Approved Starship Petard-Class Droid Starfighter

[Hiram Voss]

The Petard-Class Starfighter

Spoiler: Petard-Class Starfighter

OUT OF CHARACTER INFORMATION

• Intent: To expand the M E T A
• Image Source: Wookieepedia [x]
• Canon Link: Linked within the submission.
• Permissions: One Open Market product.
• Primary Source: None.

PRODUCTION INFORMATION

• Manufacturer: The New Imperial Order [x]
• Affiliation: Closed Market
• Model: Pertard-Class Missile
• Production: Limited
• Material: Carbon-Nanofilament Armour

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

• Classification: Automated Bomb
• Length: 14 Meters.
• Width: 4 Meters.
• Height: 8 Meters.
• Armament: Very High
  • Modular Self-Destruct Mechanism
• Defenses: High
  • Deflector Shields [x]​
  • Molecular Shields [x]​
  • Particle Shields [x]​
  • Ray Shields [x]​
  • Ion Shields [x]​
  • Electronic Countermeasure Suite [x]​
  • Missile Deactivation Transmitter [x]​
  • Flare Launcher​
• Squadron Count: 6
• Maneuverability Rating: Very Low
• Speed Rating: High
• Hyperdrive: None.
• Hyperdrive Class: Not Applicable.

STANDARD FEATURES

• ICE Peregrine Shield Disruptor [x]: A shield disruptor which allows for a vessel of the Petard's size to slip through shields unmolested, and allow for it to perform its work with diligence.
• Acid Dispenser: Mounted around the drill bit, industrial acid launchers have been added to the Petard-Class in order to speed up the digging process. Using industrial agents and solvents nominally used in the manufacture of electronics, the acid used on the Petard makes quick work of the internal structure of vessels.
• Drill: Using mining technologies found in the Vibrocutter [x], the drill-bit on the Petard-Class is effectively a gigantic vibroblade, with an engine behind it that allows the drill to spin very, very, very fast. This, combined with propulsion, and the acid launchers, means that the Petard-Class can cut through a ships hull very quickly.

ADVANCED SYSTEMS

• Modular Core: The sole offensive ability of the Petard-Class is the core of the detonator, which is primed to go off when it is close to its target. Nominally armed with a similar layout to the concussion missile, it can be modified to fit other forms of explosives ordinances. These being Rhypalm [x], Ionic, Proton, Seismic or Baridium, all packed into the hull and set for automatic detonation.
• Advanced Sensor Array: The Petard-Class carries an advanced sensor relay which allows it to pinpoint the desired targets within vessels as specified by commanders.
• Droid Brain: The Petard-Class, despite being an awfully crude vessel regarding weaponry, it does employ a sophisticated droid brain in order to organise manoeuvring against hostile fire.
• Dead 'Man' Switch: The Petard-Class is incredibly vulnerable to assailants once it is boring into an target. However, this is a double edged sword for the defender. Any attempt to dislodge the vessel will more than likely trigger the explosive charge inside. On top of that, any attempt to physically open and disarm the vessel will also cause premature detonation.

STRENGTHS

• Highly Explosive: Much of the Petard-Class' innards are dedicated to the explosive warhead within. A fourteen meter concussion missile warhead detonating? Quite explosive.
• Fast Digger: The combination of acid, reinforced drill bit and high powered engines allow for the Petard to very quickly tunnel through the thickened hulls and hallways of enemy vessels.

WEAKNESSES

• Lotta Space: The Petard-Class is effectively a missile. And a 'squad' of these missiles takes up an entire hangar space allotted for one squadron.
• One Way Trip: The Petard is meant to detonate. Explode. So when its deployed, its gone for good and does not hold longevity like normal fighter craft.
• Anti-Fighter Capacity: The Petard-Class holds very little in regards to anti-fighter capability. While it does hold flares and the like, it cannot manoeuvre well against fighters, and holds no cannons to destroy them.
• Fragile Detonator: The detonator inside the Petard-Class is rather fragile. It can be dislodged during drilling, and thus yield a less than adequate result.

