Dropship
-----Tender class Cargo Hauler
Tech: Inner Sphere / 3067
Vessel Type: Spheroid DropShip
Rules: Level 1, Standard design
Rules Set: AeroTech2
Mass: 2,500 tons
Power Plant: Standard
Safe Thrust: 3
Maximum Thrust: 5
Armor Type: Standard
Armament: None
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== Overview ==
Doctrine 23A emphasised survivability of dropships of the Rim Worlds Republic as well as heavier armour and better weaponry. However for some ships this would have less effect on them than on others, one of the most effected was the Tender class Cargo Hauler.
First built in the early 25th century the Tender would lead a cursed life as its slow speed and complete lack of weaponry left it little more than a big bulls eye for pirates and the design slowly slipped into disfavour with dropship captains, yet the design survived an indication of the Rim Worlds spirit and the desperate need for resources.
The new doctrines however would go some way to improving the Tender, however there was only so much you could do for a design that was never meant to see combat.
== Capabilities ==
Built to carry the cargo needed to supply the larger vessels of the fleet and to provide the Rim Worlds Republic with a dedicated merchant vessel, thus the Tender was built to be the cheapest and most resource efficient design possible to allow more resources to be poured into the Rim Worlds military.
Weighing in at a nice round two and a half thousand tons, the Tender is one of the smallest dropships in existence and one of the slowest with its small Spitfire engines providing barely enough thrust to outrun a Behemoth in open space and its broad frame providing as much room for cargo as possible at the expense of weaponry and crew quarters to the point that Tenders are completely unarmed and often ran with a bare minimum of crew (Legends say that in the heyday of the Rim Worlds Republic some Tenders were crewed only by their captains because the small ship was so easy to drive).
However this does have a bonus, as the Tender is one of the most weight efficient cargo carriers available with fully two thirds of its weight devoted to cargo space in three large bays in the vessels belly while an incredibly thick armour belt protects the vessel (Some captains are known to have complained about the Tenders lack of weaponry, many removed armour from their vessels to add a bare minimum of asteroid defence guns to their ships).
The cost cutting measures also has the additional benefit for the Tender that in the end the ship was found to cost less than some Battlemech companies at the tiny price of 74,000,000 C-Bills a small enough price that the Rim Worlds Merchant Guilds often purchased assault dropships to guard whole fleets of the cheap litter Tender class.
== Deployment ==
The Tender was produced in large numbers only because of its tiny price tag which allowed it to find a modicum of popularity in the merchant guilds, however the designs slow speed, lack of weapons and cramped quarters meant that the ship never really found favour among captains and because a favourite target of pirates.
Very few tenders are known to exist, most were sold for scrap after the Amaris Coup however several are known to still operate in the interior of the Lyran Commonwealth where the threat of pirates is significantly reduced.
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Class/Model/Name: Tender
Mass: 2,500 tons
Equipment: Mass
Power Plant, Drive & Control: 487.50
Thrust: Safe Thrust: 3
Maximum Thrust: 5
Structural Integrity: 10 50.00
Total Heat Sinks: 57 Single .00
Fuel & Fuel Pumps: 99.00
Bridge, Controls, Radar, Computer & Attitude Thrusters: 19.00
Fire Control Computers: .00
Food & Water: (60 days supply) 3.00
Armor Type: Standard (616 total armor pts) 36.00
Standard Scale Armor Pts
Location: L / R
Fore: 154
Left/Right Sides: 154/154
Aft: 154
Cargo:
Bay 1: Cargo (1) with 1 door 564.50
Bay 2: Cargo (1) with 1 door 564.50
Bay 3: Cargo (1) with 1 door 564.50
Life Boats: 1 (7 tons each) 7.00
Escape Pods: 1 (7 tons each) 7.00
Crew and Passengers:
1 Officers (1 minimum) 10.00
9 Crew (4 minimum) 63.00
Weapons and Equipment Loc SRV MRV LRV ERV Heat Mass
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1 Lot Spare Parts (1.00%) 25.00
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TOTALS: Heat: 0 2,500.00
Tons Left: .00
Calculated Factors:
Total Cost: 74,138,064 C-Bills
Battle Value: 1,342
Cost per BV: 55,244.46
Weapon Value: 0 (Ratio = .00)
Damage Factors: SRV = 0; MRV = 0; LRV = 0; ERV = 0
Maintenance: Maintenance Point Value (MPV) = 11,189
(5,244 Structure, 5,375 Life Support, 570 Weapons)
Support Points (SP) = 10,017 (90% of MPV)
BattleForce2: MP: 3, Armor/Structure: 11 / 10
Damage PB/M/L: -/-/-, Overheat: 0
Class: DM; Point Value: 13
Specials: sph
-----------------------------------------------Kukri Class Dropship:
Tech: Inner Sphere / 3067
Vessel Type: Aerodyne DropShip
Rules: Level 1, Standard design
Rules Set: AeroTech2
Mass: 2,500 tons
Power Plant: Standard
Safe Thrust: 4
Maximum Thrust: 6
Armor Type: Standard
Armament:
4 Republic Arquebus A/C 10s
7 Republic Optics MK III Large Lasers
2 Republic Thunderstrike PPCs
8 Republic Stinger LRM 15s
12 Republic Optics MK II Medium Lasers
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== Overview ==
Originally built as a faster, military version of the Tender, the Aerodyne Kukri by the end of its design cycle became what the Tender always wanted to be. A fast, lethal assault vessel capable of taking on all comers and giving a good fight to larger vessels all by itself, in effect it became the Rim Worlds Republic’s main raider.
