OBT Forum

ARMAGEDDON-class System Defense DropShip

Overview

In 2981, the Khan of Clan Goliath Scorpion--Kristen Scott--watched as her Clan suffered a number of defeats in Trials with several other Clans of Kerensky.  Although the resources lost in these Trials were marginal and did not interfere with Scorpion production or resource extraction in a meaningful way, the Khan was determined to avoid a repeat of these shameful performances on the part of her Warriors.

The single largest factor in the Scorpion defeats of that year was the inability of her aerospace forces to hold their own against hostile front-line Clusters and Naval Stars.  Again and again, the Scorpion fighters--and, to a lesser degree, the Black Fleet--found themselves outmatched, outgunned, and outperformed.

Correcting these faults would take more than a technological bandaid, Scott realized, but she needed to prove to her Warriors that she was taking short-term (as well as long-term) action.  Accordingly, she directed the Scorpion Scientist Caste to design a new Assault DropShip.  One that would be able to meet--head on--any Clan's aerospace force and deprive them of victory.

Several design concepts emerged, but each time they were presented to the Khan, she sent them back.  Demanding that the Scientists think "bigger, tougher, and with more of a sting!".  In the winter of 2982, she was presented with the concept art and bare bones schematics of what would become the Armageddon-class.

Impressed with the design, she ordered it placed into production with the intention of acquiring twenty-five vessels of this class for service in the Scorpion Touman.  However, the lack of suitable yard-space resulted in the ships being constructed by Clan Snow Raven in their Lum Naval Yards.  However, the Ravens after studying the design, demanded far too high a price in resources for the construction.  Negotiations managed to reduce the overall cost (of both the ship and the construction) to acceptable levels, but required the removal of the integrated HPG system from the new DropShips.

Designated as a System Defense DropShip, the Armageddons proved to be viciously effective against hostile Aerospace Fighters, OmniFighters, DropShips, and, upon occasion, WarShips!  But it had a cost (both in acquisition and in general maintenance) that was outrageous.

Despite the effectiveness of the class in its designed role, production was cancelled after just one quarter of the planned vessels had been completed.  By 2994, the sixth (and final) Armageddon-class vessel had entered the Scorpion Touman.

Capabilities

Massing 12,000 tons, the Armageddon class outweighs the vast majority of other Assault DropShips--indeed, few Troop Carrier DropShips are the sheer size of this class of vessel!  But despite that size, bulk, and associated mass, the Armageddons are able to maintain a safe thrust of 4.5-g's and an emergency overthrust of 7-g's . . . the same as the 40-ton Batu light-weight OmniFighter!

One hundred and eight tons of ferro-aluminum armor plating gives this class of ships some of the heaviest armor protection ever seen on a DropShip.  Indeed, the Armageddons carry heavier protection than Fredasa- or Vincent-class Corvettes or the Essex-class Destroyer!  This superb armor plating serves the Armageddon well when engaging multiple stars of hostile Aerospace Fighters or OmniFighters.

Six hundred and sixty-three tons of fuel allow for nominal operations of up to 360 days at a time (and the crew of sixty Warriors and Technicians have sufficient air, food, and water for that same period).  This large amount of fuel also allows the Armageddons to perform high-thrust burns for extended periods of time, and combined with the high thrust of the design allows this class of vessel to simply outperform and outlast hostile Aerospace Fighters, OmniFighters, and DropShips.

No Aerospace Fighters or OmniFighters are embarked, nor are any Elementals.  However, the design does carry a single Small Craft, typically a 180-ton Zama class and ten escape pods.

Four hundred and eighty-eight double strength heat sinks provide adequate cooling and the powerful engines more than provide sufficient power for the weapons arrays.

Having this much armor protection, an extraordinary amount of thrust, and phenomenal endurance, it might be supposed that the Armageddon's design team skimped on the armament.  Such a supposition, however, would be in error.

The fore-quarters, aft-quarters, and stern firing arcs all carry an identical array of weaponry.  Each mounts a three gun bay of ER Large Lasers, a two gun bay of ER PPCs, a two-gun Gauss Rifle bay (with a supply of 100 slugs for each Gauss Rifle), a single mount Ultra AC-20 (with a magazine for 100 tandem bursts of fire), a four gun turret of ER Medium Lasers, and a five gun mount of ER Small Lasers.  But while these weapons would be enough for most DropShips, on the Armageddon-class they are very much secondary systems.

