CWS
Dire Wolf - Sovietskii Soyuz class refit
Following the battle of Radstadt where the Dire Wolf was rammed by the Shilone flown by Tyra Miraborg the Wolves cruiser was forced to withdraw to the Homeworlds for repairs. Having not been modernized prior to REVIVAL the damage to the Dire Wolf was actually quite severe. As well as the damage to her bridge the impact of the 65-ton fighter had also buckled the cruisers dorsal keel along the neck area directly behind the bridge section. Taken to Lum for repairs the Clans as a whole were faced with the fact that the majority of their WarShips were quite vulnerable to a determined and skilled fighter attack.
Whilst the Dire Wolf was caught unprepared with no CAP up, her lack of point defence weapons meant that she was totally exposed until her own fighters launched as well as her DropShips to provide an escort screen. For Clan Snow Raven who had spent so many resources with their FRAM II refits it was very much a “I hate to say I told you so but….†Moment. They had been mocked for ‘wasting resources’ on the program and now it was shown that other Clans vessels were vulnerable and many realised that if the Dire Wolf had a suitable point defence suite then Tyra Miraborg’s fighter probably wouldn’t have never survived long enough to ram the cruiser.
At the somewhat chastened request of Khan Ulric Kerensky the Wolves requested that the Ravens not only repair the Dire Wolf but refit her in a similar line to their FRAM II Program. The price for this was resources from the Inner Sphere, the Wolves to pay the complete resource cost of the refit and for the design to be given freely to the Ravens after a short ‘trial’ for it. With the other Clans angry that the Wolf cruiser had literally been caught with her pants down without a CAP up or weapons manned the Wolves agreed to the Ravens terms as an act of ‘penance’ for allowing the ilKhan to be killed aboard one of their vessels. (This was incidentally used against the Wolves during the Grand Kurultail to choose a new ilKhan).
The refit would take 9 months and significantly increased the firepower and protection of the Sovietskii Soyuz class vessel. The original Ferro-Aluminium armour was completely removed, this allowed the Ravens to install additional weapons and reduce the cargo space by just over fifty percent. Whilst it was not possible to increase the engine’s performance and fix the classes sluggish speed, the fuel tanks were greatly increased from 1,400 tons to 3,000 tons of fuel, massively increasing the ships range and allowing her to supply plenty of fuel for her five DropShips. The armour was replaced with Ferro-Carbide, it was not possible to replace it with Lamellor Ferro-Carbide without delaying the completion of the refit by another 3 – 4 months. The armour was also increased to 743 tons of plate protection and the armour protection was greatly increased up to levels similar to the Liberator class cruisers. The hull was also reinforced with additional structural bracing around the engines and ‘neck’ of the cruiser.
The cruisers main armament was enhanced. Forwards firepower now comprised of a quartet of Killer Whale launchers with deep ammunition bins and these were supported by a trio of light gauss rifles and a sextuple mount of 55cm lasers. Together these give the ship a long range and hard-hitting punch.
The old 45cm lasers were all removed and replaced with 55cm lasers with quad mounts in fore and aft quarters of the ship whilst the medium naval PPCs were made into quadruple mounts. Aft firepower also duplicated the bows quad Killer Whale launchers and six 55cm lasers but the stern arcs lacked the gauss rifles of the bow.
For point and anti-fighter defences the Dire Wolf was armed with a mixture of lasers, missiles and autocannons with an emphasis on engaging small craft and fighters at long range to reduce the threat of strafing runs, like those that she had suffered during the Battle of Radstadt.
The fighter bay was enhanced, and now the Dire Wolf could carry a Trinary of OmniFighters (30) and 5 small craft. Twenty-five elementals are also berthed aboard along with their armour for shipboard security. Finally, a large NCSS was installed whilst the bridge section was moved to the core of the ship, the original bridge being repurposed as a large briefing/planning room and observation deck.
These refits were expensive and extensive and converted the Dire Wolf into a true Battlecruiser that the class had originally been touted as by Admirals in the SLDF when the ship was first commissioned. Once she was recommissioned the Dire Wolf was the flagship of Clan Wolf and would escort JumpShips to Tukkayid. The Refusal War fortunately featured very little naval combat outside of fighter clashes and the Wolf and Falcon Naval Reserves were not engaged.
