OU Ship Designs.

> Alan E and Carmel J Brain wrote:

> Eureka has had some OU designs out for some time now, but I haven't

Jon T has made frigate (?) that I saw at Partizan last month - I think
he cut the Destroyer model in half to make it!

Eureka has had some OU designs out for some time now, but I haven't seen any
SSDs for them. So, here are some designs for people's edification and
amusement. My thanks to Brendan Robertson esq for the peer review. I've also
unashamedly stolen ideas from him. I have changed things a bit though, so any
errors are mine alone.

Oceanic Union ships
===================
There are currently 4 ships in Eureka's OU lineup. They are:

Destroyer Light Cruiser Heavy Cruiser Escort Carrier

...with more promised.

All of them appear to be - er - "inspired" by the Confederation
spaceships from the movie  "The Fifth Element" - see
http://home1.swipnet.se/~w-12454/fe/media/5thmodelshipcloseup.gif
http://home1.swipnet.se/~w-12454/fe/media/5thmodelship.jpg

The destroyer is moderately large for such a vessel, more like a
superdestroyer. The light- and heavy- cruisers likewise, judging by
volume/weight rather than length/width. These are chunky, thickset
vessels, remiscent of NSL designs rotated by 90 degrees along the
longtitudinal axis.

The exception is the Escort carrier. It's basically a slightly smaller version
of the heavy cruiser, but with a hanger bay attached on the side as an
outrigger, ( rather than a true catamaran).

Brendan Robertson said somewhere in the archives, re OU ship design
philosophy:

"We know the OUDF produces some Stargrunt vehicles under licence from the FSE
(from Owen's orbat) so they would probably source the basic escort hulls from
the same source (repeat business). The few cruiser's the OUDF use would likely
be custom built at home, predominately as support ships
(ADAF & missiles/SMBs would fit this role). The largest military ship
they possess would be a battlecruiser or escort carrier, to use as a flagship,
possible with a single HBS for punch.

Given their penchant for reliability, & that the OU fleet is more geared
towards police actions, the weapon fits would be more like the ESU, to reduce
maintainance & ammunition costs."

In another article, somewhere on his web page, he said:

"OUDF ships follow mixed design principles, generally having excellent
defences combined with light armour & moderate speeds. Nearly all ships under
4,000 tons have been at least partially streamlined to allow more varied
mission profiles.

The full range of weapons are used throughout the fleet, with the exception of
Salvo Missile Launchers, to reduce reliance on supply lines. Submunition Packs
are an exception to this, as they are reliable & offer cost effective punch
against heavy ships. Long term wars put the OU at a disadvantage due to a lack
of capital ships, but the Kosciusko class Carrier is capable of taking out
warships twice it's size due to the large fighter complement. Fighter doctrine
is still in it's infancy, but currently relies on specialised light carriers
armed only with fighters & light weaponry for defence."

B.R's designs include Anzac Class (24) Partial Streamlining for landings
Keppel Class (44) Stealth SpecOps ship Luisade Class (48) Chasseur (Speed 8
Pursuit vessel) Sydney Class (64) Escort (PDS galore!) Solomon Class (84) Fast
CA
Auckland Class (90) Old, Fast CA/BC
Kosciusko Class (90) eggshell carrier
Canberra-II Class (134) close-range brawler

All of these are specialist types. Only the Sydney,Solomon and Kosciusko
designs could possibly be represented by the Eureka models, and that requires
2 to be unusually thrusty ships and the third to be a slow,
fighter-bays-at-all-costs almost unarmed fighter platform, almost
a slow transport.

I therefore would like to have the Eureka minis that are currently in
production as new designs. (and B.R agrees)

For one thing, they all have the same "look and feel". They also look as
if they're cheap, cookie-cutter designs, with
ease-of-manufacture-in-bulk ahead of combat efficiency.

The Robertson designs I'd like to keep "as is" though, as they occupy
vitally important niches that the Cookie-cutter designs
couldn't deal with, ie Spec Ops, Streamlined small ships, and fast vessels for
chasing down raiders. I also like his idea of the OU often being more
optimised for
close-range "knife-fights".

