In the Alpha Octant, the concept of a "Middle Years" battlecruiser - in the sense of a ship which is larger than a command cruiser yet smaller than a dreadnought - is somewhat rare. The Lyran Royal Panther early battlecruiser is perhaps the most prominent example of such a hull type, though it was something of a "dead end" design-wise; notably, the Lyrans had to go "back" to the Panther light cruiser and then start over when later fielding the Wildcat battlecruiser and Hellcat heavy battlecruiser.

In the Omega Octant, however, this concept has been applied by a number of empires at this time of writing. In some cases, such as the Trobrin command cruiser (which is a "battlecruiser" in all but name) and the Vari battlewagon, these ships have the same Move Cost as their respective empires' heavy cruisers. In other cases, such as the Chlorophon, Hiver, and Ymatrian battlecruisers, they each have a Move Cost which is one step above that of their respective CAs (2/3 in the first two cases, and 1.25 in the third).

So, I wanted to speculate on which, if any, other Omega Octant empires might find an "early" (i.e. "Middle Years") battlecruiser to be viable - and, if so, which, if any, of those might also perhaps work with a distinct Move Cost relative to other ships from the empire in question.


Personally, I find it much more interesting to follow the Chlorophon, Hiver, and Ymatrian examples, and to consider battlecruisers with distinct Move Costs - not least as it further helps keep the Omega setting as "something different" from the Alpha Octant.

To give one example, I was considering a Mæsron battlecruiser, perhaps scaled up from the Mæsron light cruiser in terms of its hull design. Such a ship could be given five tachyon guns (2 FA, 1 FX, 1 LF+L, and 1 RF+R) and a Move Cost of 1.25 - to match the Ymatrian Battleaxe battlecruiser and the Worb heavy cruiser - yet start off with a pair of 15-box warp engines only. Later on, a "warp refit" might add 3 L and 3 R warp engine boxes, so a would-be "BC+" would still not quite make it to SFB Speed 31. (Perhaps in a later era, a Mæsron heavy battlecruiser possessing a brand new set of "hot" warp engines would be able to fight at Speed 31.) Indeed, just as the Mæsron CL has no better shielding than on the Mæsron destroyer, it might be more characterful for a would-be Mæsron BC to itself have no better shielding than on the Mæsron command cruiser from Captain's Log #51.

Certain other "metal-hull" empires with a gap between Move Cost 1 heavy cruisers and Move Cost 1.5 dreadnoughts, such as the Koligahr and Drex, could perhaps consider something similar.

More "exotic" empires, such as the Loriyill and Alunda, could do things a little differently. Since the Loriyill Firecruiser has a Move Cost of .75 and the Loriyill dreadnought has a Move Cost of 1.25, perhaps a would-be Loriyill battlecruiser could have a Move Cost of 1. Since the Alunda are reported to have found it difficult to grow a female Alunda to the size required to field a Pursuer dreadnought, perhaps a Move Cost 1.25 battlecruiser might prove to be a more manageable interim step.

While those empires with modular and/or pod-based options might run into some interesting design challenges. An Iridani Quest ship with a Move Cost of 1.25 might not be any more flexible (in terms of mission module selection) than a standard Galleon. Similarly, would a Bolosco battlecruiser be able to mount the same pair of light pods as the mercenary dreadnought, or be obliged to use the same lone pod of any type as seen on the merchant cruiser? On the other hand, one could picture a Zosman battlecruiser with two weapon modules and three system modules.

And since the Worb already have the aforementioned MC 1.25 heavy cruiser, as well as a MC 1.75 dreadnought, might they go as far as fielding a MC 1.5 battlecruiser - or should that Move Cost be reserved for some other distinct Worb hull type?

Perhaps one or more of the "Omega's Lost Futures" empires (beyond the aforementioned Zosmans) could perhaps consider this idea, also.


