HAFN Greyhound Class Fast Escort Cruiser:
With the acquisition of the Dragonfly light Fleet Carrier by the HAFN the need also arose for a fast escort cruiser that could keep up with the carriers in FTL flight. None of the cruisers in use by the HAFN at that time could keep up with the new and very fast Dragonfly. The problem was somewhat addressed when the Soyakaze class of corvettes was chosen for duty with the HAFN. These powerful little ships had more than enough speed to keep up with the new carriers, and especially the Escort version was a great addition to carrier groups. But the Soyakazes are not cruisers, and although they are more than capable of fighting fighters, other corvettes and even frigates, they simply are no match for the threat of a cruiser. Which still left the HAFN with a hole in its fleet structure. The Greyhound class fast escort cruiser is the design that the HAFN design bureau came up with to fill this hole.
The first thing that is noticeable about the Greyhound is how large its engine section is for such a sleek and slender ship. Almost the entire last half of the ship widens into a bulbous engine section, which hints at a great turn of speed. If it was not for the large engine section, the Greyhound could be easily mistaken for a light cruiser, or a very heavy frigate. Almost all of the heavy weapons are located on the forward two thirds of the ship, with the two heavy lasers in the nose, the four particle beam cannons in the forward part of the engine section, and the missile launchers and the hangar in-between. The point defense weaponry has been evenly distributed over the whole ship.
The large engines give the Greyhound a turn of speed in both FTL and Sublight which only a century ago would have been unimaginable for a cruiser. The Greyhound is faster than the CAF`s latest cruiser design, the Champion class. Even more impressively, it has a higher sublight acceleration and FTL speed than the Kreeghor's fast attack craft, the Berserker!
Although the ships power plant gives it energy to spare, most of that power is needed for the large engines. As a result of this, and of the experiences with the Kurganov class missile cruiser, it was decided to center the ships armament around missiles. These would provide the ship with a good punch, yet would require little energy. That is not to say that the ship would not carry any beam weapons: Its beam weaponry complement is about equal to that of a Warshield cruiser, yet because it is of modern manufacture the weapons require less power and are somewhat smaller than the weapons of a Warshield.
The main beam weaponry consists of two 20 cm heavy laser cannons in the ships nose, and four heavy particle beam cannons in the sides of the ship. The particle beam cannons are exact copies of the weapons found in the Soyakaze class of corvettes. These weapons were chosen because they use less power than a laser cannon of the same strength, although the lasers have the advantage of better range. Another plus is the fact that there is some good parts commonality with other ships: The particle beam of a Soyakaze can be swapped with that of a Greyhound by any tender or base, and vice versa. The ship has eight GR-1000 railguns, eight light particle beams and six tachyon scatter guns for point defense, a pattern first adopted by New Coventry for its ships, and now standard for all new and updated HAFN capital ships. The missile complement it carries is nothing to laugh about, with four cruise missile launchers for anti-ship use, and four long range missile launchers for added anti-fighter and anti-missile use. Lastly the ship carries six medium range missile batteries for added point defense.
The greyhound carries rather few fighters, powered armors and marines. The huge engines and the missile batteries take up far too much space to include anything like the number of fighters and marines that a Warshield carries. All in all the ship carries only eight medium fighters, 10 Silverhawk attack exoskeletons and 40 marines.
Although the ship is quite capable in its intended role of carrier escort, it does have some drawbacks: It lacks the heavy railguns which would be able to do large damage to ships with the spell "Impervious to Energy", as these weapons would consume inordinate amounts of power for their usefulness, and because there simply was no room left for them. Also the ships crew has very little room to themselves. While this is not as bad as on most corvette designs, it is certainly true that less room is available than on most other cruisers of this size. Another drawback is that the ship does not carry as much armor as one would expect. A advantage that it does have is the fact that the ship is equipped with a battlelink subsystem, which allows it to coordinate its fire control with other ships. This is essentially a system that was stolen from the CAF, so its presence on the Greyhound is not widely known.
This starship design uses modified starship speed and ranges. See Revised Starship Rules for Phase World for more details.
Model Type: CL-122
Vehicle Type: Fast Escort Cruiser
Crew: 265
Troops: 40 marines, 10 Silverhawk Pilots,
Vehicles:
Power Armors:
| 10 | SH-CCW100 Silverhawk Attack ExoSkeleton |
| 8 | BIF-67 Katana Starfighters, SF-6 Osprey Starfighters, or SF-101 Black Eagle Starfighters |
M.D.C. By Location:
| 20 cm Main Laser Cannons (2, Front): | 1,200 each | |
| Heavy Particle Beam Cannons (4): | 800 each | |
| GR-1000 Gravity Rail Gun Turrets (8): | 200 each | |
| Point Defense Particle Beam Cannons (8): | 150 each | |
| Tachyon Scatterguns (6): | 200 each | |
| Cruise Missile Batteries (4): | 1,000 each | |
| Long Range Missile Batteries (4): | 600 each | |
| Medium Range Missile Launchers (6): | 500 each | |
| Outer Hull (40 ft/ 12.2 m Area): | 200 | |
| Inner Hull (40 ft/ 12.2 m Area): | 120 | |
| [1] Bridge: | 9,000 | |
| [1] Auxiliary Bridge: | 9,000 | |
| Hanger Bay: | 8,000 | |
| [2] Main Engines (2): | 10,000 each | |
| [3] Main Body: | 40,000 | |
| [4] Variable Force Field: | 6,000 a side (36,000 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 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% (1,800 MDC) 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 8 lightyears per hour!
Maximum Range: Effectively Unlimited by either Drive system.
Carries about four years worth of supplies on board.
Statistical Data:
Length: 783 feet (235 meters)
Height: 130 feet (39 meters)
Width: 163 feet (49 meters)
Weight: 120,000 tons (108,950 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 8,000 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: 3.2 billion to construct.
WEAPON SYSTEMS:
Other Systems:
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by Kevin Siembieda and Palladium Books Inc. ]
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Palladium Books Inc.]
Image drawn and copyrighted by Masahisa Suzuki, taken from the artbook Paradise Play..
By Mischa (E-Mail Mischa)
Minor revisions by Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune).
Copyright © 1999, Mischa. All rights reserved.