The design for the Kukri was originally meant to provide the Rim Worlds Military with a small cargo carrier for outer rim cargo runs, however the design quickly took on a life of its own as various Tender captains began to inject their opinions into the design giving it thicker armour, a larger engine and most importantly a large weapons load capable of downing some of the massive vessels used by the Star League Defence Force.
In the end the Kukri became the smallest military dropship in the Rim Worlds Republic and was assigned as the Rim Worlds first choice for raiding duties.
== Capabilities ==
Built on an aerodyne form of the Tenders chassis, the Kukri weighs in at twenty five hundred tons, giving the designers ample tonnage to work with. First among the Captains Guild protests to the Tender was its small engine that restricted the design to 2Gs or less in most situations, a problem that the designers themselves could see was a problem and promptly remedied in the Kukri by upgrading the Tenders Spitfire engines to the larger Republic Firestreams.
Next up on the protests and objections sheet was the Tenders lack of weaponry which although not much of a problem for civilian craft, would be immediately fatal to any military craft, although the designers response was somewhat over the top when they mounted more weaponry than some Assault Dropships and upgraded the main armour belt to survive small Naval Grade weapons fire.
Lastly was the Tenders inability to carry military forces, requirement on the Kukri program, although the Tenders cargo bays were capable of carrying some military forces they had to be stacked in like crates. To this end the designers gave the Kukri the ability to carry a Rim Worlds combined arms company, a Battlemech Lance, two lances of light hovercraft and a full infantry lance, a force that when deployed in combat, was both deadly and well suited to raiding. Two hundred tons of cargo in the last remaining remnant of the Tenders cargo bays supplied these forces for a good long time.
== Deployment ==
Kukris found massive popularity with the Rim Worlds Military, the Navy even refitted some as boarding and air supremacy vessels while the Army used the well rounded dropship as a carrier for some of the Rim Worlds Combined Arms brigade (Although using a force of Kukri to move regiments worth of equipment was a logistical nightmare the tough little Kukris often managed to get more forces to the ground with fewer losses than the larger designs like the Great Sword and Scimitar) and more than one raid has been successful thanks to the well rounded attack power of the Kukri.