DESCRIPTION
The Petard-Class began as an actual joke. A literal joke in an officers mess between some bored engineers on R&R. But on further discussion, and then consultation with superiors, it dawned on the engineers that this machine may be viable. The size of a small, snubnosed fighter, the Petard-Class is a highly sophisticated piece of ordinance, armed with a droid brain and sensor array among other equipment. The idea of the vessel, is that once set, it dispatches itself, with orders to target an enemy vessel. With its droid brain, the Petard-Class can organise logic, regarding manoeuvring and actually how and when to attack.

The Petard uses its specialist equipment to Using shield disruptors, it penetrates the first line of enemy defences, the shields. Then once impact is made, it begins to bore into the armour plating. This is performed using a combination of highly toxic acid and a reinforced drill bit. Propelled by its powerful engines, the Petard burrows into the enemy vessel, until it has reached its target. Be that a magazine of ordinance, a critical power conduit or other designated target. Once there, the internalised mass of the Petard, detonates. Should the Petard be interrupted while burrowing, it may detonate prematurely either through hostile interference, or that of damage sustained.

There are certain drawbacks to the vessel. Despite a rather small size compared to other bombers, a squadron of Petards takes up an entire squadron set. This on top of the fact that its assault is a one way trip, mean that the Petard can take up valuable hangar space considering it is not actually meant to return. Drilling through a battlecruiser, while the ideal method, is nevertheless one which yields damage. The detonation system inside, may be dislodged, and so, the Petard may not explode in the manner specified or desired by its commanders. This issue can also be caused by sustained damage via drilling or successive starfighter assaults on the petard.

 

[Gir Quee]

Hiram Voss , I'll be your factory judge for this submission.

Manufacturer: The New Imperial Order

If you could please link this to the faction page please.

Affiliation: The New Imperial Order

At limited production, the affiliation is going to have to be smaller than a major faction. From the template:

Limited (Only one small group of characters. IE: A Single Minor Faction, Company, or Group within a faction.)

Common examples for this usually are specific fleets or commanders.

These being Rhypalm, Ionic, Proton, Seismic or Baridium, all packed into the hull and set for automatic detonation.

Please link Rhypalm here, as most people who encounter this sub are unlikely to be familiar with it.

Overall, this is three ratings over-balanced (I'm counting the squadron count as "Low" for this, given that "Very Low" is 4 or less fighters per squadron). How you intend to balance this will direct some of my future feedback for this submission.


This concept in general is pretty problematic from a gameplay/roleplaying perspective based on Star Wars Chaos's traditional mores.

Using field disruptors to disrupt shielding to allow boarding is probably one of the very few instances where's it's generally acceptable to call a hit on defense. Using it on a warhead to penetrate through shields like this likely isn't going to be acceptable. The Peregrine was not intended to be weaponized in a disposable manner like this (It "is rare, expensive, and exclusive " per its own sub). There's a similar problem with the drilling part, where again, this might be acceptable as a boarding craft to drill in before unleashing its troops at superficial depth, it's not going to be appropriate for an actual warhead, especially one that drills deeply into an enemy warship.

For this to get approved, there's going to need to be multiple mentionings in here that this isn't going to be a weapon that consistently and infallibly penetrates through enemy defenses before exploding. This may mean stating something like the jostling from the turbulence created by going through a shield system (per the Peregrine sub) means that some of the missiles will prematurely explode. It also may mean explicitly noting in here that the defender gets to specifically dictate the ability of this weapon to penetrate through armor plating. It will probably also mean softening the language in here that the warhead will absolutely explode once it penetrates the hull.

If you have alternative ideas that you think will help balance this from an OOC perspective, I'm open to hearing them.

 

[Hiram Voss]

Gir Quee

So, I think I've done enough ratings edits to suffice, and have edited that the explosive yield can be disrupted by environmental damage and enemy assaults. Also added that starfighters have an advantage against it.

