BH HDW variant
Star Fleet Universe Discussion Board: Star Fleet Battles: SFB Proposals Board:
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R04: ROMULAN PROPOSALS:
BH HDW variant
This thread on a "Jester Eagle"
http://www.starfleetgames.com/discus/messages/12031/43336.html?1739558222
included discussion of enlarging a BH to a HDW variant.
IIRC, WH and CH often operated in pairs. So instead of enlarging the BH, how about a BH with no increase in size/engines, having half the normal HDW boxes, and operating in pairs.
Possibly change both Pl-G to option mounts, and have no RA option mount. Or go BHB style with a third torp/option (3 option mounts, or 1 Pl-G and 2 option mounts).
Individually, comparable to the Lyran JagP CL with option boxes.
This sounds like a gut-job on a standard hull, something quite different from HDW conversions.
HOWEVER, it does sound like something that might be worth exploring. 
Downside? While I suspect I'm misreading a LOT from the idea, my mind says it's something similar to taking, say, a Federation Frigate, and using it to build a ship that can be converted from Transport Frigate to Carrier Frigate to Fast Carrier Resupply Ship to Commando Frigate to Police Flagship (etcetera) all by having it spend some time at a StarBase.
As such, I suspect it'll be a road Our Hosts won't wish to head down.
However, nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Did the Freight Eagle ever get any non-cargo pallets?
Jeff Anderson (Jga) wrote
Quote:I suspect it'll be a road Our Hosts won't wish to head down.
Quite possible. Why not give every ship HDW-style option mounts?
I just thought 2 ships acting together to be single HDW would be something a bit different.
I've also realised that if 2 BH-HDV-CV have 12 fighters (like other HDV-CV), they outclass 2 WH with 10 fighters. So even for my intended mission, it may be too good.
Let's be honest here: There would likely never be an BH-HDW. My justification for it is that it would only be possible with an R4J style alternative history.
I have made and submitted a version (based on the prior discussion) that was a reasonably standard HDW variant of the BHB. (I called it the HBH.) Honestly, it works well enough, but is still somewhat sub-standard. It actually worked out better than I expected.
And, yes, it would be able to carry 12 fighters (if so desired; it isn't required), but since it is such a late edition, that is perfectly reasonable. Just like the carrier Eagle only has 10 fighters, but the carrier King Eagle has the full 12 fighters. Just the advantage of a ship built much later.
As for the specific idea here, it is different and not necessarily unbalancing. That means it (they) could be theoretically possible. However, I think the logistics it would require are untenable. If you make two "half-ships", what do you do if you lose two "left halves" and now have only two "right halves". I don't think that weakness will be easily overcome. It makes more sense to make each ship as stand-alone as possible.
Mike, my intent was that both ships in a pair would be identical, not "left" or "right".
e.g. 2 FA option mounts, 2 APR*, 2 NWO. No built in fighters/ready racks, and no RA option mounts. Maybe keep an FA Plasma torp.
IIRC, 2 WH or 2 CH could work as a pair. Presumably the Romulans found some way to deal with losing losing half a pair.
As for justification...I just had this idea while reading another thread, and thought it better to start a new thread for it, rather than clutter the original.
My first ever proposal was published, giving me a 100% success rate. Logically, I could only go downhill from there J.
If this proposal self-destructs in 30 seconds, so be it.
29...28...27...
Jeffrey Noel Cochran:
I have to admit that I cannot really see this design. WarHawks and ChickenHawks were a means of repurposing obsolete hulls into something useful. One has to ask what is useful here? The Romulans were building new hulls, and if they needed a War Destroyer on two hulls they would have built one. It doe not have enough firepower to justify its existence.
Carl-Magnus Carlsson:
The Freight Eagle pretty much has cargo sleds. By the time the idea for different styles of Cargo Pods came, the Romulans were already buying Cargo pods of Klingon design and mounted those on their sparrowHawks or on freighters of Klingon Design.
SPP, thanks for your points. I drew an incorrect lesson from the WH and CH.
...3...2...1...whimper. C'est la guerre.J
On the idea of "half boxes", when I made the "full" BH-HDW, it fit the full set of needed boxes with a simple extension of the hull. Doing it with only half the boxes doesn't really save anything. The hull still has to be extended either way, and the shorter extension doesn't really help much, unfortunately.