Black Swan Class Battle Cruiser (UWW):

While the United Worlds Warlock does not use Battleships, they do use Battlecruisers. While the Black Swan class only exist in small numbers, they are the backbone of the UWW fleets and are both powerful and dangerous opponents. The appearance of the Black Swan Battle Cruisers are very unusual and no two ships of the class look completely identical. The appearance of the ships are much like contemporary battleships and are reminiscent of starships in Japanese animation. Some ships look like First World War Dreadnoughts in their superstructure and gun designs while others look like the much like the more sleek Fast Battleships of the Second World War.

The ships propulsion is a combination of magic and technology. The ship uses contragrav drives to propel it in normal space but uses a Rifts Fold Drive to travel from system to system. The Rifts jump drive requires a large amount of magical energy and can only be operated once every four hours.

While the ships look like ancient battleships, they are quite well armed and capable of taking on all comers. The nose of each starship houses a Rift Projector Cannon. It is a powerful but potentially dangerous weapon system. The ship's more conventional main battery consists of four turrets. Three of the turrets are on top of the ship with two turrets forward and one turret aft. The ship also has one turret in the center bottom of the ship. In each turret is a triple barrel mounting of Magical Flame Cannons. If the ship is attacking, the ship will usually attack using its broadside because the ship can bring the most guns to bear from the side than from front. The ships secondary battery is fitted into casemates in some cases and are in topside and bottom smaller turrets in other cases. The ships have four mounts on each side of double medium laser cannons. The cannons are like those carried on the Dwarven Iron Ships. The ship has a total of twelve sub particle accelerator cannons and twelve twin TK-Machine-guns for point defense. For missile launchers, the ship has a total of eight bottle demon missile launchers. These ships are constructed out of modern MDC materials and are very strong and the ships are protected by a powereful magical Armor of Ithan forcefield as well.

The ship carries both a relatively large fighter and troop compliment. The ship carries twice as many fighters as the Dwarven Iron ships and carries eight hundred troops with half in power armor and a small number of tanks as well.

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

Model Type: UW-BC24
Class: Fleet Battle Cruiser
Crew: 645 (65 officers and 580 enlisted)
Troop Capacity: 400 Marines (Typically 200 stay on board for ship defense), 150 fighter pilots, 400 Warlock Combat Armor pilots, and can carry up to 120 passengers in addition.

Vehicles:
Power Armors & Robots:
250W-1 Warlock Combat Armors
150W-F1 Flying Warlock Combat Armors
Fighter Compliment:
60WF-F15 Shadow Bolt Strike Ship
24Naruni NE-SF10 Broadsword or FB-49 Fire Eater Fighters
12WF-P60S Black Widow II Heavy Starfighters
Assault Shuttles:
2UWW Assault Shuttles
Tanks & Other Vehicles:
15WIFV-99 Greataxe IFV Tanks

M.D.C. by Location:
Rifts Projector Cannon (One, Nose of Ship):5,000
Flame Cannon Barrels (12):900 each
Flame Cannon Turrets (4):2,000 each
Medium Laser Cannons (16)800 each
Bottled Demon Missile Batteries (8):600 each
Sub Particle Acceleration Cannons (12):100 each
Twin TK-Machinegun Turrets (12):140 each
[1] Main Bridge:30,000
[1] Auxiliary Bridge:30,000
[1] Flag Bridge:30,000
[2] Main Body:165,000
Hangar Bay:20,000
[3] Main Engines (2, rear of ship):40,000 each
[4] Magical Armor of Ithan Force Field:30,000

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 both an auxiliary bridge and a flag bridge. Even if all three 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] Depleting the MDC of the main body will put the Battlecruiser 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] Destroying the main engines reduces maximum sublight speed by half.
[4] This is not a variable force field, but a magical shield that must be completely depleted. Once the shield has been knocked down, it will cost 3000 P.P.E. and require one minute ( 4 melees) of spellcasting to restore the force field.

