OBT Forum

                    AeroTech 2 Vessel Technical Readout
                                  VALIDATED

Class/Model/Name:  Vanguard
Tech:              Inner Sphere / 2591
Vessel Type:       JumpShip
Rules:             Level 1, Standard design
Rules Set:         AeroTech2

Mass:              280,000 tons
Length:            689 meters
Sail Diameter:     1,167 meters
Power Plant:       Standard
Safe Thrust:       0
Maximum Thrust:    0
Armor Type:        Standard
Armament:         
   12 PPC
    6 box-launchers for ATM/34A "Javelin" missiles
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==Overview:==
  Proposed almost contemporaneously with its brother design the Star Lord, the Vanguard-class was intended for sale to shipping concerns and mercenary commerce-protection units.  Operating as a convoy-escort in the Periphery, especially as regions of the untamed wilderness grew ever-more lawless in the wake of the Reunification War, the Vanguard enjoyed numerous early successes.  In particular, its outwardly near-identical profile to the new Star Lord - the fighter launch-modules which replaced two of its drop-collars were deliberately formed to mimic docked Leopards on hostile sensor-scans - allowed canny commanders to use the vessels as 'Q-Ships', giving many overconfident privateers the biggest (and often last) surprise of their marauding careers.  However, it was also inevitable that some of these JumpShips would lose their fights, and a number were soon in the hands of those same freebooters, who if nothing else favoured Vanguards for their relatively lavish crew- and passenger-accommodations (held over from the Star Lord).

  During the (First) Succession War, corporate convoys were often protected by Vanguards, and accordingly the type suffered heavy losses at the hands of House-fleet commerce raiders, no matter how 'neutral' the corporations tried to hold themselves.  Nonetheless, production of new Vanguards continues at many of the yards which still construct new Star Lords, and there is no shortage of governmental or private customers.

==Variants:==
  Most Vanguards are relatively lightly armed, featuring blister-turrets mounting only twin PPCs and a rack of Javelin anti-fighter missiles.  However, it has long been accepted practice for purchasers to customise their PD suites according to their own preferences or system availability.  For instance, it was not uncommon for owner-operators based in the Terran Hegemony to supplement the armament of their Vanguards with anti-missile systems, and many of the pre-Coup Vanguards which survived the (First) Succession War have either retained such systems or been hastily refitted with them.

  Some shipyards have gone a step further, installing one or more light capital lasers on some Vanguards to turn a 'harmless JumpShip' into a handy Q-ship/commerce raider.  Unfortunately, the repair-yards of Star's End and Tortuga Prime are among these enterprising concerns, and more than one pirate-hunter has fallen afoul of these unusually well-armed corsairs.

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Class/Model/Name:  Vanguard
Mass:              280,000 tons

Equipment:                                                            Mass 
Power Plant, Drive & Control:                                        3,360.00
Thrust:  Safe Thrust: 0
      Maximum Thrust: 0
Kearny-Fuchida Hyperdrive:  Standard (Integrity = 6)               266,000.00
Jump Sail: (Integrity = 4)                                              67.00
Structural Integrity: 1 [Capital]                                    1,867.00
Total Heat Sinks:    126 Single                                           .00
Fuel & Fuel Pumps:                                                     102.00
Bridge, Controls, Radar, Computer & Attitude Thrusters:                700.00
Fire Control Computers:                                                   .00
Armor Type:  Standard  (62 total armor pts)                            154.00

                           Capital Scale Armor Pts
   Location:                            L / R
   Fore:                                 13
   Fore-Left/Right:                   10/10
   Aft-Left/Right:                    10/10
   Aft:                                   9

Cargo:
   Bay 1:  Cargo (1) with 1 door                                       414.00
           Small Craft (3) with 2 doors                                600.00
   Bay 2:  Fighters (6) with 3 doors                                   900.00
   Bay 3:  Fighters (6) with 3 doors                                   900.00

DropShip Capacity:  4 Docking Hardpoints                             4,000.00
Grav Deck #1:  (110-meter diameter)                                    100.00
Life Boats:  16 (7 tons each)                                          112.00

Crew and Passengers:
      7 Officers (6 minimum)                                            70.00
     26 Crew (13 minimum)                                              182.00
      6 Gunners (4 minimum)                                             42.00
     50 Steerage Passengers                                            250.00
     39 Bay Personnel                                                     .00
Weapons and Equipment      Loc        SRV    MRV    LRV    ERV  Heat    Mass
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PD Turret #1               Nose
  2 PPC                             2(20)  2(20)     --     --   20     14.00
  16 ATM/34(A)                         *       *     --     --    *     16.00

PD Turret #2               Nose
  2 PPC                             2(20)  2(20)     --     --   20     14.00
  16 ATM/34(A)                         *       *     --     --    *     16.00

PD Turrets #3 & #4         FL/R
  2 PPC                             2(20)  2(20)     --     --   40     28.00
  16 ATM/34(A)                         *       *     --     --    *     32.00

PD Turrets #5 & #6         AL/R
  2 PPC                             2(20)  2(20)     --     --   40     28.00
  16 ATM/34(A)                         *       *     --     --    *     32.00
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TOTALS:                                              Heat: 120*    280,000.00
Tons Left:                                                                .00

  (OOC: This one actually grew out of a mistake I made while writing Sea of Heartbreak.  I'd originally intended to use a Vanguard-class JS from BTSD's TRO:2800 as part of the Tortugan attack-fleet, but as the work progressed, it turned out I'd misremembered the number of docking-collars the TRO:2800 design mounts.  Since I couldn't change the number of DropShips involved for plot reasons, I had to change either the ship's class or its make... and here we are.  I'm still not completely settled on whether or not the BTSD-spec Vanguard also exists in the AU of The Virginia War, but I'm actually leaning towards 'yes'.  Certainly there's enough precedent, given the number of other names which are recycled for multiple, vastly-different designs even just in jump-capable hulls: two distinct Riga classes, two Essex, three Lola....  )