Post by seraphim on Nov 3, 2007 7:47:05 GMT
This is the battleship from my story Brightmoon, hence the name Brightmoon. If you haven't read it, then do, its very good ;D
Big thanks to RZ for his help.
There is only one known example of the Tau Brightmoon class battleship, the Brightmoon itself, from which the class is named after. The Brightmoon was very unusual in its origins, constructed in an asteroid field near no major sept, on a space station, and is one of the best examples of the whole Greater Good working towards a common goal. A Demuig Stronghold class vessel helped protect the station and mined colossal amounts of materials for its construction, while Fio workers toiled for many years at the hidden facility to complete the ship in conjunction with high ranking Kor. In the last few years of its construction, Ork activity in the sector made construction very difficult, resulting in the Fio having to speed up its construction, replacing some the originally conceived advanced railgun and ion cannon turrets with the available but less advanced modular systems taken from the Lar’Shi cruiser Lar’Shi Sa’cea Aun’Kar’Tyr, which had recently been refitted at the station. This was not considered a major problem, however, as the firepower of these salvaged systems and the new, more powerful and longer range systems on the prow and dorsal mounts were formidable. The Brightmoon also boasts considerable launch bays, salvaged from the station itself in the last, hectic months of construction, and a powerful Gravatic Launcher. The resulting ship is an adversary to be feared by anyone who threatens the Greater Good.
Tau Brightmoon (Ol'Yanoi) class Battleship, 380 points
Special Rules
Deflector Shields
The Brightmoon class is equipped with a prow deflector shield, which raises its front armour to 6. This is disabled if the ship suffers a Prow critical hit
Integrated Tracking System
The Brightmoon is equipped with an Integrated Tracking System. This functions exactly as the Skether’qan class Starship’s tracking system, only that it functions on the Brightmoon only, it does not affect all ships in a 10cm radius.
Overcharge
Due to the much larger nature of the Brightmoons power systems, it is capable of operating its weaponry at a much higher energy level than normal. This is represented by its ability to overcharge its Ion Cannons. If the Brightmoon is on “Lock On” special order, it may elect overcharge its weaponry. However, the weapons may get dangerously hot when fired at such high power levels
When overcharged, the Ion Cannon’s improve their range by 15cm, and score double hits on a roll of ‘6’
All weapon batteries gain a left shift on the gunnery table. It may not use its tracking systems if it overcharges.
When the Brightmoon overcharges, its weapons may get dangerously hot. Roll a D6 for every battery that has overcharged, on a 6, it has overheated. On each turn a battery is fired overcharged after that, add +1 to the roll for overheating. Should the battery stop firing in overcharge for a turn, this roll is reset, as the batteries may cool down (enough) in normal firing. This includes if it overheats and is shut down, or is disabled by a critical hit and is then repaired. Roll for every battery separately.
Batteries that overheat must shut down for the next turn, but can resume firing on the turn after that.
Explaining things
Ok, onto the purpose of this ship. It is a Battleship, and is designed to be able to face up against the strongest ships anyone else can bring. However, its weapons are shorter range, but slightly stronger. The Overcharge is there to either go 'death or glory', as it looses its deflector, or be able to trade some shots against enemies at a long range.
This ship is very much a bigger Lar'shi, i.e, it a Lar'shi with more of everything. More guns, range, torpedoes and launch bays. Everything this can do can be done by a Lar'shi's, and Vice Versa.
While it isn't a good practise to compare ships between races, its closest counterpart (both in rules and role) is the Oberon class Battleship. Both are a jack of all trades, master of none. The Oberon has more weapon batteries, longer range, more shields and a leadership upgrade, the Brightmoon more lances and Torpedoes and multiple weapon facings. Both are designed to be able to deal with all threats, and both can.
Up close to an enemy ship, it will be an absolute killer. S6 weapons and S7 Lances in the forward arc, but it is very vulnerable to boarding, being Tau. Also, it will probably be hurt a lot getting there. It can't sit back and shoot at range like (say) an Emporer or a Retribution, not can it run in, shoot and board, its bad at boarding. To use it well, you must plan ahead, so you can both shoot with everything and not get shot apart and boarded afterwards.
The Ship is a Fleet Killer, all battleships are. However, it has a very Tau-ish twist and needs careful consideration to use it effectively.
My biggest concern with its rules are its shields. While Tau ships have 2 shields max, that seems very vulnerable, especially considering teleport Hit-and-Run's (expecially from Necrons.) It's probably going to be close to an enemy, teleporting it won't be hard. A scythe has enough firepower to drop its shields, then proceed with 3 Hit and Run attacks. Ouch.
Big thanks to RZ for his help.