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Class/Model/Name: Kukri
Mass: 2,500 tons
Equipment: Mass
Power Plant, Drive & Control: 650.00
Thrust: Safe Thrust: 4
Maximum Thrust: 6
Structural Integrity: 10 125.00
Total Heat Sinks: 42 Single 10.00
Fuel & Fuel Pumps: 85.00
Bridge, Controls, Radar, Computer & Attitude Thrusters: 19.00
Fire Control Computers: .00
Food & Water: (45 days supply) 38.50
Armor Type: Standard (645 total armor pts) 38.00
Standard Scale Armor Pts
Location: L / R
Fore: 200
Left/Right Wings: 150/150
Aft: 145
Cargo:
Bay 1: BattleMechs (4) with 2 doors 600.00
Light Vehicles (to 50T) ( 400.00
Bay 2: Infantry (motor) Platoons (4) with 2 doors 28.00
Cargo (1) 204.00
Escape Pods: 3 (7 tons each) 21.00
Crew and Passengers:
2 Officers (2 minimum) 20.00
3 Crew (3 minimum) 21.00
6 Gunners (6 minimum) 42.00
160 Bay Personnel .00
Weapons and Equipment Loc SRV MRV LRV ERV Heat Mass
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2 Autocannon/10(30 rounds) Nose 2(20) 2(20) -- -- 6 27.00
3 Large Laser Nose 2(24) 2(24) -- -- 24 15.00
2 PPC Nose 2(20) 2(20) -- -- 20 14.00
2 LRM 15(32 rounds) L/RW 2(18) 2(18) 2(18) -- 20 36.00
3 Medium Laser L/RW 2(15) -- -- -- 18 6.00
2 LRM 15(32 rounds) L/RW(A) 2(18) 2(18) 2(18) -- 20 36.00
3 Medium Laser L/RW(A) 2(15) -- -- -- 18 6.00
2 Autocannon/10(20 rounds) Aft 2(20) 2(20) -- -- 6 26.00
4 Large Laser Aft 3(32) 3(32) -- -- 32 20.00
1 Lot Spare Parts (0.50%) 12.50
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TOTALS: Heat: 164 2,500.00
Tons Left: .00
Calculated Factors:
Total Cost: 296,313,552 C-Bills
Battle Value: 2,459
Cost per BV: 120,501.65
Weapon Value: 6,888 (Ratio = 2.80)
Damage Factors: SRV = 58; MRV = 35; LRV = 5; ERV = 0
Maintenance: Maintenance Point Value (MPV) = 31,396
(13,730 Structure, 15,050 Life Support, 2,616 Weapons)
Support Points (SP) = 24,525 (78% of MPV)
BattleForce2: MP: 4, Armor/Structure: 11 / 11
Damage PB/M/L: 7/5/2, Overheat: 0
Class: DM; Point Value: 25
Specials: if
-------------------------------------------------------------------------Crossbow class Carrier
Tech: Inner Sphere / 3025
Vessel Type: Aerodyne DropShip
Rules: Level 1, Standard design
Rules Set: AeroTech2
Mass: 8,500 tons
Power Plant: Standard
Safe Thrust: 4
Maximum Thrust: 6
Armor Type: Standard
Armament:
4 Diale A/C 10
6 Republic Mk II Medium Laser
12 Republic Stinger SRM 6
12 Republic Stinger LRM 20
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== Overview ==
The Rim Worlds Republic was never known for naval supremacy, and in the early days of its existence lost more dropships to combat on average than any other great power of the time, although this could have been attributed to the weak armour on the converted merchant vessels and whatever dropship the Rim Worlds had managed to steal at the time it still led the Rim Worlds to new paths for their dropships.
Rim Worlds Naval Doctrine 23A, introduced in 2540, was designed to fix the Rim Worlds problem with dropship losses by introducing mandatory requires for heavier armour, better weapons and survivability at all costs, however what it did was more than anyone had expected as the Rim Worlds headed down new pathways with their dropship designs.
The Crossbow when launched from the Laiacona Dropship Yards in 2550 was the first new design to be created by the Rim Worlds under 23A and proved the new doctrines to be just what the Rim Worlds needed.
== Capabilities ==
Built to cut down on Dropship losses in the quickest most ruthless way, the Laiacona engineers cut no corners on the Crossbow design and spent three full years researching the flaws of other designs and the problems that the Great Houses had encountered with their own dropships and came upon several unique pathways for the Crossbow.
Weighing in at an incredible eight and a half thousand tons, the massive Aerodyne Crossbow was one of the largest vessels of her day and with her titanic drive unit was also one of the swiftest with nearly three Gs worth of acceleration giving her the ability to outrun numerous pirate vessels that prowled around the Rim Worlds Republic.
Although it was unlikely the massive Crossbow would run, armed with a heavy battery of weaponry the Crossbow outgunned numerous smaller dropships with her dozen LRM 20s and twelve SRM 6s, four class 10 Autocannons and half dozen medium lasers while her speed enabled her to make the most of her firepower and fifty nine tons of armour allowed her to survive the return volleys. And this was before the Crossbow deployed its full wing of Republic Aerofighters from the two large bays in her belly.