Speed:
Driving on the ground: Not Possible
Water Surface: 60 knots (111.3 km/69.6 mph)
Underwater: 40 knots (73.6 km/46 mph)
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 0.75 percent of light per melee.
Atmospheric Propulsion: Maximum speed is 200 mph (321.9 kph), can enter an atmosphere and can leave but is not designed for atmospheric flight
Star Drive: Rift Jump Drive; maximum safe jump of 20 light years every four hours
Range: Life support will keep crew alive for up to ten years, as long as the P.P.E. generators are kept in working order.

Statistical Data:
Height: 622 feet (189.6 meters)
Width: 390 feet (118.9 meters)
Length: 2496 feet (760.8 meters)
Weight: 7.5 million tons fully loaded, plus up to 200,000 tons of additional cargo.
Power System: Combination Fusion & Techno-wizardry with 20 year life span. The Battlecruiser also has a P.P.E. generator that produces 12,000 P.P.E. per hour / 50 P.P.E. per melee (Activating the Rifts drive costs 48,000 P.P.E) and can hold up to 48,000 P.P.E. in storage. This P.P.E. can be used to power the Rifts Drive or can be used to power spells cast by the Battlecruiser crew.
Cargo: Cargo Holds can hold up to 200,000 tons of additional material. If all the ships ammo for was taken out, amount of cargo the ship is able to carry would increase greatly. 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 Battlecruiser costs 35 billion credits to construct. The ship is not for sale outside the UWW Armed Forces (The ship will not even be sold to UWW member worlds)

Weapon Systems:

