Approved Starship HTE Tallaan-class Cargo Cruiser

[Gorba the Hutt]

HTE Tallaan-class Cargo Cruiser​

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Spoiler

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Image Source: Concept Spaceship by Juan Pablo Roldan​

Affiliation: Herglic Trade Empire
Manufacturer: Tallaan Shipyards, Herglic Trade Empire
Model: HTE Tallaan-class Cargo Cruiser
Modularity: No
Production: Mass-Produced
Material: Durasteel, Transparisteel
Classification: Transport Cruiser

Length: 751 meters
Width: 192 meters
Height: 225 meters

Armament: Class 3

• 4 Quadlaser Turrets
• 2 forward-fixed Octet Torpedo Launchers
• 4 anti-missile pressor beams
• Reinforced Ramming Prow

Hangar:

• 12 Gunships
• 8 Dropships

Special Features:

• Triple Redundant Shielding
• QQ-1453-DR1 Solid Fuel/Ration Converter
• Enlarged Interior
• HIMS system
• Escape Pods

Maneuverability Rating: 17
Speed Rating: 10
Hyperdrive Class: 1.0

Strengths:

• Speed: Prodigious engines and lack of heavy armament render this vessel capable of traversing from point A to point B at a fairly impressive pace.
• Shields: Based on the Mon Calamari's MC-series, the triple redundant shields provide the vessel with a substantial amount of defense in the event of an attack.
• Cargo Capacity: With a storage space of 15,000 metric tons, the Tallaan-class cruiser is capable of hauling a serious amount of goods across space.

Weaknesses:

• Agility: The turning radius of the Tallaan-class' prototype has been compared to that of a Sandcrawler. Several engineers vocally wondered if they should bring in Jawa specialists for consulting.
• Boarding Actions: In the event of a boarding action, the enlarged interior would make it easier for the boarders to conduct their operations.
• Armament: Though each ship will be equipped with a Hellbore cannon, the effectiveness of this weapon is reduced at close range. In addition, the cannon is fixed forward, rendering broadsides impossible.

Description:
With the revival of the Herglic Trade Empire came a need for a cargo vessel to transport their goods from one side of the galaxy to the other. The current erosion of the Lords of the Fringe and growing piracy was a primary motivator behind the move to equip each vessel with a pair of octet torpedo launchers. The weapons are placed on either side of the vessel's large ramming prow. The ship's super-structure was actually based around this ramming prow, which enables the vessel to push aside or shatter vessels of equal or smaller size. The anti-missile pressor beams and quad lasers provide a slight defense against star fighter incursions. Yet, even with these additions the cruiser is still lightly armed.

The main goal of the engineers was to develop a fast transport cruiser that could break through attempts to and keep going. So even with the addition of the offensive capabilities, very little consideration was given to turning capability or further armament.

The threat of interdiction vessels was, however, a serious problem the developers had to contend with. They delved into old blueprints and archives before eventually settling on the old Bothan Hyperwave Inertial Momentum Sustainer system, or HIMS. After giving the technology a minor overhaul, they installed it on the prototype. Testing proved that it did give the ship the capability to sustain hyperspace travel through an interdiction field, if only for a brief time. The smaller type of interdicting vessels, the sort which pirates used, proved no trouble. Military-grade ships presented a larger problem. The more immense the gravitic field generated, the less likely it was that the HIMS would be able to power through it.

In addition to combat considerations, the interior of the Tallaan-class is built to a scale twice that of human standards. This is so that the Herglics crewing the vessels will be more comfortable and can more readily move about the ship.

Lastly, the Solid Fuel Converter makes it possible for the ship to eschew traditional concerns for crew consumables and waste, freeing up more space for cargo.

Overall, the cruiser provides a very fast, thick hulled and well-shielded ship capable of breaking through interdictions or patrols. Severe weaknesses in firing arcs, armament and turning radius mean that prolonged engagement is highly unadvisable. Should the vessel be used in combat operations it is best utilized as an auxiliary to planetary landing forces due to its high gunship and dropship capacity.


Development Thread: N/A
Intent: Cargo Cruiser for the Herglic Trade Empire
Who Can Use This: N/A
Primary Source: N/A

 

[War Hydra]

RESEARCH REVIEW

Star Wars Canon:
Pending initial review

Starwars Chaos:
Pending initial review

WITHOUT DEV THREADS
Pending initial review

WITH DEV THREADS
Pending Initial review

SUGGESTIONS
Pending Inital review

 

[War Hydra]

[member="Hion the Herglic"]


Ok. Before we really get started, I'd like to go over a few things with you to make sure that we are both on the same page about what this ship is capable of doing and what it is designed to do.


