Navy of the Federal Commonwealth
This is an attempt to create the best ships possible for their respective prices - effective solo or in combination. I have tried to not sacrifice efficiency for aesthetics except in a few minor design decisions. Try them in creative… for their price, they should kick the ass of just about anything 😃
Enjoy!
Fluff (because I must…hehe)
This is the navy of a collection of federated worlds generally known as the Commonwealth. The society is generally progressive and democratic, and the navy and associated marine service arm are charged with its defence. While enjoying good relations with the majority of local minor powers, there has been a history of tension with the nearby Taorec Empire. Recent incidents escalated into a short, violent border war with this faction, that the Commonwealth was fortunate to survive. This conflict proved a nasty surprise for Federal engineers and tacticians, revealing several conceptual shortcomings in their warship designs. In spite of these disadvantages (and proportionately higher casualties inflicted by the Taorans), the Commonwealth managed to learn valuable lessons and fight the enemy to a halt in the war's last few major fleet actions. A peace treaty was established guaranteeing the integrity of the Commonwealth against further Taorec expansion, and the Federal navy went to work applying their experience. Many of their ships were heavily modified to improve performance, while some new classes were developed – resulting in a thoroughly modern and proficient fighting force. These efforts are provided below…
By the way, the Taorec Navy that I refer to so often in the lore is here:
http://forum.cosmoteer.net/d/1045-faction-taoran-navy
I highly recommend you check out his faction and his awesome fleet. Some great designs!
Beam Artillery (Support)
$78,000 credits
12 Crew
Designed to provide support fire from afar, and be fast enough to skirmish. Speedy enough in reverse to outrun most capital ships, staying out of range of their guns while firing.
The latest evolution of the concept of beam artillery unit, this version seems to be by far the best. Previous versions were so poorly protected that they were ingloriously withdrawn from frontline service to be up-armoured after their weakness was revealed by combat experience. This temporarily left a dangerous gap in fleet operations during the war. Fortunately, upon its debut, this iteration proved outstanding in the role of fire-support and harassing, and importantly, could take a few hits too.
Siege Frigate (Support)
$170,000 credits
36 Crew
This relatively small ship is used to pepper enemies from afar with a continuous low-intensity missile fire. Ineffective at overwhelming substantial point defence arrangements, is never-the-less often useful in support of allied ships as they grapple with enemies.
While this design has suffered a downturn in utility with the improvement in point defence systems in modern ships, the ability to have a small, relatively cheap and survivable ship on the field delivering a stream of destruction toward the enemy is still appreciated by Federal commanders. If an enemy’s defences can be temporarily distracted or disabled, these ships can be impressive damage over the period of battle.
Strike Frigate (Support - EXPERIMENTAL)
$326,000 credits
84 Crew
Designed for quick hit-and-run attacks. Can deliver a volley of missiles directly at its target, then speed away to reload at its leisure.
One of the newest assets in the Federal arsenal, the Strike Frigate is a relatively new concept for the fleet in its use of missiles. Designed to at least partially saturate an enemy’s point defence in a volley (then retreat at high speed), or destroy smaller ships in a single go. As of yet, this ship has only been deployed against pirates and raiders, so its efficacy in actually fleet warfare is yet to be established.
Sensor Picket (Support)
$220,000 credits
36 Crew
Used to extend the range of fleets’ sensor capacity.
Federal admirals never leave home without one of these in their large fleets…
Escort
$77,000 credits
12 Crew
The lightest fleet combat warship regularly employed. Flexible, and fast enough to tackle beam and missile skirmish ships. Electro weapons make it effective against shield equipped enemies.
This small craft was employed in large numbers by the Navy and proved to be superior to the equivalent Taoran ship of its class due to heavier armour and ability to take down shields. This was one of the few arenas where the Federal Navy had the advantage right from the beginning of the conflict, and used its speed and agility to try to offset the generally greater firepower of Taoran formations.
Corvette
$137,500 credits
32 Crew
Small, fast, supremely flexible sub-capital ship. Exemplifies the Federal navy’s tendency to concentrate firepower and defence into the forward quarter. The corvette’s arc and fire is extremely limited, however is manoeuvrable enough to face enemies quickly and reasonably protected from the flanks and rear.
While initially inferior to the Taoran’s equivalent ship class (significantly cheaper Hammer frigate), several frantic modifications to the design improving shields and armament selection quickly brought the Federal corvette force back into fighting contention. During the final stages of the war, they demonstrated that they were, pound-for-pound, equal to their formidable adversaries.