Class/Model/Name: Dire Wolf
Tech: Clan
Ship Cost: $23,219,603,680.00
Magazine Cost: $27,460,000.00
BV2: 83,972
Mass: 830,000
K-F Drive System: Compact with L-F Battery
Power Plant: Maneuvering Drive
Safe Thrust: 2
Maximum Thrust: 3
Armor Type: Ferro-Carbide
Armament:
8 Capital Launcher Killer Whale
28 Naval Laser 55
3 Naval Gauss Rifle Light
4 Capital Launcher Barracuda
12 Naval AC 20
16 Naval PPC Medium
24 Laser Large ER (C)
12 LRM 20+Art4 (C)
24 AMS (C)
16 Laser Large Pulse (C)
8 AC 10 LB-X (C)
12 AC 5 LB-X (C)
Class/Model/Name: Dire Wolf
Mass: 830,000
Equipment: Mass
Drive: 99,600.00
Thrust
Safe: 2
Maximum: 3
Controls: 2,075.00
K-F Hyperdrive: Compact with L-F Battery (18 Integrity) 383,875.00
Jump Sail: (5 Integrity) 72.00
Structural Integrity: 90 74,700.00
Total Heat Sinks: 3791(7582) Double 3,300.00
Fuel & Fuel Pumps: 7500 points 3,060.00
Fire Control Computers: 6,894.77
Armor: 669 pts Ferro-Carbide 743.00
Fore: 125
Fore-Left/Right: 110/110
Aft-Left/Right: 110/110
Aft: 104
Dropship Capacity: 5 5,000.00
Grav Decks:
Small: 2 100.00
Medium: 0.00
Large: 0.00
Escape Pods: 50 350.00
Life Boats: 50 350.00
Crew And Passengers:
67 Officers in 1st Class Quarters 670.00
144 Crew in Steerage Quarters 720.00
182 Gunners and Others in Steerage Quarters 910.00
85 Bay Personnel 0.00
1st Class Passengers 0.00
2nd Class Passengers 0.00
25 Steerage Passengers 125.00
# Weapons Loc Heat Damage Range Mass
4 Capital Launcher Killer Whale Nose 80 160 (16-C) Extreme-C 600.00
6 Naval Laser 55 Nose 510 330 (33-C) 6,600.00
3 Naval Gauss Rifle Light Nose 27 450 (45-C) 13,500.00
4 Naval Laser 55 FL 340 220 (22-C) 4,400.00
2 Capital Launcher Barracuda FL 20 40 (4-C) 180.00
4 Naval Laser 55 FR 340 220 (22-C) 4,400.00
2 Capital Launcher Barracuda FR 20 40 (4-C) 180.00
3 Naval AC 20 LBS 180 600 (60-C) 7,500.00
4 Naval PPC Medium LBS 540 360 (36-C) 7,200.00
3 Naval AC 20 RBS 180 600 (60-C) 7,500.00
4 Naval PPC Medium RBS 540 360 (36-C) 7,200.00
3 Naval AC 20 AL 180 600 (60-C) 7,500.00
4 Naval PPC Medium AL 540 360 (36-C) 7,200.00
4 Naval Laser 55 AL 340 220 (22-C) 4,400.00
3 Naval AC 20 AR 180 600 (60-C) 7,500.00
4 Naval PPC Medium AR 540 360 (36-C) 7,200.00
4 Naval Laser 55 AR 340 220 (22-C) 4,400.00
6 Naval Laser 55 Aft 510 330 (33-C) 6,600.00
4 Capital Launcher Killer Whale Aft 80 160 (16-C) 600.00
4 Laser Large ER (C) Nose 48 40 (4-C) 16.00
6 LRM 20+Art4 (C) Nose 36 96 (9.6-C) 36.00
3 AMS (C) Nose 3 9 (0.9-C) 1.50
4 Laser Large Pulse (C) FL 40 40 (4-C) 24.00
4 Laser Large ER (C) FL 48 40 (4-C) 16.00
3 AMS (C) FL 3 9 (0.9-C) 1.50
4 Laser Large Pulse (C) FR 40 40 (4-C) 24.00
4 Laser Large ER (C) FR 48 40 (4-C) 16.00
3 AMS (C) FR 3 9 (0.9-C) 1.50
4 AC 10 LB-X (C) LBS 8 24 (2.4-C) 40.00
6 AC 5 LB-X (C) LBS 6 18 (1.8-C) 42.00
480 AC 5 LB-X (C) ammo LBS 480 1440 (144-C) 3,360.00
3 AMS (C) LBS 3 9 (0.9-C) 1.50
4 AC 10 LB-X (C) RBS 8 24 (2.4-C) 40.00
6 AC 5 LB-X (C) RBS 6 18 (1.8-C) 42.00
480 AC 5 LB-X (C) ammo LBS 480 1440 (144-C) 3,360.00
3 AMS (C) RBS 3 9 (0.9-C) 1.50
4 Laser Large Pulse (C) AL 40 40 (4-C) 24.00
4 Laser Large ER (C) AL 48 40 (4-C) 16.00
3 AMS (C) AL 3 9 (0.9-C) 1.50
4 Laser Large Pulse (C) AR 40 40 (4-C) 24.00
4 Laser Large ER (C) AR 48 40 (4-C) 16.00
3 AMS (C) AR 3 9 (0.9-C) 1.50
6 LRM 20+Art4 (C) Aft 36 96 (9.6-C) 36.00
4 Laser Large ER (C) Aft 48 40 (4-C) 16.00
3 AMS (C) Aft 3 9 (0.9-C) 1.50
180 x Light Gauss Rifle shells
800 x NAC-20 shells
160 x Killer Whale missiles
80 x Barracuda missiles
288 x LRM-20 Ammunition
400 x LB-10 ammunition
960 x LB-5 ammunition
2,592 x AMS ammunition
As always thoughts and comments would be welcome
Any comments!