Surprisingly though for a Carrier, the Crossbow also served other functions with a thousand ton cargo capacity and large food and water stores allowing the Crossbow to serve as an impromptu cargo hauler or resupply ship for larger forces of Aerofighters.
== Deployment ==
In all 20 Crossbows were built by the Rim Worlds Republic, serving well up until the Amaris Coup with only 1 lost to pirates after a suicidal pilot smashed his fighter into the dropships engines, and two lost to the Lyran Commonwealth, 1 after its steering failed it is accidentally rammed a Lyran Destroyer and the second during a minor border conflict when it was destroyed by a Venture class Heavy Cruiser.
17 Crossbows were deployed during the Amaris Coup, each with full wings of Aerofighters, and together they proved a serious speed bump for General Kerensky as they served as mobile carrier groups and exacted bloody revenge on the SLDF with the class and their aerofighters clocking up nearly three dozen Warship kills and many hundreds of kills on smaller vessels and aerofighters. All in all they were the most successful Dropship in the Rim Worlds Republic during the Amaris Coup, however sadly none are thought to have survived the SLDFs campaign although recent reports from the Word of Blake place at least one in the Deep Periphery where it apparently has attacked them several times over the last few months.
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Class/Model/Name: Crossbow
Mass: 8,500 tons
Equipment: Mass
Power Plant, Drive & Control: 2,210.00
Thrust: Safe Thrust: 4
Maximum Thrust: 6
Structural Integrity: 20 850.00
Total Heat Sinks: 150 Single 114.00
Fuel & Fuel Pumps: 259.00
Bridge, Controls, Radar, Computer & Attitude Thrusters: 64.00
Fire Control Computers: .00
Food & Water: (75 days supply) 50.00
Armor Type: Standard (900 total armor pts) 59.00
Standard Scale Armor Pts
Location: L / R
Fore: 250
Left/Right Wings: 225/225
Aft: 200
Cargo:
Bay 1: Fighters (9) with 3 doors 1,350.00
Bay 2: Fighters (9) with 3 doors 1,350.00
Bay 3: Cargo (1) with 2 doors 1,034.00
Life Boats: 5 (7 tons each) 35.00
Escape Pods: 5 (7 tons each) 35.00
Crew and Passengers:
16 Officers (16 minimum) 160.00
75 Crew (0 minimum) 525.00
6 Gunners (6 minimum) 42.00
36 Bay Personnel .00
Weapons and Equipment Loc SRV MRV LRV ERV Heat Mass
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2 Autocannon/10(80 rounds) Nose 2(20) 2(20) -- -- 6 32.00
3 Medium Laser Nose 2(15) -- -- -- 9 3.00
3 SRM 6(45 rounds) L/RW 2(24) -- -- -- 24 24.00
3 LRM 20(60 rounds) L/RW 4(36) 4(36) 4(36) -- 36 80.00
3 SRM 6(45 rounds) L/RW(A) 2(24) -- -- -- 24 24.00
3 LRM 20(60 rounds) L/RW(A) 4(36) 4(36) 4(36) -- 36 80.00
2 Autocannon/10(80 rounds) Aft 2(20) 2(20) -- -- 6 32.00
3 Medium Laser Aft 2(15) -- -- -- 9 3.00
1 Lot Spare Parts (1.00%) 85.00
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TOTALS: Heat: 150 8,500.00
Tons Left: .00
Calculated Factors:
Total Cost: 499,342,032 C-Bills
Battle Value: 6,351
Cost per BV: 78,624.16
Weapon Value: 7,455 (Ratio = 1.17)
Damage Factors: SRV = 284; MRV = 133; LRV = 40; ERV = 0
Maintenance: Maintenance Point Value (MPV) = 121,237
(88,409 Structure, 28,750 Life Support, 4,078 Weapons)
Support Points (SP) = 110,628 (91% of MPV)
BattleForce2: MP: 4, Armor/Structure: 15 / 15
Damage PB/M/L: 16/9/7, Overheat: 0
Class: DL; Point Value: 64
Specials: if
------------------------------------------------------------------------------Great Sword:
Class/Model/Name: Great Sword (Upgraded)
Tech: Inner Sphere / 2800
Vessel Type: Spheroid DropShip
Rules: Level 1, Standard design
Rules Set: AeroTech2
Mass: 20,000 tons
Power Plant: Standard
Safe Thrust: 4
Maximum Thrust: 6
Armor Type: Standard
Armament:
15 Diale Class 5 Autocannons
13 Alliance LRM 10s
12 Diale Optics Medium Laser
12 Diale Hellstar Particle Cannons
Overview:
One of the oldest of the Rim Worlds Republics dropships, the Great Sword Class was built in the early 2500's as the Republics standard Mech carrier with a battalion of mechs plus aerofighters.
