For our smaller naval fighter three designers submitted six possible Miletus frames for evaluation. While there are cost concerns for this budget Falcon fighter performance might win out here. I mean another 6/9 fighter which can keep pace with the Halicarnassus would be nice as the Clans upgrade their second line fighter assets.
N/A. Miletus (Bradshaw) 80 tons – 7/11 – No frame listed
This outside the box entry powered by a 400 XL engine has got to be disqualified but man it is pretty darn good. The fluff was a bit thin and I found myself asking if the Adders were trying to keep their Naga refit close to the chest would they involve the Falcons? Maybe, such a move like using Naga engines to power this thing could convince others that they are scrapping these Artillery OmniMechs. That would certainly throw off the scent. Too bad there was no frame basis given but there is nothing really illegal about this design. A nine ton of fuel tank (720) would give fantastic range and Bradshaw includes his standard 13.5 tons of Ferro-Aluminum (259 factor / 75 N, 65 Ws, 54 A) armor. Two ER PPCs in the nose would serve as the main punch of this craft but five ER Small Lasers in each wing provide powerful supplementary firepower. Strafing attacks would be deadly and the endurance of this design would be impressive with large fuel tanks combined with its all energy arsenal. Two ER Small Lasers mounted aft provide some nice rearward protection should this fast assault fighter be outmaneuvered. While 20 (40) Double Heat Sinks cannot dissipate all heat generated they do account for the main weaponry or the laser strafing bracket. While costly (14,694,307) I could see this experimental concept being worked on perhaps even as an OmniFighter as we move forward. Nice job Bradshaw!
5. Miletus (marauder648) 80 tons - 6/9 - No frame listed (unknown art)
Carrying the standard five ton of fuel (400) tank this undercard from marauder648 was solid fluff wise but didn’t get the attention his first entry. An LB 10-X AC with 20 shots (2 tons of ammo) in the nose is a medium ranged weapon which didn’t really impress me too much as the big gun here. I guess it is a crit seeker but you have to get close to use it which the 6/9 speed does come in handy for. An ER Large Laser and two Medium Pulse Lasers in each wing were a bit better but again have different arcs than the nose which could impact weapon focus when trying to bring down big ships. I did like the ER Small Laser mounted aft which did offer some rearward protection and the ECM Suite is a nice touch too. Unfortunately, the 16 (32) Double Heat Sinks can’t deal with all the weapon heat generated but on the plus side the cost is relatively low (5,965,003). Armor protection isn’t bad (268 factor/ 83 N, 67 Ws, 51 A) thanks to 14 tons of Ferro-Aluminum. I liked the scifi fighter art but without a design frame basis I was a little disappointed. Still not a bad entry but four others were better at least in my eyes.
4. Miletus (Bradshaw) 85 tons – 6/9 – Rapier
I like the fluff very much and you were right on with the feel of marauder648 cached fighter find refit of old SLDF designs. You slightly expanded the fuel supply to six tons for this entry and you really did a sweet job with the anti-ship arsenal. Three Large Pulse Lasers and a LB 10-X Cannon (20 shots, 2 ton of ammo) all located in the nose could really focus your firepower. However, there was no rearward weaponry and while the Active Probe is useful, I would have liked to have seen something else. The 16 (32) Double Heat Sinks do a nice job of dissipating all weapon heat even though movement heat would send you over slightly. A dozen tons of Ferro-Aluminum armor provides pretty good protection (230 factor/ 70 N, 55 Ws, 50 A) and the design was not all that costly (6,162,721) for an 85 tonner. Unfortunately, the Rapier was already used as the basis for the Kubulai which means these frames might be already be spoken for. Good enough for fourth place bud.
3. Miletus (marauder648) 85 tons - 6/9 – No frame listed (unknown art)
With solid fluff and a standard five ton of fuel tank (400) this was in my judgement the best 85-ton entry of the bunch. An ER PPC in the nose along with an ER Large Laser and Streak SRM 6 (15 shot, ton of ammo) in the wing provide pretty good forward firepower. You got solid punch at long range plus some accurate missile support and two Medium Pulse Lasers mounted aft discourages rear attacks. With 20 (40) Double Heat Sinks all of the long-range energy weapons can be cooled although secondary missiles will overheat the design. Fourteen tons of Ferro-Aluminum armor provides excellent protection (268 factor / 83 N, 67 Ws, 51 A) and it is pretty cost (6,257,911) effective. Unfortunately, there is no listed frame but this was all good enough for third place.
2. Miletus (Abele) 80 tons - 6/9 – No frame listed (Huscarl pic)
Repeating with the largest fuel tank at eight-tons of capacity (640 fuel) Abele certainly keys on this as vital for naval support fighters. Your fluff is even thinner and not that ultra-boing at least to me but hey I like details. Two ER Large Lasers in the nose along with an ER Large Laser in each wing provides exceptional extreme range firepower. Two ER Medium Lasers placed aft also provided excellent protection against rearward attackers. With 22 (44) Double Heat Sinks you can disperse much but not all forward weapon heat (+4) and this doesn’t account for movement. Sixteen and a half tons of Ferro-Aluminum armor provides superior protection (316 factor / 106 N, 70 Ws, 70 A) especially compared to the competition. Your cost calculation (3,505,552,493) must be an error but even with this mistake and without a listed frame you have a good design here. The Huscarl pic isn’t bad but I liked one design better.
1. Miletus (Bradshaw) 80 tons - 5/8 - Vulcan
Our slowest entry at 5/8 was of course the cheapest in terms of cost (5,802,720) but could it compete with the others. First off, I thought fluff was the best for this Miletus entry which took a chance with a Naga finding story. I don’t know about the Falcons finding a warship of Vulcans but operating in that general area (Rim Worlds Republic) it is very plausible. I liked the use of those frames and your component usage was excellent. Design wise the fighter carried five tons of fuel (400) and was protected by 13.5 tons of Ferro-Aluminum armor (259 factor / 75 N, 65 Ws, 54 A). Perhaps the best part of this entry was the extreme to long range weaponry mounted forward which helps mitigate its slow speed. Two ER Large Lasers mounted in the nose have superior range while two LB 5-X ACs in each wing supplied with two tons of ammo (80 shots total for 4 cannons) supplements the main energy weapons nicely. Two Medium Pulse Lasers mounted aft also help dissuade back bitters while 13 (26) Double Heat Sinks disperse much of the forward fire. Nice job Bradshaw, congrats on the Miletus win!
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Topic: Quicksilver AeroFighter Challenge #1: Naval Support Fighters (TWO DESIGNS!!) (Read 19012 times)