The MAX is my daily, the MTC came from an uupgraded referral, Perseus is for big ship killing if i don't have enough people to man the Idris, and the Carrack is love.
I am considering turning the MAX into either an Asgard or Andromeda, and the Perseus could be turned into a Galaxy this IAE.
Iveco Oto-melara recently introduced a new 10x10 variant of their Centauro chassis (which apparently is only 50cm longer than the 8x8), specifically designed to carry a remote 155/52 turret (and a 30mm on top of that).
Do you think a 10x10 Centauro 3 with a 130mm gun would be feasible in the future?
Considering how so much in GS is based on DnD, what levels are we talking about?
Just earlier today i made a post titled "Growing criticism", that you can still find here.
To summarize: I tried to explain my take on why criticism towards CIG seems to be increasing.
I posted the same thing on spectrum around the same time, and was getting a good share of votes. Then a little while ago I got this funny message.
Aside from the cosmetic exterior changes, I hope we get some internal improvements, like better corridor layout (i still get lost sometimes), and possibly more private bunk rooms for the various officers on board (I can really not see people like the chief engineer or the CMO sharing a bunk with the other enlisted crew).
But perhaps the most important change would be a slightly taller hangar.
I'm saying this because it is a real shame that ships like the Guardian MX and the Vanguards cannot fit because they are too tall (the Hoplite especially i believe would be the perfect dropship companion to the Idris).
Judging by the windows layout on the Stanton in the pic above, I say there might just be a slight chance for this to happen.
The Odin is a cool looking ship, very "big boom space battleship Yamato", but i'm a carrier boi.
Now the Bengal is WAY to much for me.
The Kraken promises great things but the open pad concept leaves me very unconvinced.
The Idris is lovely. Really, i even have one! It's small enough to be somewhat reasonable to manage, it can land on planets and use hangars, and it is basically a frigate that can fly alone without dedicated escort, save for its own fighter wing. The downside is that it is a compromise, a frontline capital ship with an oversized hangar, and a carrier with a stumped air wing.
Enter the Argus-type Escort Carrier, or CVE (aka the "Bengal at home"), as seen in the sq42 presentation.
A few premises:
The Escort Carrier, or CVE, is a promised flyable ship of the 15 millions stretch goal, just like the cruiser is for the 4.5 millions, and the battlecruiser for the 17 millions, and seeing how the Odin is the last concept to be sold, i'm thinking that it will be available flight-ready one day....
Instead of an escor carrier, as it is designated both in the original stretched goals and the sq42 video, this feels a lot more like a Light Carrier, or CVL instead. The difference is quite sustantial, but to make it short: a CVL is a dedicated military ship, either converted from another fleet hull or purpose built from the keel up, it is fast and able to follow the rest of the fleet in battle; a CVE is converted from a civilian hull, it is slow and quite fragile, but perfect to escort convoys and support troop landings (and something i could see the Kraken being re-classified as).
I am utterly convinced this is the new model for the Pegasus-type CVE that was presented in 2014 (and will be featured in the second episode of Squadron), seeing that it is an RSI design like the Bengal, and the shape now resembles that ship a lot more.
Now what appeals to me is that this is a proper carrier, allegedly able to carry 32 fighters and 2 Retaliators (and a pair of Argos, of course), but it is far less demanding than the full-fledged Bengal (some estimates say it is around 500-600m in length), and very well tailored for a big org to anchor its combat fleet around.
Just imagine a carrier strike group with this thing at the centre, one or two Javelins as close escort, and a bunch of Polarises working both as scout ships and joining the fighers sorties as heavy fire support (in this scenario i could see Idrises working as long distance picket ships). Or maybe providing fighter support to an Odin battle group.
I am not saying that i would automatically buy it when it comes out (however many years from now), but if it turns out to be not much more expensive than a Javelin, if i have enough potential store credits, and i was part of a good org, i might just be tempted by it.
Also i love the looks.
Yes, you heard me right, and there are multiple reasons why.
I know the Federation is supposed to be this utopical, post-scarcity society that envelops many worlds and species, with a potentially ludicrous amount of production capacity, which shoud (in theory) allow for basically an entire fleet made entirely of prototypes. But if that translates in almost getting defeated by the Dominion then i question the wisdom of such policy.
That conflict proves that, even in this supposedly ideal society, logistics are important, but if you have tens of different types of ships that need different types of maintenance procedures, spare parts and training, then your fleet is not sustainable in the face of attrition.
Meta-wise i'm well aware that every star trek serie needs different ships to make it "feel" like a different serie, plus this allows any fan to come up with their own personal vessel imagining that it might be in some way "canon" to starfleet.
From a practical point of view however i prefer to think of a more reasonable version of starfleet.
This would mean subdivide the classes of ships needed into 3 general categories:
Flagship class.
The biggest and bestest of all. Can cover pretty much any role, from very long range exploration, to diplomacy, to scientific missions, to heavy combat, and so on, all within the same unmodified chassis. The downside is that they are expensive and therefore a waste of resources if used for secondary roles.
Cruiser class.
The middle child of the lot. Still pretty capable ship by itself, although not at the same extent of the flagship, but cheaper and more easily mass produced. Its real strength however is the ability to be modified to specialize in a single role, which means that (for example) one chassis with mounted extra weapons becomes a combat ship at least on par with the flagship, while the same chassis fitted with long range sensors instead could out-science that same flagship.
