Most of the ships spaces are take up by extra ammunition, armor, troops, weapons, engine, and other equipment.
Market Cost: The Gilgamesh class destroyer costs around 4.0 billion credits to manufacture.


WEAPON SYSTEMS:

  1. Two (2) Anti-Matter Cannon Mounts: Weapons are mounted on the forward part of the ship and is the main anti-ship weaponry of the destroyer. Weapons can angle up to forty degrees to the sides and above and bellow the ship. The anti-matter cannons are extremely powerful and inflict heavy damage to other capital ships. The weapon is not designed to target fighters and has standard penalties against fighters and other small targets.
    Maximum Effective Range: 8699.2 miles (14,000 km) in space and 43.5 miles (70 km) in an atmosphere.
    Mega-Damage: 2D6x100 M.D.
    Rate of Fire: Four per melee
    Payload: Effectively Unlimited
  2. Five (5) Heavy Point Defense Lasers in Dual Mounts: Five total on top, bottom, port, and bottom side. All can fire forward and aft. Each Turret can rotate 360 and has a 180 arc of fire. Each Turret can rotate 360 and has a 180 arc of fire. Individually more powerful than the lasers mounted on fighters and have a longer range. Compared to point defense weaponry carried on most starships within the Three Galaxies, the weapon mounts have a longer range.
    Maximum Effective Range: 4,971 miles (8,000 km) in space and 24.85 miles (40 km) in an atmosphere.
    Mega-Damage: 4D6x10 M.D.
    Rate of Fire: Equal to the combined hand to hand attacks of the Gunner (usually 4 or 5).
    Payload: Effectively Unlimited
  3. Four (4) Light Point Defense Lasers in Single Mounts: Four total on top, bottom, port, and starboard side. All can fire forward and aft. Each Turret can rotate 360 and has a 180 arc of fire. Weapon is equal to standard fighter laser mounts. Compared to most point defense weaponry carried on most starships within the Three Galaxies, the weapon mounts have a longer range.
    Maximum Effective Range: 3,106.8 miles (5,000 km) in space and 15.5 miles (25 km) in an atmosphere.
    Mega-Damage: 1D6x10 M.D.
    Rate of Fire: Equal to the combined hand to hand attacks of the Gunner (usually 4 or 5).
    Payload: Effectively Unlimited
  4. Six (6) Light Point Defense mass Driver in Single Mounts: Six total on top, bottom, port, and starboard side. All can fire forward and aft. Each Turret can rotate 360 and has a 180 arc of fire. Weapon is equal to standard fighter mass driver mounts except has a higher payload. Compared to most point defense weaponry carried on most starships within the Three Galaxies, the weapon mounts have a longer range.
    Maximum Effective Range: 1,242.7 miles (2000 km) in space and 6.21 miles (10 km) in an atmosphere.
    Mega Damage: 2D6x10 per 20 round burst.
    Rate of Fire: Equal to the combined hand to hand attacks of the Gunner (usually 4 or 5).
    Payload: 20,000 Rounds (1000 Bursts) per cannon
  5. Twelve (12) Cruise Missile Launchers: Missile has 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). Since star ships will no longer engage at rock throwing distances, 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 but has very low odds of hitting star ships (Great for hitting bases and planets because target does not move and missile, when unpowered, is at -25% to be detected.) Cruise missiles have penalties to hit small targets but are all considered smart missiles.
    Maximum Effective Range: 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 does 4D6x100 M.D.C.).
    Rate of Fire: One per launcher per melee attack
    Payload: 24 cruise missiles total (2 each launcher)




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CGI / Artwork of starship created by Deathsnake. Picture taken from Wing Commander CIC.


Writeup by Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune).


Rifts Conversion Copyright © 2004, 2006 & 2013, Kitsune. All rights reserved.



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