  1. Rifts Projector Cannon: In the nose of the ship is large opening which is the main barrel of the cannon. The cannon creates a huge rift in front of the cannon that has a variable effect. This weapon can become a danger to the ship if it fails. The cannon has a 0.5% cumulative chance of failure (i.e., becomes 1% after two shots, 2% after four, and so on)  if fired multiple times within a twenty four hour period. This cannon has penalties to strike small targets. For more information on the Rifts Projector Cannon on page 155 (Except ranges are 1000 times range in book in space)
    Mega-Damage: Roll on Chart in Phase World Book page 156
    Effective Range: 50,000 miles (80,000 km) in space and 50 miles (80 km) in an atmosphere.
    Rate of Fire: Can fire once per minute (4 melee rounds/ 60 seconds).
    Payload: Requires 1,000 P.P.E. per shot.
  2. Four Triple Barrel Turrets with 16 Inch Flame Cannons (12 Cannons Total): While the cannons are virtually identical to those on the Dwarven Iron ship, the heavy battery of cannons gives the ship a very powerful punch. Each top turret can rotate 360 degrees and has a 60 degree arc of fire upwards and 15 degree arc of fire downwards. The bottom turret can rotate 360 degrees and has a 15 degree arc of fire upwards and 60 degree arc of fire downwards. All the cannons in a turret can be fires as one or each barrel can be fired separately. The ship can fire three turrets forward, two turret aft of the ship, and can fire four turrets to the side of the ship. The ship will often engage attacking with the sides to increase the ships firepower. The cannons fires giant fireballs which can travel enormous distances. The cannons fire control is not designed to lock onto targets smaller than frigates but the cannons can be used to bombard planets as well.
    Range: 20,000 miles (32,200 km) in space and 20 miles (32.2 km) in an atmosphere.
    Mega Damage: 1D4x1000 MDC each cannon and all three cannons in a turret can be combined for a total of 3D4x1000.
    Rate of fire: Maximum of Two (2) times per melee per cannon (A total of 24 individual blasts or 8 triple blasts).
    Payload: Needs 1000 P.P.E. per day to function.
  3. Eight (8) 5 inch Double Mount Laser Cannons (16 cannons Total):On the older appearing versions (Look like dreadnoughts before fast battleships) of the ship class, the guns are in double mounts in Casemates. Weapons in casemate mounts have a 150 degree rotation and a 60 degree arc of fire. The newer appearing vessels (Look like fast battleships) of the class have the lasers in three turrets on each side of the deck and two turrets on the bottom, however. Top mounts mount can rotate 360 degrees and have a 80 degree arc of fire up and a 45 degree arc of fire down. Top mounts mount can rotate 360 degrees and have a 45 degree arc of fire up and a 80 degree arc of fire down. In any case, these are a modern weapon system that are powered by the ships reactor. The cannons are not quite as powerful as the cannons on the CAF classes but have a higher rate of fire. Weapon has standard penalties to hit fighters and small targets for a large starship weaponry. The weapon system cannot be used to engage targets while traveling at FTL velocities.
    Range: 16,000 miles (25,000 km) in space and 16 miles (25 km) in an atmosphere.
    Mega Damage: 1D6x100 MDC each or both cannons in a turret can be combined for a total of 2D6x100.
    Rate of fire: Equal to the combined hand to hand attacks of the Gunner (usually 4 or 5).
    Payload: Effectively Unlimited.
  4. Sub Particle Acceleration Cannons (12) in Single Mounts: Mounted on top of the ship along the sides of the ships hull in turrets. Cannons turrets can fire at up to a 90 degree angle up or 55 degree angle down and can rotate up to 360 degrees side to side. The gun does not have penalties to strike small targets. Uses the spell of the same name from page 143 of Federation of Magic. The spells must be renewed every two months (costs 400 PPE and 20,000 credits per Cannon) but during theat period the weapon can fire unlimited blasts
    Range: 200 miles (320 km) in space. 2 miles (3.2 km) in an atmosphere.
    Mega Damage: 1D6x10+10 per cannon.
    Rate of fire: Equal to gunners hand to hand (Usually 4 or 5).
    Payload: Unlimited, although the spells must be renewed every two months whether the cannons have been used or not.
  5. Twin TK-Machineguns Turrets (12): these cannons are identical to those mounted in the Shadow Bold Starfighter but are in twin mounts. Mounted on top of the ship in turrets. Cannons turrets can fire at up to a 90 degree angle up or 55 degree angle down and can rotate up to 360 degrees side to side. The gun does not have penalties to strike small targets. Because the cannons do damage by impact, they do full damage to targets that are using the spell impervious to energy. The spells must be renewed every two months (costs 400 PPE and 20,000 credits per Cannon) but during the period the weapon can fire unlimited blasts.
    Range: 200 miles (320 km) in space and 2 miles (3.2 km) in an atmosphere.
    Mega Damage: 12D6 per burst for both cannons in a turret.
    Rate of fire: Equal to the combined hand to hand attacks of the gunner (usually 4 or 5).
    Payload: Unlimited, although the spells must be renewed every two months whether the cannons have been used or not.
  6. Bottled Demon Missile Batteries (8): On each side of the hull the Battlecruiser has four bottle demon missile batteries. The missiles are literally demons summoned and bottled into a missile and are an aggressive and intelligent guidance system. The evil demons will continue to chase its target until destroyed (50 MDC to the missile). Bottled demons are slightly larger than mini-missiles and require special launchers. 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). Missiles are super smart and have +4 to strike and +5 to dodge. Unlike normal missile, the bottled demon does not explode and keeps striking at its target over and over. If the target is destroyed or vanishes, the missile disappears. Batteries can launch on multiple targets each.
    Mega-Damage: 3D4x10 M.D. of magical energy every time the missile strikes (3% chance of releasing the demon every time it hits)
    Range: Effectively Unlimited! Once fired, the demon controlled and powered missile will fly and pursue the designated target until its target or the missile is destroyed (or the target vanished from sight, jumps away, or gets away by another means)
    Rate of fire: Can fire missiles one at a time or in volleys of two, three, four, or eight per battery.
    Payload: thirty two per battery for a total of 256 bottled demon missiles.


[ Phase World TM, Naruni TM, Kreegor TM, UWW TM, and CAF TM are trademarks owned by Kevin Siembieda and Palladium Books Inc. ]
[ Rifts® is a registered trademark owned by Kevin Siembieda and Palladium Books Inc.]

Image drawn and copyrighted by Curtis Marquart (outrider1@home.com) .
He has no home Page at present

By Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune ).

Copyright © 1998 & 1999, Kitsune. All rights reserved.


Return to Phase World Vehicles