Between the R-section data entries for the Inter-Stellar Concordium war cruiser (R13.80) and war destroyer (R13.81) in SFB Module R9 and that for the ISC heavy war cruiser (R13.95) in SFB Module R12, a design history of sorts can be traced for these three "wartime construction" hull types.

While blueprints for the CW and DW were on file as early as Y170, the Inter-Stellar Concordium saw no need to build either class of ship at that time. In Y187, a single sample CW was completed as a sort of insurance, if only to ensure that the yard which built it would have the proper tooling in place in the event that more needed to be fielded. (It is as yet unclear if a lone DW as also built in Y187 for the same purpose, but it would seem like a reasonable supposition in my view.)

The Andromedan invasion would lead to both hull types entering full-scale production within what remained of "core" ISC territory; in SFB terms, both the CW and DW count as Regular Production Warships from Y189 onwards. As a further response, the HCW was put into service as a Regular Production, Limited hull from Y190 onwards (with perhaps one HCW built for every five CWs); the data in R12 suggests that such a ship could have been built as early as Y175, though historically it emerged in the wake of combat data recorded against Andromedan opposition.

With this in mind, it would seem logical, albeit well in the "obvious variant" territory, for the Concordium to construct or convert a series of mission variants (scout, escort, commando, and so forth) based on the CW and DW base hulls, in order to replace the severe losses of "peacetime construction" variants inflicted by the Andromedan invaders.

When faced with Andromedan opposition, certain variants may be of more relevance than others. For example, while a "war strike cruiser" could be worked up which replaced the plasma-S torpedoes on the CW with PPDs, such a variant may be less optimal for use against the Andros in SFB - though such a variant would be more effective over in FC, where the plasmatic pulsar deice is a very different sort of weapon.


That said, in either of the two "Paravian timelines" from SFB Module C6 in which that species survives long enough to build an on-map empire, one might perhaps expect to see the ISC field these "war" hulls much earlier. Indeed, a "war strike cruiser" could perhaps be more viable in such "lost empire" timelines, for use against Paravian and Romulan opposition.


On a further note, while several other Alpha Octant empires deploy mission variants based on their NCAs, the ISC does not have a "true" new heavy cruiser design at this time. (Their "NCA" is one of the "system" hulls converted out in the semi-isolated cantonments.) That said, I wouldn't be in too much of a hurry to propose a "new star cruiser" in order to act as a basis for such variants; rather, perhaps it might be something unique to the ISC to have them field variants of the HCW instead.

And beyond SFB, could such variants potentially find a place in a future Federation and Empire product, such as the proposed Tactical Operations module, so as to allow the Concordium to respond to the Andromedan threat historically, and/or to the Paravian and Romulan menace in a "lost empire" scenario?


Apologies if this still seems like too much of an "obvious variant" topic, or if this concept has been reviewed (or rejected) already.

By Jeff Wile (Jswile) on Monday, October 14, 2019 - 12:21 am: Edit

To the best of my knowledge, the cost of "tooling up" for ship production is, in the real world, very expensive.

It's why specialized tools, dies and specialized equipment (jigs,) are retained for manufacturing purposes. Having to redesign and build the stuff is far more expensive.

That is why single prototype hulls are seldom "one off" ships, same with tanks and aircraft.

In the auto industry, they "mock up" designs with hand made parts to make certain it all works/fits together. Cheaper than tooling up a production line if all your going to build is one item.

The steves never talked about it, but it would be a justification for all the times two or three ships were built for a "fly for" competition.

That said, all during the Cold War the NATO countries ( ok, mostly U.S., U.K., West Germany and on occasion (when the happened to feel like being in NATO) France, all built prototype designs of things some of which got produced, but a lot got canceled.

I guess it could happen as you have stated... but it would seem to fly in the face of real world economics.

By Jon Murdock (Xenocide) on Thursday, October 17, 2019 - 02:25 pm: Edit

I could see the ISC building them earlier. While unsuitable for the pacification the ISC would need warships on their "real" borders just in case the Romulans or Gorn get antsy but that ship has sailed....or not sailed.

Making an ISC war cruiser scout (and other variants) would almost definitely be an obvious variant.