Warspite class Heavy Cruiser:

To any government military except the Consortium Armed Forces, the Consortium sells their Warshield class cruisers for several times the manufacturing cost. This includes Independent Defense Forces inside of the Consortium itself. For a long period of time, the planet of New Coventry has been attempting to make a deal with the Consortium of Civilized Worlds staff that is in charge of military ship sales to attempt to reduce the cost of the purchase of the Warshield class cruiser or to make a deal that would allow New Coventry to manufacture the design themselves. Because neither of the approaches had worked, New Coventry commissioned engineers to design a new cruiser design based of the ideas involved in the construction of the Warshield class cruiser but to be different enough not to cause problem with the Consortium of Civilized Worlds in terms of copying the design. For the amount that the Consortium wish to charge for a Warshield, new Coventry could construct a far more powerful and capable cruiser and the Warspite developed into a far different design. After several years of development, the first of the Warspite class was laid down, the HMS Warspite. The ship is named after an older New Coventry cruiser that was lost in battle and the ships name comes from a well know British ship name including a old British battleship of the Queen Elizabeth class. That ship fought in both World War One and World War Two. Other ships of the class have followed this pattern avoiding naming the ships after names of people, locations, or carriers.

When compared to a Warshield class cruiser, the ship has numerous improvements. In appearance, the ship is considerably larger than a Warshield and the hull form is much sleeker. The ship has wing like structures and is designed for superior operation in an atmosphere. The engines for sublight acceleration are slightly more powerful but the ship is capable of the same FTL speed that a Warshield cruiser is capable of.

The ship's hull is constructed from the same composites and alloys as a Warshield's hull. As the ship is larger than a Warshield, it is more capable of withstanding damage than the Consortiums Cruiser but the ship also has more powerful shields allowing the ship to withstand more punishment before the ships hull is actually damaged. The concept of the ship was the same as the Warshield in the respect that the ship is a combination missile and beam weaponry platform. The old Kurganov class cruiser carries four cruise missile batteries and is highly respected. This was adopted early in the design process for the Warspite due to the desire to have the ability to throw more missiles. The missile batteries have the ability to launch more missiles in a volley than a Kurganov. In most combat operations, the Warspite class carries sixteen pepperbox launchers for saturation firing in the first missile volley. The ship has four long range missile batteries but adds eight medium range missile batteries for medium range point defense. For primary energy weaponry, the ship carries four 20 cm heavy laser cannons. The Warshield class cruiser only carries two of these lasers and they constitute most of the firepower of a Warshield. As a result, this gives the Warspite almost double the firepower in beam weaponry. In secondary anti-capital ship beam and projectile weaponry, the ship copies a standard Warshield. The ship has four 12 cm laser cannons and four 8 cm gravitic rail guns. For point defense, the ship carries the same point defense system as was first tested on the Black Prince class modified Warshield class cruiser. This ship carries, in addition to the medium range missile launchers, a total of twelve GR-1000 rail guns, twelve point defense particle beams, and twelve tachyon scatterguns.

The ship is larger than a Warshield and is heavier armed and because of this needs a larger crew. The number of marines have also been increased as well as an increase in the number of fighters. The ship carries two heavy Spitfire class starfighters that are often used for long range scouting and all medium sized fighters will be replaced by Lightning class starfighter when they become available. The ship still does not has as many fighters as a Kreeghor Smasher class cruiser but the Silverhawk power armors make up much of the difference. Because the Combat Environment Power Armors barely require more space than a set of standard body armor, there is one for each marine on the ship.

Flight B or Improved Warspite class will also be known as the Indefatigable class. In New Coventry's continuing quest to come up with new improvements to their ship designs, they decided to either upgrade or come up with a more powerful design than the Warspite class cruiser. The design has several minor but important modifications. The first is due to the fact that the Warspite class was finalized before the Pepperbox cruise missile launchers entered into New Coventry service and the fire control system was limited in the number of the external missile launchers it could control. The Indefatigable class has more powerful fire control systems which allows the ship to carry 32 Pepperbox cruise missile launchers instead of just 16 of them which allows them to double their first volley of missiles. The second is that due to technological exchanges with the Human Alliance in the area of FTL propulsion, they were able to improve their FTL speed from 5 light years per hour to a speed of 6.5 light years per hour. The first modification will eventually be added to all Warspite class heavy cruisers but due to the cost of replacing the engines, the original engines will likely be retained. The first of the modified class, HMS Indefatigable, is nearing completion. Captain Terry Cindy Mayfair, a highly awarded captain and a member of the royal familiy, is to be the commanding officer of the first ship of the class and was a member of the planning team that recommended the modifications to the design. The ship will carry Lightning class medium starfighters in place of all of the Black Eagle, Storm Eagle, and Katana class medium starfighters. These fighters will also replace those on all other members of the Warspite class heavy cruisers as the new fighters become available.