Built around a set of massive Excelsior engines that were supposed to provide more thrust than any other engine around. Unfortunately these engines could only provide thrust enough to keep up with the slowest of the dropships, but due to the huge size and potential cost the engines were kept because in the words of the politician
'It would cost too much to have them replaced'. That it would require the entire ship being disassembled was also noted.
For years they languished in obscurity, quietly shuttling battalions from one port to another, the Amaris Coup however proved devastating to the class, as the tyrant Stefan sent back Overlord class dropships freshly produced at the Terran Hegemony Shipyards that were far superior to the Great Swords. The once mighty ships were sent to the yards for scrapping.
Then Kerensky invaded.
With the Republics Dragoon regiments relocated to the Inner Sphere and Kerensky tearing through the Rim Worlds, Amaris sent as many of his Swords to the Hegemonys shipyards as possible. Refitted with new engines, they were expanded and rebuilt increasing both their speed and their capacity.
The first ship off the list was the Longsword of Alexander; fully refitted she was sent back into the Republic to gather new warriors and supplies for Amaris as well as to get the blueprints back to the Republic.
The Longsword never returned to the Hegemony, its jumpship, the Kieran vanished during the jump to Apollo.
Capabilities:
The Great Sword is built around a set of titanic engines that weigh almost as much as a Rapier Class Dropship, the refitted version is capable of producing the same speed as the
Rapier this makes the Great Sword incredibly fast for its size as well as manueverable. However this does mean that the ship has a hard time avoiding collisions with small objects at high speed.
To compensate for this, the ship has a high threshold for damage, and the Armour belt is thicker than that for some SLDF warships enabling it to take hits from the small chunks of space junk that cause damage to dropships as well as rendering Aerofighter attacks pointless.
In addition to its speed and armour, the Great Sword is equipped with an impressive weapons array capable of pounding opponents into submission armed with multiple missiles, autocannons, and energy weapons many smaller vessels would be well advised to steer clear of the heavier Great Sword.
Carrying capacity has been maintained and even expanded. It is still capable of carrying the original Battlemech battalion, in addition the Great Sword carries a heavy vehicle company usually composed of Apollo MBTs and Demeter Support Vehicles. A full aerowing of support fighters and strike craft was also added to allow the battalions safe access to the landing zones although very few Great Swords carry a full compliment of aircraft due to the lack of Aerofighters in the Republic with many making do with six to twelve fighters. It also carries one thousand six hundred and fifty tons of cargo space allowing the battalions to stay in the field for months fully supplied.
History:
The Great Sword class has been an important asset to the Rim Alliance for over 500 years, fighting in many of the important battles of the Rim Worlds Republic and Rim Alliance during that time and serving with distinction.
Notable was the battle of Apollo where several Great Swords managed to hold back the SLDF invasion for over several hours before being destroyed by the Soyuz class Cruiser Implacable.