So, does the concept of adding more "Middle Years" battlecruisers to the Omega setting sound interesting - and, if so, what size do you think works best for a given Omega empire?

By Joe Carlson (Jrc) on Tuesday, May 26, 2020 - 02:37 pm: Edit

Gary,

I will use the FRA as my example from Omega 3.

The Battlecruiser (BC) has an MC of 1 same as the armored cruiser (CLA). The BC has one additional standard photon, two short-range cannons, and five additional phasers. CLA YIS 137 and BC YIS 177. The BC seems to me to be a BCH.

What would be helpful is to identify what cycle the time period in that cycle you are looking at. Further Omega species vary greatly in size. It would be helpful to separate the species in 3 or 4 size classes. Then within the size class you can define movement cost.

By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Tuesday, May 26, 2020 - 03:59 pm: Edit

These are the "Middle Years" Omega battlecruisers which exist at present:

Empire	Heavy Cruiser	Battlecruiser (or equivalent)	Dreadnought
Trobrin	CA MC 1 YIS 45	CC MC 1 YIS 165	DSN MC 1.5 YIS 178
Vari	CA MC 1 YIS 55	BW MC 1 YIS 176	N/A
Chlorophon	CA MC 1/2 YIS 60	BC MC 2/3 YIS 148	DN MC 1 YIS 170
Hiver	CA MC 1/2 YIS 79	BC MC 2/3 YIS 132	DN MC 1 YIS 176
Ymatrian	CA MC 1 YIS 123	BC MC 1.25 YIS 126	N/A
FRA	CLA MC 1 YIS 137	BC MC 1 YIS 177	DN MC 1.5 YIS 178
Singer	CA MC 1 YIS 176	BC MC 1 YIS 193	DN MC 1.5 YIS 191

I don't mean to post an exhaustive list of those additional battlecruisers I'd wish to suggest, but here might be a few samples of what I had in mind:

Empire	Heavy Cruiser	Proposed Battlecruiser (or equivalent)	Dreadnought
Mæsron	CA MC 1 YIS 51	BC MC 1.25 Proposed YIS 175	DN MC 1.5 YIS 175
Drex	BC MC 1 YIS 69	BCH MC 1.25 Proposed YIS 170	DN MC 1.5 YIS 178
Loriyill	CA MC 3/4 YIS <1	BC MC 1 Proposed YIS 165	DN MC 1.25 YIS 173
Worb	CA MC 1.25 YIS 169	BC MC 1.5 Proposed YIS 174	DN MC 1.75 YIS 178

In the case of the proposed Worb BC, perhaps two forward and one aft turrets might make things interesting, and sit between the two turrets (1 forward and 1 aft) of the CA and the four turrets (3 forward and 1 aft) on the DN.

By Jeff Anderson (Jga) on Wednesday, May 27, 2020 - 08:46 am: Edit

While I'd LOVE to see more Omegan Battlecruisers (aw, heck, I'd love to see more Omegan ANYTHING ), as a fan of the Octant, one (of many) things I enjoy about it is how different each empire is.

It is for this reason that, respectfully, there are other things I would prefer to see done before ships like these. At the top of my "Wish List" would be more extensive options for "People in need of Protection" (i.e.: more freighter types than what we saw in Captain's Log #20), the oft-mentioned "Speed-30 Cruisers" (although I do relish the dynamic imposed by smaller-are-faster concept), more Tug types than those used by the Iridani, Bolosco, and Maesron (from Captain's Log #21), and major bases.

By Richard Eitzen (Rbeitzen) on Wednesday, May 27, 2020 - 11:25 am: Edit

The lack of larger bases is notable, as is the lack of phaser-IV equivalents.

By A David Merritt (Adm) on Wednesday, May 27, 2020 - 12:01 pm: Edit

While I think Gary's idea has some merit, I agree with Richard, we need to get larger bases, and the rest of the Empires, for that matter, in print, before we start filling in niche designs.