Both starship design uses modified starship speed and ranges. See Revised Starship Rules for Phase World for more details.

Model Type:CA-55Warspite Class Heavy Cruiser .
CA-55BIndefatigable Class Heavy Cruiser
Model Type:
Vehicle Type: Heavy Cruiser
Crew: 365 (35 Officers, 330 enlisted)
Troops: 100 Marines (Typically 50 stay on board for ship defense), 72 fighter pilots, 20 silverhawk pilots, and can carry up to 40 passengers in addition.

Vehicles:
CA-55CA-55B
Power Armors:
100100Combat Environment Power Armors
2020SH-CCW100 Silverhawk Attack ExoSkeleton
Fighter Compliment:
1010CSF-4 Badger class Light Interceptors
010CSF-6X Lightning Medium Starfighter
30SF-101LR Black Eagle medium fighter
30SF-101I-LR Storm Eagle medium interceptor
40BIF-67 Katana fighter ship
22CMS-1X Spitfire Heavy Modular Starfighter

M.D.C. By Location:
20 cm Main Laser Cannons (4, Front and sides):1,200 each
12 cm Heavy Laser Cannons (4):800 each
8 cm G-cannon Turrets (4):800 each
GR-1000 Gravity Rail Gun Turrets (12):200 each
Point Defense Particle Beam Cannons (12):150 each
Tachyon Scatterguns (12):200 each
Cruise Missile Batteries (4):1,000 each
Long Range Missile Batteries (4):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:12,000
[1] Secondary Bridge:12,000
Hanger Bay:15,000
[2] Main Engines (2):15,000 each
[3] Main Body:60,000
[4] Variable Force Field:8,000 a side (48,000 Total)

Notes:
[1] In reality this is how much damage needs to be done for a weapon to hit the bridge through the ships 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 ship FTL propulsion systems are destroyed and maximum sublight speed is reduced by half.
[3] Depleting the MDC of the main body will put the 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% (2400 MDC)

Speed:
Driving on the Ground: Not Possible.
Sublight: Both: 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 0.9 percent of light per melee.
Atmospheric Propulsion: Both: Maximum speed is Mach 1 (741.4 mph / 1,193.3 kph), can enter an atmosphere and can leave and is much better at atmospheric flight than most ships her size.
Stardrive: Warspite class: Uses a Gravitonic Drive system that allows the ship to reach a maximum of 5 light years per hour. Indefatigable class: Uses a Gravitonic Drive system that allows the ship to reach a maximum of 6.5 light years per hour.
Maximum Range: Effectively Unlimited by either Drive system. Carries about three years worth of supplies on board.

Statistical Data:
Length: 850 feet (259.1 meters)
Height: 140 feet (42.7 meters) for main body
Width: 160 feet (48.8 meters) for main body
Weight: 210,000 tons (190,510 metric tons)
Power System: Anti-Matter with a 50 year life span. The ship normally only goes 10 years between refueling and refitting.
Cargo: Cargo holds are scattered about the ship that allows for carrying up to 12,000 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: Warspite class 3.6 billion to construct and Indefatigable class cost 3.7 billion credits each to construct each. This does not include fighters and embarked power armors. No ships of this design have ever been put on sale on the market and New Coventry guards the design.

WEAPON SYSTEMS:

  1. Four (4) 20 cm Heavy Laser Cannons: Two cannons are located on the front of the starship and two cannons are located on the sides of the ship and are used as anti-capital ship weapons and can take out frigates in one shot and can do large amounts of damage to bases or larger starships. All four cannons can fire forwards and two of the laser cannons can be combined together or each one can be used separately. Weapon has standard minuses to hit fighters and small targets for a large starship weaponry. The barrels can be fired either forward or behind and can be rotated 60 degrees horizontally or vertically. The weapon system cannot be used to engage targets while traveling at FTL velocities.
    Range: 100,000 miles (161,000 km) in space and 100 miles (161 km) in an atmosphere.
    Mega Damage: 1D4x1000 MDC each and two can be combined for a total of 2D4x1000.
    Rate of fire: Maximum of Two (2) times per melee per cannon.
    Payload: Effectively Unlimited..
  2. Four (4) 8 cm Heavy Rail Guns: These rail guns are part of the ships secondary batteries. One of the weapons primary purposes is to be used against targets that are impervious to energy but are used against standard targets as well. System can be operated by a gunner or a gunnery program (+2 to strike, 3 Attacks per melee) and can rotate 180 degrees. Unclear by Palladium Books writeup is the weapons projectile speed. In order to make weapon useful, Rail gun projectile speed should be considered to be close to the speed of light. The weapon system cannot be used to engage targets while traveling at FTL velocities.
    Range: 10,000 miles (16,100 km), range is 10 miles (16.1 km) in an atmosphere
    Mega Damage: 1D4x100 MDC per 80 round burst each.
    Rate of fire: Equal to gunners hand to hand (Usually 4 or 5).
    Payload: 32,000 rounds each (400 bursts).
  3. Four (4) 12 cm Heavy Laser cannons: The laser cannons are part of the ships secondary batteries. All the 12 cm laser cannons on a side may be combined as one attack or used separately. The weapon system cannot be used to engage targets while traveling at FTL velocities. Weapon has standard minuses to hit fighters and small targets. The barrels can be can be rotated 180 degrees in all directions. Up to two may be fired as one volley.
    Range: 16 miles (25.8 km) through atmosphere and 16,000 miles (25,800 km) in space.
    Mega Damage: 2D6x100 MDC each. Two can be combined for 4D6x100 Mega Damage.
    Rate of fire: Maximum of Two (2) times per melee each.
    Payload: Effectively Unlimited..
  4. Twelve (12) GR-1000 Large Rail Guns: 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. Projectiles come out of launchers at close to the speed of light. Cannon uses a 30 mm projectile. The weapon system cannot be used to engage targets while traveling at FTL velocities.
    Range: 16 miles (26 km) through atmosphere and 1,600 miles (2,575 km) in space.
    Mega-Damage: 40 round burst does 4D6x10 M.D.
    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.
  5. Twelve (12) Point Defense Particle Beams: These weapons are used for anti-missile, anti-power armor, and anti-star fighter defense. The weapon system cannot be used to engage targets while traveling at FTL velocities.
    Range: 600 miles (960 km) in space and range is 6 miles (9.6 km) in atmosphere.
    Mega Damage: 3D6x10 MDC each.
    Rate of fire: Equal to gunners hand to hand (Usually 4 or 5).
    Payload: Effectively Unlimited.
  6. Twelve (12) Tachyon Scatter Guns: The weapon systems main purpose is anti missile point defense.. Fires a wide blast that effects all targets in a cone 6.2 miles long and 3.1 miles wide in an atmosphere (Quadrupled in space). They CAN be used faster than the speed of light because Tachyons travel faster than the speed of light.
    Range: 24.8 miles (40 km) with a width of 12.4 miles (20 km), range and width is one quarter in atmosphere.
    Mega Damage: 2D4x10 MDC each.
    Rate of fire: Maximum of four (4) times per melee each.
    Payload: Effectively Unlimited.
  7. Four (4) Cruise Missile Batteries: 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, launching starship, and missile. When drive goes dead, missile will still cruise unless preset 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 at -25% to detect.) See Modified starship rules for more details, Cruise missiles have minuses to hit small targets but are all considered smart missiles. These batteries are standard CAF batteries. Batteries can launch on multiple targets each at the same time.
    Range: Missile range is 8000 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 Phase World Missiles (Anti-Matter does 4D6x100 MDC).
    Rate of fire: One at a time or in volleys of 2, 8, 16, or 32 per launcher, per melee round, for a maximum of 128 missiles per melee. Launchers are reloaded on the same melee and can be fired again on the next.
    Payload: 128 total, 32 cruise missiles per launcher. Ship has 10 reload of missiles (1240 cruise missile reloads total). The Warspite class also normally carries 16 Pepperbox launchers and the Indefatigable class is designed to carry 32 Pepperbox launchers.
  8. Four (4) Long Range Missile Batteries: Missile has 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). 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 still cruise 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 dead at -25% to detect.) Long range missiles do not have minuses to hit small targets unlike cruise missiles and are all considered smart missiles. Batteries can launch on multiple targets each at the same time.
    Range: Missile range is 3400 miles (5470 km) in an atmosphere and 1,800,000 miles (2,89700 km/9.7 light seconds) in space.
    Mega-Damage & Properties: See Phase World Missiles (Fusion does 2D4x100 MDC).
    Rate of fire: One at a time or in volleys of 2, 8, 16, or 32 per launcher, per melee attack.
    Payload: 1280 total, 320 long range missiles per launcher.
  9. Eight (8) Medium Range Missile Batteries: 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. Batteries can launch on multiple targets each at the same time.
    Mega-Damage: varies with medium range missile type (See Phase World Missiles).
    Range: 160 miles (257.5 km) in an atmosphere and 80,000 miles (128,750 km/0.43 light seconds) in space
    Rate of fire: Can fire missiles one at a time or in volleys of 2, 4, 8, or 16 missiles per launcher.
    Payload: 320 per launcher for a total of 2560 medium range missiles.

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Image created and copyrighted by Dieter Ludmann (dieter.ludmann@inka.de) .
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