There is only one known example of the Tau Brightmoon class battleship, the Brightmoon itself, from which the class is named after. The Brightmoon was very unusual in its origins, constructed in an asteroid field near no major sept, on a space station, and is one of the best examples of the whole Greater Good working towards a common goal. A Demuig Stronghold class vessel helped protect the station and mined colossal amounts of materials for its construction, while Fio workers toiled for many years at the hidden facility to complete the ship in conjunction with high ranking Kor. In the last few years of its construction, Ork activity in the sector made construction very difficult, resulting in the Fio having to speed up its construction, replacing some the originally conceived advanced railgun and ion cannon turrets with the available but less advanced modular systems taken from the Lar’Shi cruiser Lar’Shi Sa’cea Aun’Kar’Tyr, which had recently been refitted at the station. This was not considered a major problem, however, as the firepower of these salvaged systems and the new, more powerful and longer range systems on the prow and dorsal mounts were formidable. The Brightmoon also boasts considerable launch bays, salvaged from the station itself in the last, hectic months of construction, and a powerful Gravatic Launcher. The resulting ship is an adversary to be feared by anyone who threatens the Greater Good.
Tau Brightmoon (Ol'Yanoi) class Battleship, 380 points
| Type | Speed | Turns | Shields | Armour | Turrets |
| Battleship/12 | 20cm | 45º | 3 | 5+ | 5 |
| ARMAMENT | RANGE/SPEED | FPR/STR | FIRE ARC |
| Prow Railgun Battery | 60cm | 6 | Front/Left/Right |
| Dorsal Ion Cannons | 45cm | 3 | Front/Left/Right |
| Prow Gravatic Launcher | 20-40cm | 8 | Front |
| Port Ion Cannons | 30cm | 2 | Front/Left |
| Starboard Ion Cannons | 30cm | 2 | Front/Right |
| Port Railgun Batteries | 45cm | 4 | Left |
| Starboard Railgun Batteries | 45cm | 4 | Right |
| Dorsal Launch Bays | Mantas 20cm Barracudas 25cm | 4 Squadrons | N/A |
Special Rules
Deflector Shields
The Brightmoon class is equipped with a prow deflector shield, which raises its front armour to 6. This is disabled if the ship suffers a Prow critical hit
Integrated Tracking System
The Brightmoon is equipped with an Integrated Tracking System. This functions exactly as the Skether’qan class Starship’s tracking system, only that it functions on the Brightmoon only, it does not affect all ships in a 10cm radius.
Overcharge
Due to the much larger nature of the Brightmoons power systems, it is capable of operating its weaponry at a much higher energy level than normal. This is represented by its ability to overcharge its Ion Cannons. If the Brightmoon is on “Lock On” special order, it may elect overcharge its weaponry. However, the weapons may get dangerously hot when fired at such high power levels
When overcharged, the Ion Cannon’s improve their range by 15cm, and score double hits on a roll of ‘6’
All weapon batteries gain a left shift on the gunnery table. It may not use its tracking systems if it overcharges.
When the Brightmoon overcharges, its weapons may get dangerously hot. Roll a D6 for every battery that has overcharged, on a 6, it has overheated. On each turn a battery is fired overcharged after that, add +1 to the roll for overheating. Should the battery stop firing in overcharge for a turn, this roll is reset, as the batteries may cool down (enough) in normal firing. This includes if it overheats and is shut down, or is disabled by a critical hit and is then repaired. Roll for every battery separately.
Batteries that overheat must shut down for the next turn, but can resume firing on the turn after that.
Explaining things
Ok, onto the purpose of this ship. It is a Battleship, and is designed to be able to face up against the strongest ships anyone else can bring. However, its weapons are shorter range, but slightly stronger. The Overcharge is there to either go 'death or glory', as it looses its deflector, or be able to trade some shots against enemies at a long range.
This ship is very much a bigger Lar'shi, i.e, it a Lar'shi with more of everything. More guns, range, torpedoes and launch bays. Everything this can do can be done by a Lar'shi's, and Vice Versa.
While it isn't a good practise to compare ships between races, its closest counterpart (both in rules and role) is the Oberon class Battleship. Both are a jack of all trades, master of none. The Oberon has more weapon batteries, longer range, more shields and a leadership upgrade, the Brightmoon more lances and Torpedoes and multiple weapon facings. Both are designed to be able to deal with all threats, and both can.
Up close to an enemy ship, it will be an absolute killer. S6 weapons and S7 Lances in the forward arc, but it is very vulnerable to boarding, being Tau. Also, it will probably be hurt a lot getting there. It can't sit back and shoot at range like (say) an Emporer or a Retribution, not can it run in, shoot and board, its bad at boarding. To use it well, you must plan ahead, so you can both shoot with everything and not get shot apart and boarded afterwards.
The Ship is a Fleet Killer, all battleships are. However, it has a very Tau-ish twist and needs careful consideration to use it effectively.
My biggest concern with its rules are its shields. While Tau ships have 2 shields max, that seems very vulnerable, especially considering teleport Hit-and-Run's (expecially from Necrons.) It's probably going to be close to an enemy, teleporting it won't be hard. A scythe has enough firepower to drop its shields, then proceed with 3 Hit and Run attacks. Ouch.