The main guns are located in the nose of the DropShip.  Six ER Large Lasers in a single bay, a four gun ER PPC bay, a four gun Gauss Rifle bay (each with 100 slugs), a bay of six Large Pulse Lasers, an eight gun Ultra AC-5 bay (with a total of 1600 bursts of fire!), a two gun Ultra AC-20 bay (with 400 bursts of fire), an eight gun ER Medium Laser mount, an eight gun Medium Pulse Laser bay, a ten gun LB-10X AC bay (with 1000 bursts of fire), a quad mounted Ultra AC-10 bay (with 800 bursts of fire), eleven ER Small Lasers, and no fewer than nineteen Small Pulse Lasers!

This intensive--and somewhat extreme--armament took many Clan Warriors by surprise when the first Armageddon debuted in combat Trials in 2985.  Although the leadership of other Clans were stunned by the (almost ludicrous) amounts of firepower this class of ship was able to project, the hideously expensive nature of the design caused many--including at least one Smoke Jaguar Star Admiral--to publicly ask the Scorpion Khans if their new DropShip was, perhaps, somewhat over gunned. 

Somewhat to the disappointment of Khan Scott, her Armageddons found few opponents over the next decade.  Other Clans simply did not bid to contest her Aerospace assets in deep space or orbit, or requested safcon to conduct their operations on the ground.  While she grudingly admitted that this gave the Scorpion MechWarriors and Elementals more of chance to obtain victories, it was not the type of victory (or the degree of victory!) for which she had hoped.

Upon her death in 2993, the Scorpion leadership cancelled all further production of the Armageddon, going so far as to first suspend work upon three units in various stages of construction at the Lum Naval Yards.  While the Scorpion leadership intended to scrap all three remaining incomplete vessels, the Ravens pointed out that one vessel was 89% complete.  And that scrapping that ship--the sixth of the series--would cost the Scorpions all of the resources they had already invested in the design and construction.  After a long (and heated!) debate in the Clan Council, the Scorpions finally agreed to complete one final vessel.  The remaining two were looted for spare parts and then sent to the scrap yards for recycling.  Although the six completed units remain in use to this day, there are no plans for additional units to be acquired.

Deployment

One Armageddon was stationed at the Scorpion enclaves of Dagda, Marshal, Strana Mechty, and Tokasha, cruising between the Zenith or Nadir jump points and the enclave on permanent patrol (when not docked for routine maintenance operations, that is).  The remaining two were both assigned to the Scorpion capital world of Roche, typically with one on deep-system patrol and the second remaining in close orbit of the planet..

The Armageddon-class is not in use by any other Clan of Kerensky.

                    AeroTech 2 Vessel Technical Readout
                                  VALIDATED

Class/Model/Name:  Armageddon
Tech:              Clan / 3000
Vessel Type:       Spheroid DropShip
Rules:             Level 2, Custom design
Rules Set:         AeroTech2

Mass:              12,000 tons
Length:            118 meters
Power Plant:       Standard
Safe Thrust:       9
Maximum Thrust:    14
Armor Type:        Ferro-aluminum
Armament:         
   21 ER Large Laser
   14 ER PPC
   14 Gauss Rifle
    6 Large Pulse Laser
    8 Ultra AC/5
    7 Ultra AC/20
   28 ER Medium Laser
    8 Medium Pulse Laser
   10 LB 10-X AC
    4 Ultra AC/10
   36 ER Small Laser
   19 Small Pulse Laser
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Class/Model/Name:  Armageddon
Mass:              12,000 tons

Equipment:                                                            Mass 
Power Plant, Drive & Control:                                        6,588.00
Thrust:  Safe Thrust: 9
      Maximum Thrust: 14
Structural Integrity: 30                                               720.00
Total Heat Sinks:    488 Double                                        277.00
Fuel & Fuel Pumps:                                                     677.00
Bridge, Controls, Radar, Computer & Attitude Thrusters:                 90.00
Fire Control Computers:                                                316.00
Food & Water:  (360 days supply)                                       108.00
Armor Type:  Ferro-aluminum  (2,712 total armor pts)                   108.00
                           Standard Scale Armor Pts
   Location:                            L / R
   Fore:                                710
   Left/Right Sides:                 710/710
   Aft:                                 582