 

[Gir Quee]

Hiram Voss , I don't think I've ever said this to a submitter, but I'm impressed with your edits. They've addressed almost all of my concerns and I feel comfortable saying that I think any opposition that encounters this will think it's a fairer and more inclusive submission.

I've only got one sticking point:

Affiliation

: The New Imperial Order Navy

While this technically is smaller than a major faction, for almost all practical purposes, this pretty much allows the entire faction to field it in large numbers. Keep in mind that limited production is for a "small group of characters", and characters include NPCs. Small is definitely relative, but from what I've seen of the NIO, I wouldn't call its navy "small".

 

[Hiram Voss]

Gir Quee

So first and foremost, cheers.

Secondly, I have reverted the change back to the NIO in a more broader sense. I think it should be the case that the affiliation means members of the faction are able to use it, not that it is rather distributed through the entire thing.

 

[Gir Quee]

Hiram Voss , what could potentially work is "NIO PC ship captains", meaning that any NIO ship that has a PC commander could use these (but not an entire PC's fleet).

 

[Hiram Voss]

Gir Quee

I don't want to be that guy, but what you're asking contradicts rules that are written. Such as the production limits to Battlecruiser sized vessels at 5km which REQUIRE a Major faction affiliation at limited production

 

[Gir Quee]

Hiram Voss , I don't follow. Can quote me the exact rule you're talking about?

It's true that certain ship sizes/classes are specifically restricted to PC captains in certain instances, but it does not mean that a PC can't captain a corvette, a frigate, a star destroyer, transport, etc.

 

[Hiram Voss]

Gir Quee


Well this image here:

implies that major factions can field limited subs and is infact a requirment for limited affiliation for certain classes of ship, as well limited production doesn't necessarily restrict its use to PCs as per the NPC unit creation template:

which allows for certain units to field limited production subs.

​

 

[Gir Quee]

Hiram Voss , it's absolutely true that a limited submission doesn't necessarily have to be limited to player characters.

But "limited production" does need to be only employed by a small group of characters, PC and/or NPC. This is why the Factory has limited production defined as availability to " Only one small group of characters " and the codex has the chart above which again, noticeably prevents the "limited" production items from being employed en mass in large and/or common formations/units.

My specific suggestion of limiting its use to NIO PC-captained ships was me trying trying to find a way to meet your idea of " I think it should be the case that the affiliation means members of the faction are able to use it, not that it is rather distributed through the entire thing" that still complies with the site's rules. My wording allows any player character to at least have some access to the submission, but it prevents it from being deployed in massively large numbers that run counter to the site's ideas of what a "limited" production item is (A single warship can only carry so many of these fighters into an engagement).

If you have another way of somehow restricting its use to that of small numbers within NIO itself, that is fine. We can discuss those ideas and figure something out. But I'll restate that this cannot be a submission that has the potential to be commonly deployed en mass, which is effectively what the "New Imperial Order" or "New Imperial Order Navy" affiliations are.

 

[Gir Quee]

Hiram Voss , what's the status of this submission?

 

[Hiram Voss]

Gir Quee

I second chanced the submission and have been waiting on a second set of eyes.

 

[John Locke]

Hiram Voss | Gir Quee

Upon reviewing the conversation and the submission I find myself in agreement with the Factory Judge in this case. The template very clearly states the following:

Limited (Only one small group of characters. IE: A Single Minor Faction, Company, or Group within a faction.)

As such a limited production submission can not be affiliated with an entire Major Faction, but must be affiliated with a group within it.

While you are correct that a Major Faction to produce and field limited 5km ships, the table does not speak to the affiliation, just the requirement for production.

As such in order to move this submission on to approval, you will either have to affiliate the submission with part of the Major Faction, or step the production down to Minor.

 

[Hiram Voss]

John Locke

Affiliation has been changed to closed market. Is that kosher?

 

[John Locke]

Hiram Voss

Those edits are acceptable yes, my thanks.

I'm going to approve this with the standard disclaimer if the submission is abused it may end up being reported and pulled.

APPROVED