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Class/Model/Name: Great Sword
Mass: 20,000 tons
Equipment: Mass
Power Plant, Drive & Control: 5,200.00
Thrust: Safe Thrust: 4
Maximum Thrust: 6
Structural Integrity: 30 1,200.00
Total Heat Sinks: 223 Single 35.00
Fuel & Fuel Pumps: 339.00
Bridge, Controls, Radar, Computer & Attitude Thrusters: 150.00
Fire Control Computers: .00
Food & Water: (30 days supply) 33.50
Armour Type: Standard (1,416 total armor pts) 108.00
Standard Scale Armour Pts
Location: L / R
Fore: 404
Left/Right Sides: 354/354
Aft: 304
Cargo:
Bay 1: BattleMechs (36) with 3 doors 5,400.00
Heavy Vehicles (51-100T) (12) 1,200.00
Bay 2: Cargo (1) with 3 doors 1,650.00
Bay 3: Fighters (18) with 3 doors 2,700.00
Escape Pods: 15 (7 tons each) 105.00
Crew and Passengers:
3 Officers (3 minimum) 30.00
5 Crew (5 minimum) 35.00
9 Gunners (9 minimum) 63.00
204 Bay Personnel .00
Weapons and Equipment Loc SRV MRV LRV ERV Heat Mass
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3 Autocannon/5(60 rounds) Nose 2(15) 2(15) -- -- 3 27.00
2 LRM 10(36 rounds) Nose 1(12) 1(12) 1(12) -- 8 13.00
4 Medium Laser Nose 2(20) -- -- -- 12 4.00
3 PPC Nose 3(30) 3(30) -- -- 30 21.00
3 Autocannon/5(60 rounds) FL/R 2(15) 2(15) -- -- 6 54.00
2 LRM 10(36 rounds) FL/R 1(12) 1(12) 1(12) -- 16 26.00
4 Medium Laser FL/R 2(20) -- -- -- 24 8.00
3 PPC FL/R 3(30) 3(30) -- -- 60 42.00
2 LRM 10(36 rounds) AL/R 1(12) 1(12) 1(12) -- 16 26.00
6 Autocannon/5(120 rounds) Aft 3(30) 3(30) -- -- 6 54.00
3 LRM 10(36 rounds) Aft 2(18) 2(18) 2(18) -- 12 18.00
3 PPC Aft 3(30) 3(30) -- -- 30 21.00
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TOTALS: Heat: 223 18,562.50
Tons Left: 1,437.50
Calculated Factors:
Total Cost: 568,994,384 C-Bills
Battle Value: 7,740
Cost per BV: 73,513.49
Weapon Value: 11,467 (Ratio = 1.48)
Damage Factors: SRV = 305; MRV = 197; LRV = 22; ERV = 0
Maintenance: Maintenance Point Value (MPV) = 157,815
(130,924 Structure, 21,450 Life Support, 5,441 Weapons)
Support Points (SP) = 19,807 (13% of MPV)
BattleForce2: MP: 4, Armor/Structure: 24 / 23
Damage PB/M/L: 9/7/2, Overheat: 0
Class: DL; Point Value: 77
Specials: sph, if
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------Scimitar Class Dropship
Tech: Inner Sphere / 2800
Vessel Type: Spheroid DropShip
Rules: Level 1, Standard design
Rules Set: AeroTech2
Mass: 8,500 tons
Power Plant: Standard
Safe Thrust: 4
Maximum Thrust: 6
Armour Type: Standard
Armament:
4 Autocannon/10
6 Medium Laser
12 SRM 6
12 LRM 20
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== Overview ==
The Rim Worlds Republic has been known for many years as a major user of Armoured Vehicles and Infantry, indeed even after the Reunification War when many of the Rim Worlds Armoured Divisions were destroyed by the best and brightest of the Star League Defence Force and Lyran Commonwealth Armed Forces the Rim Worlds continued to produce many of its fine armoured vehicles to augment its now growing supply of Battlemechs.
However as with all troops these Armoured Vehicles needed transports to be able to react quickly to offensives and raids, however vehicle carriers are notoriously ill equipped for the modern battlefield for example the Colossus with its tissue paper armour and popgun armament is little more than a deathtrap for its compliment.
To remedy this and to allow the Rim Worlds to bring its full force to bear on its enemies with little worry about their safety, the Rim Worlds Navy operating under Naval Doctrine 23A commissioned the Scimitar Class Dropship and since then has seen an incredible decrease in the number of vehicle crews and infantry squads lost to enemy Aerofighter actions.
== Capabilities ==
The Scimitar is built with but one purpose in mind, to get its troops to the battlefield safely a task at which it excels with its awesome ability to sustain damage and still get to the battlefield safely with its ninety tons of Rim Worlds Heavy Plate allowing the Scimitar to take head on hits from heavy naval weaponry and continue on with little trouble although the ship is still not built to face Warships in combat. Backing up the heavy armour plating is the Scimitars heavy structural integrity, built to make sure that even after taking his the massive Spheriod dropship can still enter atmosphere safely and disgorge its troops.