Cargo:
   Bay 1:  Small Craft (1) with 1 door                                 200.00
   Bay 2:  Cargo (1) with 2 doors                                      661.00

Escape Pods:  10 (7 tons each)                                          70.00

Crew and Passengers:
      9 Officers (9 minimum)                                            90.00
     16 Crew (0 minimum)                                               112.00
     30 Gunners (30 minimum)                                           210.00
      5 Bay Personnel                                                     .00
Weapons and Equipment      Loc        SRV    MRV    LRV    ERV  Heat    Mass
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6 ER Large Laser           Nose     6(60)  6(60)  6(60)  6(60)   72     24.00
4 ER PPC                   Nose     6(60)  6(60)  6(60)     --   60     24.00
4 Gauss Rifle(400 rounds)  Nose     6(60)  6(60)  6(60)     --    4     98.00
6 Large Pulse Laser        Nose     6(60)  6(60)  6(60)     --   60     36.00
8 Ultra AC/5(1600 rounds)  Nose     6(56)  6(56)  6(56)     --   16    136.00
2 Ultra AC/20(400 rounds)  Nose     6(60)  6(60)     --     --   28    104.00
8 ER Medium Laser          Nose     6(56)  6(56)     --     --   40      8.00
8 Medium Pulse Laser       Nose     6(56)  6(56)     --     --   32     16.00
10 LB 10-X AC(1000 rounds) Nose     6(60)  6(60)     --     --   20    200.00
4 Ultra AC/10(800 rounds)  Nose     6(60)  6(60)     --     --   24    120.00
11 ER Small Laser          Nose     6(55)     --     --     --   22      5.50
19 Small Pulse Laser       Nose     6(57)     --     --     --   38     19.00

3 ER Large Laser           FL/R     3(30)  3(30)  3(30)  3(30)   72     24.00
2 ER PPC                   FL/R     3(30)  3(30)  3(30)     --   60     24.00
2 Gauss Rifle(200 rounds)  FL/R     3(30)  3(30)  3(30)     --    4     98.00
1 Ultra AC/20(200 rounds)  FL/R     3(30)  3(30)     --     --   28    104.00
4 ER Medium Laser          FL/R     3(28)  3(28)     --     --   40      8.00
5 ER Small Laser           FL/R     3(25)     --     --     --   20      5.00

3 ER Large Laser           AL/R     3(30)  3(30)  3(30)  3(30)   72     24.00
2 ER PPC                   AL/R     3(30)  3(30)  3(30)     --   60     24.00
2 Gauss Rifle(200 rounds)  AL/R     3(30)  3(30)  3(30)     --    4     98.00
1 Ultra AC/20(200 rounds)  AL/R     3(30)  3(30)     --     --   28    104.00
4 ER Medium Laser          AL/R     3(28)  3(28)     --     --   40      8.00
5 ER Small Laser           AL/R     3(25)     --     --     --   20      5.00

3 ER Large Laser           Aft      3(30)  3(30)  3(30)  3(30)   36     12.00
2 ER PPC                   Aft      3(30)  3(30)  3(30)     --   30     12.00
2 Gauss Rifle(200 rounds)  Aft      3(30)  3(30)  3(30)     --    2     49.00
1 Ultra AC/20(200 rounds)  Aft      3(30)  3(30)     --     --   14     52.00
4 ER Medium Laser          Aft      3(28)  3(28)     --     --   20      4.00
5 ER Small Laser           Aft      3(25)     --     --     --   10      2.50

1 Lot Spare Parts (2.50%)                                              300.00
5 Bay Personnel Quarters                                                25.00
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
TOTALS:                                              Heat: 976      12,000.00
Tons Left:                                                                .00

Calculated Factors:
Total Cost:        1,566,299,056 C-Bills
Battle Value:      59,904
Cost per BV:       26,146.82
Weapon Value:      35,159 (Ratio = .59)
Damage Factors:    SRV = 1,449;  MRV = 982;  LRV = 221;  ERV = 0
Maintenance:       Maintenance Point Value (MPV) = 133,720
                   (73,215 Structure, 35,940 Life Support, 24,565 Weapons)
                   Support Points (SP) = 62,573  (47% of MPV)
BattleForce2:      MP: 9,  Armor/Structure: 45 / 45
                   Damage PB/M/L: 35/30/18,  Overheat: 0
                   Class: DL;  Point Value: 599
                   Specials: sph