For starters...

The above is a scale image (or darn close) depicting the average distance between the Earth and the Moon, and the fact that the total width of every planet in the solar system can fit between the two.

The weapon you've installed on this ship is designed to fire 2 energy torpedoes a second at planets (also space stations and very large warships) from ten times that distance.
One solid minute of travel time, then boom. Always at the same distance from the ship.
Granted, if your torpedo actually manages a direct hit against something on the way towards its maximum range... ouch.
But at those insane ranges? This is more of an artillery cannon than a sniper rifle. And at 120 Capital Weapons worth of pewpew, it's not an easy thing to install on a ship.

Which brings me to the main issue here... The weaknesses of the weapon system itself.

"Weaknesses are, of course, substantial. Apart from the collateral damage risk imposed by an unguided projectile at 0.2c, Hellbores must draw from the main reactor, causing significant drain comparable to batteries of long-range turbolasers. This reduces shield recharge rate and slows the ship's speed/maneuverability rating by 0.5, for the duration of fire. As such, this weapon is only suitable for vessels which can support that kind of power drain. Generally, this means the weapon is restricted to Light Star Destroyers and above, although a specially engineered smaller capital ship (such as a cruiser or heavy cruiser) could theoretically mount and fire a Hellbore by sacrificing other weapons capabilities. A non-specialized ship could carry this weapon as part of its armament at 1100m; a specialized ship could carry it at 500m, by sacrificing all other capital-grade weapons capabilities."

It seems to me that the intent of the weapon is that it only be placed on Light Star Destroyers of 1,100 meters or longer. The only allowance for smaller craft to be equipped with such a weapon, are under the conditions that the craft be a minimum of 500 meters long and be specifically designed around the concept of operating as an artillery platform for this weapon.

Whereas, the ship you're designing here appears to be primarily a large cargo transport that happens to have a very big gun on it.
Which... Seems to me to be a fairly significant divergence from the type of ship the weapon is intended to be installed upon.



So... at this time, I'm not going to say that you can't put that particular weapon on this ship, but I would like you to explain to me your viewpoints on how this ship and weapon truly relate to one another, the intended use of the ship, and the combat techniques you envision this ship enacting in a roleplay.

 

[Gorba the Hutt]

The original intention of mounting that weapon was to make a convoy of these ships the galactic equivalent to an armored train with a tank cannon mounted on the front. In other words, it will get where it's going even if it has to go through you. Concerted fire from a convoy of say five ships could theoretically be fairly devastating. The main problem would be that they are mounted on the front of the ship and while the ship is fairly speedy its turning capability is next to nothing. In a drawn out engagement the smaller or more maneuverable ship would be able to get behind it and take it to pieces.

Could they be theoretically used in a large scale space battle? Sure, but they would likely be annihilated by star fighters/bombers.

Or at least that's how I envisaged it.

Regardless, the idea seems a bit untenable as I underestimated the power of the weapon involved.

What about this:

Base the hull of the ship around a ramming prow that would enable it to ram vessels of equal or smaller size and plow through. The turning radius means that if it was used in battle it would be the equivalent of a suicide ship, since it could only ram into the enemy formation and then keep going - which would leave it stuck behind enemies lines - or attempt to turn, which would take forever.

In addition to that, a pair of large octet torpedo launchers could be mounted just behind the ramming prow, fixed forward.

This would still be keeping with the original runaway train concept, but would be more reasonable, I hope.

[member="War Hydra"]

 

[War Hydra]

[member="Hion the Herglic"]

I think that sounds like a pretty good idea.
Thick armor and shields, maybe some anti-missile pressor beams...

Sounds like a fun ship design.

 

[Gorba the Hutt]

Cool, I'll get on the edits tomorrow.

[member="War Hydra"]

 

[Gorba the Hutt]

Edits completed. [member="War Hydra"].

 

[War Hydra]

[member="Hion the Herglic"]



It's a little bit too fast for its size. Can you drop the speed down to 10?

 

[Gorba the Hutt]

Yep. Done.

[member="War Hydra"]

 

[War Hydra]

[member="Hion the Herglic"]


Approved, pending secondary.

 

[Allyson Locke]

Approved.