Hence the BORON design programme: Basic Operational Refit Of Navy (Boron being
the 5th element, of course).

Brendan quoth: "Given their penchant for reliability, & that the OU fleet is
more geared towards police actions, the weapon fits would be more like the
ESU, to reduce maintainance & ammunition costs."

I've decided as a first cut that that means strong hulls, a smidgin of
armour, nothing larger than class-2 beams. Mass should be X x 20 + 2, in
order to get the maximum number of repair crews per mass, and so simulate the
reliability factor. The exception would be at the small end, where numbers are
important and quality less so. BORON ships will
tend to be a bit bigger, quite under-armed, about the same price as
their counterparts in other navies, but also quite a bit tougher.
In most cases, they have a standard 8-mass weapons pack, which usually
contains a standard gunboat mix, but can be swapped for other systems (SMRs,
Scatterpacks, Ortillery, Cargo, ADAF).

Hence the designs: Destroyer: This is the Freemantle class modular patrol ship
(in the ship yard). (Mass 40 in combat config) This original BORON design was
such a success that it laid the basis for many future designs.

------------------------------------------------------

"Numbat" class Light Cruiser Actually a Medium or Escort Cruiser. Mass 62
Cost 205. Strong Hull(7,6,6,6). 2 armour. Shield-1. Thrust-4
2 FC, 1PD, 1 Bm1, 1 Bm2 (F) Sister Ships NullaNulla, Nulka, etc Always fitted
with a weapons module, usually containing 1 PD, 1 Bm1, 3 Bm2 (L,R,F).

(ie with weapons module, has 2 PD, 2 Bm1/6, 2 Bm2/3-Fwd, 1 Bm2/3 LF, 1
Bm2/3 RF)

The Numbat is often used in the ADAF role, but is also the standard medium
cruiser of the OU. It is relatively cheap to construct, but lacks
long-range firepower. Close in, it is the equal of most medium cruisers.

-----------------------------------------------------

"Tuvalu"class Heavy Cruiser Block II. Mass 82
Cost 271. Strong Hull(9,8,8,8). 2 armour. Shield-1. Thrust-4
2 FC, 2PD, 2 Bm1, 2 Bm2 (F,AR)

Block I Sister Ships Tahiti, Tarawa etc Block II Sister Ships Karriwarra,
Kiribati. Always fitted with a weapons module,usually containing 1 PD, 1Bm1,
3Bm2 (L,R,F)

The Block I design has an average hull, (7,6,6,6), 3 armour, and 2 weapons
modules, cost 279.

The Block I design was deemed to be too expensive, and a less capable variant
was developed. The Block II design, as well as being slightly cheaper, is
tougher and has a much longer range. Most Block II vessels are fitted as
flotilla flagships.

--------------------------------------------------------

"Robertson" class Block I Escort Carrier. Mass 102
Cost 346+Fighters. Av Hull (8,8,8,7). 3 armour. Shield-1
2 FC. 3 PD, 3 Bm1, 3 Bm2 (L,R,AR), 2 Fighter Bays. Thrust-4

Block II ships have ADAF, 5 PD, and delete the L and R Bm2s. Cost 347.

Derived from the earlier Koscuisko class, but constructed using standard BORON
techniques. The Kosciuskos don't have the large ventral fin, and have fewer
pylons in the nose. Sister Ships Rarotonga, Rapanui, Richardson, Rotarua.
Block II Sister ships Wollongong, Wooloomooloo, Wagga Wagga, Waitangi.

Unlike the Kosciuskos, these are small multi-role ships. The Block II
variant is a specialist escort, and is often found either as the sole escort
of a convoy, or in company with 2 Block I ships.

I've just painted up some OU ships in Aboriginal "Dreamtime" colour schemes.
Had to be careful not to use genuine Koori designs. I still
have a few OU ships to paint - some will be Tiki (New Zealand) designs,
but my knowledge of Polysnesian art is scanty. Can anyone help?