That brings us to the Scimitars next major point, its troop numbers, carrying space for a full company of Rim Worlds Assault Tanks as well as two supporting companies of strike hovercraft the Scimitar puts full armoured battalions onto the field and often in the most problematic locations for the enemy. As well the Scimitar carries twenty-four platoons of motorised infantry, two companies in the old Rim Worlds military, plus their support equipment and food supplies, which are often stored in the Scimitars titanic one thousand ton capacity cargo bay
Thankfully all this troop capacity does not cripple the Scimitars ability to fight or fly with a huge quad set of RimTech Model 24s taking up almost the entire aft section and allowing it to accelerate to nearly three Gs in emergencies while the bow and sides are spotted with weapons turrets featuring an array of Class Ten Autocannons, medium lasers and a heavy spread of LRMs and SRMs that can defend the ship from even determined Aerofighter Squadrons.
== Deployment ==
The Scimitar was deployed heavily by the Rim Worlds Republic, ships placed with any Regiment that needed to move its armoured vehicles and infantry around quickly meaning simply that each Rim Worlds Regiment often counted at least three Scimitars among its support vessels if not more in some of the Rim Worlds Heavy Armoured Brigades.
However the presence of large numbers of the craft did not save the Scimitar from near extinction during the Amaris Coup as the ships fell to attrition more than anything as the Star League quickly learnt that Scimitars carried large numbers of men and were ill equipped to face even small warships in combat. However the Scimitars still gave a good accounting of themselves, notably the Scimitar class Saladin which rammed a Black Lion class Battlecruiser amidships and managed to destroy the ship when the Saladins ammo exploded and took the fusion reactor with it.
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Class/Model/Name: Scimitar
Mass: 8,500 tons
Equipment: Mass
Power Plant, Drive & Control: 2,210.00
Thrust: Safe Thrust: 4
Maximum Thrust: 6
Structural Integrity: 25 425.00
Total Heat Sinks: 150 Single 91.00
Fuel & Fuel Pumps: 259.00
Bridge, Controls, Radar, Computer & Attitude Thrusters: 64.00
Fire Control Computers: .00
Food & Water: (75 days supply) 369.50
Armor Type: Standard (1,540 total armor pts) 90.00
Standard Scale Armor Pts
Location: L / R
Fore: 400
Left/Right Sides: 380/380
Aft: 380
Cargo:
Bay 1: Heavy Vehicles (51-100T) (12) with 4 doors 1,200.00
Light Vehicles (to 50T) (24) 1,200.00
Bay 2: Cargo (1) with 2 doors 1,000.50
Bay 3: Infantry (motor) Platoons (24) with 2 doors 168.00
Life Boats: 12 (7 tons each) 84.00
Escape Pods: 12 (7 tons each) 84.00
Crew and Passengers:
16 Officers (16 minimum) 160.00
75 Crew (0 minimum) 525.00
6 Gunners (6 minimum) 42.00
888 Bay Personnel .00
Weapons and Equipment Loc SRV MRV LRV ERV Heat Mass
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2 Autocannon/10(80 rounds) Nose 2(20) 2(20) -- -- 6 32.00
3 Medium Laser Nose 2(15) -- -- -- 9 3.00
3 SRM 6(45 rounds) FL/R 2(24) -- -- -- 24 24.00
3 LRM 20(60 rounds) FL/R 4(36) 4(36) 4(36) -- 36 80.00
3 SRM 6(45 rounds) AL/R 2(24) -- -- -- 24 24.00
3 LRM 20(60 rounds) AL/R 4(36) 4(36) 4(36) -- 36 80.00
2 Autocannon/10(80 rounds) Aft 2(20) 2(20) -- -- 6 32.00
3 Medium Laser Aft 2(15) -- -- -- 9 3.00
1 Lot Spare Parts (2.94%) 250.00
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TOTALS: Heat: 150 8,500.00
Tons Left: .00
Calculated Factors:
Total Cost: 532,297,136 C-Bills
Battle Value: 7,620
Cost per BV: 69,855.27
Weapon Value: 9,494 (Ratio = 1.25)
Damage Factors: SRV = 284; MRV = 133; LRV = 40; ERV = 0
Maintenance: Maintenance Point Value (MPV) = 121,068
(45,640 Structure, 71,350 Life Support, 4,078 Weapons)
Support Points (SP) = 110,628 (91% of MPV)
BattleForce2: MP: 4, Armor/Structure: 26 / 25
Damage PB/M/L: 12/7/7, Overheat: 0
Class: DL; Point Value: 76
Specials: sph, if
-----------------------------------------------------------------------Class/Model/Name: Buccaneer RWR Conversion
Tech: Inner Sphere / 2708
Vessel Type: Aerodyne DropShip
Rules: Level 1, Standard design
Rules Set: AeroTech2
Mass: 3,500 tons
Length: 136 meters
Power Plant: Standard
Safe Thrust: 3
Maximum Thrust: 5
Armor Type: Standard
Armament:
1 Large Laser
1 LRM 5
6 Medium Laser
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==Overview:==
The Buccaneer has become one of the most popular cargo haulers ever
produced. Initially designed in the early 2700s as a military craft, the
Buccaneer failed to win a Star League contract for a ’Mech transport. The
vessel’s designers then made a few modifications to the Buccaneer and marketed
it as a merchant vessel.
