Azhi Dahaki class heavy cruiser

[Skeelzania]

Stats changed, see page two

For many years now, Skeelzania has fielded two types of cruisers: those whose firepower is concentrated in large turrets, and those who rely on torpedo attacks. While these two classes (the Gustav and Fenrir, respectively) compliment each others abilities, the stress of maintaining large numbers of two very different ships is becoming burdensome. It was decided to combine the best attributes of both classes into a single ship, one that would have ample torpedo launchers as well as turreted weapons. Taking experiences with CorpSacian heavy cruisers into account, the Ministry of Fleet Advancement set to work.

The product of their labors was a vessel much larger than previous cruisers, though not as big as a Ravanos. Firepower was balanced between torpedo, missile, and guns. These were further divided so that there would be both projectile and beam weaponry, ensuring that no threat could go unchallenged.

It is with great pride that I present the latest embodiment of Skeelzanian might, the SKZ-HC090 Azhi Dahaki, the first in a new line of heavy cruisers.

Azhi Dahaki class cruiser


Type: Heavy cuiser
Length: 1200m
Beam: 350m
Draft: 400m
Weight: 32 million tons
Propulsion: 4 Ion Emission drives
Power plant: 3 fusion reactors
Armament: torpedo launchers x6; missile launchers x8; twin heavy railgun turret x1; twin ion cannon turret x2; single ion cannon turret x1; autocannon PDS x8
Armor: 9 meters of chobham ship armor
Crew: 1090
Marine Contingent: 460
Acceleration: 350m/s^2
Shielding: Yes
Hyperdrive: Yes
Fighter/Pinnace capacity: 8 (typically 6 fighters, two pinnaces)
Introduction Date: O.E. 2136

Thoughts, comments, and suggestions are welcome.

Edit: Fixed introduction date so it was more recent

[Juumanistra]

Isn't nine meters of armor a smidge of overkill? Juumanistra's most heavily armored craft clocks the scales at a little over five meters; then again, Juumanistran fleet doctrine is more than likely radically different from Skeelzanian. What's the effective engagement range on the Azhi Dakahi? This, I suppose, ties into the previous point about fleet doctrine and armor: Juumanistran vessels emphasize large stand-off distances(4-5 million kilometers, well outside of the range of stock ST/SW torpedoes) and thus don't rely as heavily on armor as ships geared for closer-in engagements.

Other than that, it looks pretty good. Seems underpowered given its size, but again, we've got radically different design parameters.

[Sskiss]

As you've said, your fleet tactics might be quite different. I like the overall desgn of it - something that my people would appriciate - something solid and durable. Seems to me like the kind of ship that can go in close and take a beating and still keep fighting to me.

[Metallinauts]

You should just refit all the vessels to incorperate your new weapons, half the time, half the money. Nice pic btw, Homeworld?

[Akrosia]

Looks like Homewold 2.

[Central Facehuggeria]

Yup. That's the Vagyr battlecruiser from homeworld two.

Juumanistra: nine meters of armor isn't that much. My latest ships carry fifteen meters.

Overall, I like the ship, and I'm glad you came up with your own stats. It seems rather dependent on torpedo and missile weapons though. What happens if the enemy has lots of point defense?

[Wetland]

It looks good and CF is right in that 9m is nothing exeptional. My own Jupiter battleship carries 10.5 meters of armour but it is also considerably bigger then this cruiser.

[Skeelzania]

@Juumanistra: The Ahzi Dahaki was insipred largely by CorpSac's heavy cruisers, which have something like 19 meters of armor. Considering that Chobham armor isn't very effective against energy attacks, its not all that heavily armored.

Skeelzanian fleet doctrine calls for long-range ships to support torpedo attacks, which is why we had two different classes of cruisers. The Ahzi Dahaki was designed to fulfill either role, allowing for more flexibility. The old cruisers were good at what they did, but weren't very good at much else.

Yes, it did occur to me that for such a large ship it has relatively few weapons. But, I can explain this for three reasons. One being that Skeelzanian energy weapons are not the most efficent, being rather large and ponderous (which is why our PDS is autocannon-based). Secondly, the large size allows for increased ammo capacity. Half-ton railgun slugs can take up alot of space. And finally, the extra hull space allows us to spread vital systems out over a larger area.

@Metallinauts: The structure of the Gustav and Fenrir ships aren't very well suited to such a radical overhaul. The Fenrir, for example, lacks the hardpoints for a large railgun turret.

@Central Facehuggeria: These are what the turret weapons are for. The heavy railguns fire half-ton slugs at 30km/s. Although they seem light, when factoring in relative speeds of the fighting ships, a projectile of this size can do substantial damage. Two side-mounted ion turrets as well as a plasma cannon mounted along the keel round out the armament.

[Sskiss]

The one aspect I always really liked about your ships is that you are honest at pointing out both their strengths and weaknesses - and this is not the first time you've done it either.

This is what makes your ships very believable to me.

[Five Civilized Nations]

Your crew size is extremely small for a ship that is 1.2 km long...