Frigate class.
The workhorse of the fleet. Small(ish) and easy to mass produce, but has a shorter range, is relatively more fragile, and is generally relegated to secondary roles like internal patrols, specific exploration and scientific missions (like make a detailed analisys of a planetary system), and light escort. In fleet combat they act together as a wing.
With the roles established, here are a few example of ships in regards to their time period.
TOS/movies era: the Constitution class is definitely a Flagship, with the Miranda and its intercheangeable roll bar being a Cruiser (arguably, since the Miranda is apparently more massive than the Connie), but with the retirement of the Connies and introduction ot the Excelsior class, the Miranda definitely enter Cruiser territory as the Excelsior takes the throne of Flagship (i'm not sure what could constitute a frigate here, maybe the explodium-made Oberth?).
TNG era: The Galaxy is the absolute Flagship of the fleet, it's archetypal, period. The cruiser could be the Nebula, canonically a "budget Galaxy", but with that same interchangeable module up top that the Miranda had, and depending on what that pod contains it could possibly surpass the Galaxy in some specific roles. The Constellation would have made for a good frigate for the early period of this era, replaced then by the Intrepid.
Late DS9/VOY era: Taking the crown of flagship is now the Sovereign, while an excellent cruiser could be the Akira (maybe continuing the tradition of an intercheangeable top mounted pod?), and the frigate would be the Sabre, which is bigger than the Defiant, but still very manouverable and much more multirole.
Just imagine what a difference would have made to face the Dominion with a fleet anchored around multiple Sovereigns, escorted by even more Akiras, and flanked by wings of Sabres.
Anyway this is my idea of a reasonably constructed starfleet, what would yours be?
EDIT: fixed some grammar
I already posted a similar thing some time ago, but lately I've been flying the Starlancer MAX again and I cannot help myself from pointing out all the missed greatness of this ship.
I like the MAX. I think it's the closest possible thing we have to a "Serenity" equivalent, meaning a long term, relatively cozy, liveaboard ship that can do a little bit of everything without excelling in anything specifically.
Which is why when I see the obvious design flaws I find myself wanting to melt it out of sheer frustration.
For starters there are some odd bugs that stand out, like the main elevator having a prompt instead of a working screen and the button on the outside working only to call it but not to close it back up, and the blast panels in the turret seats appearing closed when open.
But those are (i believe) just bugs that will be resolved sooner or later.
A feature that I really think needs changing is the fact that it has only a single s3 shield generator, where it clearly needs 2. This ship sits right in between the Taurus and the Caterpillar in many ways, and just like them its main defence is to be able to last long enough to run away bravely. Now considering that the Taurus has 1x s3, and the Cat has 3x s3, I think having 2 of them would be the most reasonable thing possible.
But even then the thing that frustrates me the most is the interior layout of the hab zone and the main cargo area.
I get it, they wanted to reuse the space that they used in the TAC for the hangar, but that is exactly what makes it feel like a cheap compromise to get the ship out on schedule instead of a reasonably thought out living space. Instead of that silly "island of bedrooms" they should have gone with a single corridor running amidship with the rooms on the sides, which would have made them bigger and more realistic (i also find it amusingly sad that hab 1 and 2, usually dedicated to the captain and co-pilot, are smaller than 3 and 4, meant for the gunners).
And turn those silly twin elevators in the back into a single elevator and a ladder please.
But even worse than the cheap way they designed the accommodations, is that damnable catwalk in the middle of the main cargo room.
That thing is the bane of any serious transport operation, it is bad enough that not only takes away potential cargo space, but it blocks access to half of the grid, forcing you to walk all the way from one side of the ship to the other to load and unload to and from a cargo elevator. I would happily lose the third vertical level of cargo space in the back for a third row of 32scu containers in that place (which would also increase the cargo capacity to 256 instead of 224, a more than a reasonable amount).
BTW to the common criticisms:
"But with a single corridor I cannot reach engineering if there's a fire, with two I can!"
The doors are still a bottleneck, the fire would have to start in very specific places for you to be able to ignore it, which also means that there's two times the amount of space available for it to spread, and by the time you finish doing whatever you have to do in engineering, it would have become uncontrollable. Much better to deal with it immediately and from a position where it cannot outflank you.
"But the catwalk is indispensable for going between the front and back of the ship!"
No it's not, even now there are multiple ways of getting from one end to the other by going upstairs, even more if they turn one of the rear elevators into a ladder like suggested above. Plus if you are really that desperate you can still go on foot when landed, or EVA out if in space.
I really, REALLY hope cig will consider giving this ship a second pass in the not too distant future. It has just too much potential to be simply ignored.
Removed the size 7 guns, the butt turret and nubbly front sponsons.
Added quad size 5 remote turrets mounted sideways on the main sponsons (optionally controlled by the pilot?).
I would have shown the changes also in the side view, and also probably removed the "shark fins" on the engines, but this is the apex of my ms paint skills.
This was my entry for the Odin.
They accepted it.
Now i can officially buy a 5k+ jpg.
Now what?
Should i start a gofundme with the promise that anyone willing to come aboard will be welcomed (which will probably be a lie)?
Watching the space funeral of the other 2 astronauts on the Hail Mary i realized something.
The ship was still under decelerating thrust, the bodies should've fallen down as if they had been thrown out of a window, not floated away gently in space.