Destroyer
$278,000 credits
54 Crew
Smallest capital ship. Achieves a balance of firepower, protection and mobility second-to-none. Multiple destroyers can amass to destroy larger capital ships, or individually outclass smaller ships.
An earlier version of this design was heavily committed during the Taoran War. It proved critical in giving the Federal navy some counter to the shattering power of the Hammer Battleships through the use of flanking and enveloping attacks. This version has been heavily refitted since the war to improve shielding and make better use of Electro-bolt systems.
Assault Cruiser (OBSOLESCENT)
$496,000 credits
86 Crew
Designed as a flexible and medium capital ship, able to destroy most smaller or equal adversaries in frontal brawl. Though relatively well protected from all sides, this ship has been revealed as a poor cost-proposition when opposed by shield wall adversaries (discussed below).
Of all the shocks that the conflict with the Taoran Navy delivered, the most important was in the area of medium capital ship design. Up until this conflict, the Federal navy was confident that in the Assault Cruiser concept, they had a family of types that could handle any threat. Contact with the Hammer Battleship MkII proved this confidence misplaced. With its ability to deliver overwhelming salvos while itself repelling massive frontal fire using a concentrated shield, the Federal navy found their cruisers simply inadequate for the task. Above all other factors, it was this imbalance, in this single class of ship, that allowed the Taorans to run rampant during the early stages or the conflict. It wasn’t until tactics were devised to exploit the Hammer’s weaknesses that their advance could be checked. Subsequent to the war, this class of ship, once the Navy’s favoured child, is being relegated to 2nd line duties and gradually decommissioned, as its replacement come online in greater numbers.
Monitor
$620,000 credits
132 Crew
Embodies the wall-of-fire / wall-of-shield concept. Epic forward firepower and protection using concentrated shields. Relatively high angular moment of inertia offset by placement of engines to maximize manoeuvrability. Relatively very vulnerable from the stern, and is difficult the navigate through congested space. For its cost, it is absolutely one of the most powerful ships in Cosmoteer (as of version 12.10), and can single-handedly annihilate most ships several times its cost. (In case not obvious, credit to Taorec for the awesome concept).
This ship is a direct response to the Hammer Battleship MkII that has so humbled the Federal Navy’s existing cruiser force. Commonwealth engineers were instructed to design and produce a ship that could match this enemy design in the absolute shortest possible time. As such, the decision was made to copy many of that ship’s features. The result, while competent, was self-evidently the product of conceptual plagiarism rather than originality. Still, while it arrived too late to see action in the war, simulations run pitting the two against each other seemed to show a minor superiority to the Monitor (though a marginally more expensive ship than its rival). Hopefully continued peaceful coexistence between these two cultures will make an actual test unnecessary… ;P
Strike Cruiser
$970,000 credits
208 Crew
Designed to destroy large and super capital ships. Beams and missiles batter enemy ship from afar, or drive into an enemy and blast away at point-blank range. This tactic is particularly useful against broadside designs that need to manoeuvre to continually bring fresh guns and shields to bear. By driving into the enemy, they can often be pinned in place and bisected.
When the Taoran War broke out, only a few Strike Cruisers where in operation. As one of the only types of Commonwealth ship that could stand and chance in a frontal engagement with a Hammer Battleship, those ships available were suddenly of very great importance. Although they proved critical in reversing Taoran fleets in several critical engagements, their expense and tactically limited role has meant that they are still considered as an extremely niche design, and only a few more have been produced in the ensuing post-war years (most production resources being concentrated on the new Monitors).
Battleship (OBSOLESCENT)
$2,255,000 credits
516 Crew
Heaviest ship design produced. Hybrid frontal and broadside tactic used during combat. Lots of firepower and layered defence, however slow and expensive.
Only six Battleships were ever build by the Commonwealth. Even during their construction, debate raged as to whether these massive ships could really deliver a service commensurate to their tremendous cost. Over the course of their long lives, these ships have been continually upgraded and refit to attempt to keep them useful, however gradually it became generally acknowledged that they were never really ‘worth the price’. The only ship of this class to see combat during the Taoran War was the CNS Endevour, which, along with its support fleet was badly mauled while attempting to defend a fringe sector during the very opening engagement. While the Endevour survived, it was too badly damaged to be returned to service and was eventually broken up for salvage. The remaining Battleships are used as command ships, and are still found at the centre of major Federal fleets.