OBT Forum

the Scimitar, a modified Avalon for Clan Nova Cat

Scimitar-class Heavy (Missile) Cruiser
Tech:            Clan / 3071
Era:            What if
Availability:         Unique (Excalibur - Clan Nova Cat)
Vessel Type:         WarShip
Mass:            770,000 tons
K-F Drive System:      Compact - Classified
Length:            812 meters
Sail Diameter:         1,375 meters
Power Plant:         Standard
   Safe Thrust:             3   Maximum Thrust:      5
Armour Type:         Lamellor Ferro-Carbide
Armament:         
   16 Naval Laser class-55
   12 Naval Autocannon class/35
     6 Heavy Naval Gauss Rifle
     6 AR-10 Multi Purpose Capital Missile Launcher
   40 Heavy Assault Gauss Rifle class-40
   32 Twelve-Tube Advanced Tactical Missile Launchers
   38 Anti-Missile System

Overview
   In 3069 Clan Nova Cat gained an Avalon-class Cruiser from the Federated Suns by handing over a Whirlwind-class Destroyer in trade.  The Avalon was analysed by the Nova Cats who almost immediately decided that the vessel was inadequate for the task they wanted to use it for, although they liked the idea of one vessel being at the centre of a taskforce.
   Instead of scrapping the hull or turning it over to cargo haulage the Nova Cat Scientist Caste moved it to the Varnay System Shipyards and began retrofitting the class with Clan weapons and brining it more in tune with the other vessels of the Nova Cat fleet.  In doing so they have created a well rounded class which they have named Scimitar-class Heavy Cruiser in honour of the nation it originally came from although many have called it a Heavy Missile Cruiser the Nova Cats do not use this distinction just like the Federated Suns do not use the Light Cruiser designation for the Avalon.

Capabilities
   The first major change one notices in the newly dubbed Scimitar-class is the performance the vessel’s engines produce.  Unlike the Avalon which is able to maintain speeds up to three gravities for short periods and two gravities normally the Scimitar can only achieve two-point-five gravities at a maximum and one-point-five gravities normally.  This change caused some major problems for the Nova Cat engineers as the new engines were smaller and more compact than the hull was designed for, engineers have had to be extra careful around them as a result.  It has given them a massive amount of extra cargo space to play about with allowing the Scimitar to carry far more weapons and small craft than the Avalon.
   The next noticeable change to the Scimitar from the Avalon is the enhanced Lamellor Ferro-Carbide armour because Clan grade armour is of a better quality than Inner Sphere produced armour the Scimitar has cleaner lines and a slightly thicker hide than the Avalon.  The Scimitar also has an miniature HPG transmitter dish on its upper hull just behind the command/sensor towers this dish looks exposed but is well protected and armoured and the HPG can still operated, in a limited capacity, without the dish.  The vessel’s Heat dispensation system has been upgraded to counter the increased work load created by the heavier weapons load.
   The original Avalon carried six DropShips, twelve small craft or fighters and a Battle Armour Company of thirty-six marines.  This arrangement did not sit well with the Nova Cats so for the Scimitar they upgraded this.  Firstly they kept the six DropShips lining the two massive flight pods three either side of the vessel allowing the vessel to carry an entire Galaxy of ground troops on its own if necessary.  Then they took the twelve fighter/small craft bays and turned them into twenty fighter bays and ten small craft bays completely rearranging the lower half of the vessel to cater for this arrangement and providing the vessel with a small fleet of small craft for protection and added assault firepower.  Finally they added another fourteen Elemental Marine Battle Armoured troopers to the current amount of troopers giving the vessel two full stars of Marines for internal defence and external offence.  The Avalon’s fourteen thousand-five hundred tons cargo capacity has been extensively increased to almost seventy-six thousand tons on the Scimitar mainly due to the smaller engines found on the Nova Cat vessel.  A Lithium Fusion Engine allows the vessel to make the standard double jump capability found on most WarShips, including the Avalon.  Two gravity decks in the Scimitar are each two hundred-and-ten metres wide giving the crew and passengers some sense of gravity when the vessel is recharging its jump drive.
   Armament wise the Nova Cats standardized what they found from the Avalon’s design schematics.  Instead of fourteen different weapons found on the Avalon the Scimitar does well with just seven.  This armament includes sixteen of the largest Naval Lasers in standard production split into four double turrets and two quad turrets, supporting these weapons at range are six Heavy Naval Gauss Rifles mounted in pairs in the forward flanks and singles in the rear arcs of the vessel.  Supporting these in what Nova Cats consider a diminished capacity in modern terms six AR-10 Multi Purpose Capital Missile Launchers, each of these are supported by sixty Capital Missiles.  Although modern Anti-Missile Batteries make these weapons less potent as they used to be they are far from ineffective.  For closer ranges there are twelve heavy Naval class Autocannons split into six double turrets including two double turrets in the broadside arcs making any WarShip pause before closing.
   Supporting this range of Capital weapons are an array of forty of the heaviest class of Heavy (Hyper) Assault Gauss Rifle in production.  Following testing on the Vanguard-class DropShip the Nova Cats have noted these weapons are excellent anti-aerospace fighter weapons.  Clustered together in groups of five these weapons are nasty even to DropShips and WarShips capable of damaging even capital armour.  Backing up these weapons are thirty-two twelve-tube Advanced Tactical Missile Launchers, fed by four hundred missile rounds each, these weapons are able to support the HAGs at range or provide devastating extra firepower at close range.  The Scimitar is defended by thirty-eight Anti-Missile Systems spread around the vessel's hull.
   Finally the Scimitar is capable of carrying just under twenty-three thousand tons of cargo an improvement over the Avalon’s fourteen thousand making the vessel more independent.