Three large cargo holds provide the Buccaneer's cargo space. Two
1,000-ton holds are located on either side of the fuselage, and the third
hold, situated above the transit drive, accommodates 300 tons. The two main
bays can be modified to carry up to 36 light vehicles.
The standard 12-man crew, more than adequate for the vessel, occupy an
area directly forward of the cargo section, with each crew member in a
spacious single-occupancy room. The Buccaneer also has excellent recreation
and mess facilities, which make a tour on a Buccaneer one of the most
sought-after assignments in any Inner Sphere fleet. The Buccaneer’s command
deck is situated forward of the crew quarters. This deck is fairly cramped and
is usually used only for flight and weapon controls. Communications are
handled from a separate cabin directly aft of the bridge.
At present, no company has launched an upgraded version of the Buccaneer
or announced plans to do so.
The RWR version did not increase the weapons load at all just more armor. The
use of only 2 door as opposed to 4 with the union class was considered a
limitation but because all the doors are the same and there is no increase in
weapons load the conversion ship is undetectable as a mech carrier and appears
to be a standard Buccaneer by any means of detection. The vessel is intended
to have escort vessels or appear to be bust a cargo ship. The ship can support
a full tech staff of 2 men per mech making the design desireable from a mech
company commanders viewpoint.
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Class/Model/Name: Buccaneer RWR Conversion
Mass: 3,500 tons
Equipment: Mass
Power Plant, Drive & Control: 682.50
Thrust: Safe Thrust: 3
Maximum Thrust: 5
Structural Integrity: 12 210.00
Total Heat Sinks: 58 Single 47.00
Fuel & Fuel Pumps: 164.00
Bridge, Controls, Radar, Computer & Attitude Thrusters: 27.00
Fire Control Computers: .00
Food & Water: (36 days supply) 13.00
Armor Type: Standard (528 total armor pts) 30.00
Standard Scale Armor Pts
Location: L / R
Fore: 176
Left/Right Wings: 132/132
Aft: 88
Cargo:
Bay 1: BattleMechs (12) with 2 doors 1,800.00
Cargo (1) 51.50
Escape Pods: 12 (7 tons each) 84.00
Crew and Passengers:
2 Officers (2 minimum) 20.00
8 Crew (2 minimum) 56.00
2 Gunners (2 minimum) 14.00
36 2nd Class Passengers 252.00
24 Bay Personnel .00
Weapons and Equipment Loc SRV MRV LRV ERV Heat Mass
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1 Large Laser Nose 1( 1( -- -- 8 5.00
1 LRM 5(24 rounds) Nose 0(3) 0(3) 0(3) -- 2 3.00
2 Medium Laser L/RW 1(10) -- -- -- 12 4.00
2 Medium Laser Aft 1(10) -- -- -- 6 2.00
1 Lot Spare Parts (1.00%) 35.00
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TOTALS: Heat: 28 3,500.00
Tons Left: .00
Calculated Factors:
Total Cost: 150,179,040 C-Bills
Battle Value: 1,579
Cost per BV: 95,110.22
Weapon Value: 2,475 (Ratio = 1.57)
Damage Factors: SRV = 38; MRV = 8; LRV = 1; ERV = 0
Maintenance: Maintenance Point Value (MPV) = 34,397
(23,101 Structure, 10,425 Life Support, 871 Weapons)
Support Points (SP) = 13,730 (40% of MPV)
BattleForce2: MP: 3, Armor/Structure: 9 / 9
Damage PB/M/L: 3/1/-, Overheat: 0
Class: DM; Point Value: 16
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