Deployment
   The Excalibur in service with Clan Nova Cat is the prototype and only vessel of the Scimitar-class it was launched in 3071 from the Varnay system Shipyards.  Because of the strange Federated Suns designed hull and Clan Nova Cat designed weapons systems the likelihood of another Scimitar ever being produced is highly unlikely.  The Excalibur serves in the Sandra Rosse Naval Star of Clan Nova Cat’s Touman based in the Nova Cat’s Den.

Scimitar-class Heavy (Missile) Cruiser WarShip           770,000 tons
Equipment:                                                            Mass 
Power Plant, Drive & Control:                                      184,800
Thrust:  Safe Thrust: 4
      Maximum Thrust: 6
Kearny-Fuchida Hyperdrive:  Compact (Integrity = 16)               348,425
Lithium Fusion Battery                                               7,700
Jump Sail:                          (Integrity = 4)                  0,068.5
Structural Integrity:                     120                       92,400
Heat Sinks:                             1045 (2090)                  0,519
Fuel & Fuel Pumps:                                                  10,200
Bridge, Controls, Radar, Computer & Attitude Thrusters:              1,925
Hyper Pulse Generator (Mobile):                                      0,012
Fire Control Computers:                                              3,377
Food & Water:  (120 days supply)                                     0,227.5
Armour Type:  Lamellor Ferro-carbide  (1,871 total pts)              1,700
   Fore:                                344
   Fore-Left/Right:                     310
   Aft-Left/Right:                      310
   Aft:                                 287

Cargo:
   Bay 1:  Fighters (20) with 6 doors                                3,000
   Bay 2:  Fighters (10) with 2 doors                                2,000
   Bay 3:  Cargo (1) with 1 doors                                   22,658

DropShip Capacity:                6 Hardpoints                       6,000
Grav Decks #1 - 2:                (210-meter diameter)               0,200
Life Boats:                       30                                 0,210
Escape Pods:                      30                                 0,210

Crew and Passengers:
     50 Officers                                                     0,350
    160 Crew                                                         1,078
    100 Gunners                                                      0,700
     50 Elemental Battle Armour Marines                              0,350

Weapons and Equipment        Location   Damage (C)   Max Range       Mass
4 NL-55                      Nose          22        Extreme         4,400
2 NAC/35                     Nose          70        Medium          8,000
5 HAG-40                     Nose       16/12/12     Long            0,080
                                      (160/120/120)
3 ATM-12                     Nose           6(60)    Medium          0,021
4 AMS                        Nose          --        Point           0,002
2 NL-55                      FL/R          11        Extreme         4,400
2 Heavy Naval Gauss Rifle    FL/R          60        Extreme        28,000
2 AR-10                      FL/R        Varies      Varies          1,000
5 HAG-40                     FL/R       16/12/12     Long            0,160
                                      (160/120/120)
3 ATM-12                     FL/R           6(60)    Medium          0,042
4 AMS                        FL/R          --        Point           0,004
2 NAC/35                     R/LBS         70        Medium         16,000
2 NAC/35                     R/LBS         70        Medium         16,000
5 HAG-40                     R/LBS      16/12/12     Long            0,160
                                      (160/120/120)
5 ATM-12                     R/LBS          8(80)    Medium          0,070
6 AMS                        R/LBS         --        Point           0,006
2 NL-55                      AL/R          11        Extreme         4,400
Heavy Naval Gauss Rifle      AL/R          30        Extreme        14,000
5 HAG-40                     AL/R       16/12/12     Long            0,160
                                      (160/120/120)
5 ATM-12                     AL/R           8(80)    Medium          0,070
4 AMS                        AL/R          --        Point           0,004
4 NL-55                      Aft           22        Extreme         4,400
2 NAC/35                     Aft          70        Medium          8,000
2 AR-10                      Aft        Varies      Varies          1,000
5 HAG-40                     Aft       16/12/12     Long            0,080
                                      (160/120/120)
3 ATM-12                     Aft           6(60)    Medium          0,021
6 AMS                        Aft        --          Point           0,006

Ammo
NAC/35                        600 (50 Rounds Per Cannon)            0,600
Heavy Naval Gauss Rifle       300 (50 Rounds per rifle)             0,150
Killer Whale Capital Missile  120 (20 Missiles Per Launcher)        6,000
White Shark Capital Missile   120 (20 Missiles Per Launcher)        4,800
Barracuda Capital Missile     120 (20 Missiles Per Launcher)        1,800
HAG-40                     12,000 (300 Rounds Per Rifle)            4,000
ATM-12                     16,800 (400 Rounds Per Launcher)         3,360
Anti-Missile System        23,040 (480 Rounds per system)           0,960
*Varies by Missile Used this assumes standard munitions is used.  There
are two other missiles available.  High-Explosive Rounds Short Range,
damage x1.5 and Extended-Range Rounds Extreme Range, damage x0.5