It reminds me of historical real-life battleships, with the triple-gun main batteries arranged along the center and being able to fire forwards, upwards, or in broadsides. This is a VERY cool design.
Jason Skeans
6 years ago
only thing missing is guns on the bottom and maybe some more point defense
Arbiter
7 years ago
I feel like this design would’ve been a great design to see in action a lot more in the star wars universe. The spinal armament is an awesome idea and the missle tubes and strong PD system make it far more versatile. The lack of a hanger is a problem, however this just makes it a perfect ship to be placed with carrier classes or even as escorts for an ISD. I think 2 of these and an ISD would make for a great composition for almost any type of mission. Argue with me if you disagree, i’m open for other perspectives!
Steve
7 years ago
Just head-canoning
The Procursator class Star Destroyer actually started off as a testbed built by KDY during the development of the Imperial II class. Smaller than a typical Imperial class ship at 1,200 meters long the KDY Prototype RA-3 looked very much like a scaled down Imperial class but it lacked the large ventral hanger only having a small hanger for shuttles. The ship was used to test the triple heavy turbolaser mount as well as its associated fire controls and electronics as well as the reactor systems and power linkages. Although these could have been replicated on a fixed platform, it was felt that making a test ship would allow for more accurate testing and simulations. The heavy turbolaser turrets were not mounted on the hull but along the ships dorsal spine leading up towards the command bridge with all three turrets superfiring over one another.
Thirty two quad heavy laser mounts were also installed as well as nine quadruple medium turbolaser mountings alongside the ships superstructure (with one mounting on the ships belly) as well as sixteen medium ion cannons in single turrets mounted towards the rear of the ship in dorsal and ventral mounts.
Used as a testbed the RA-3 helped ease the introduction of the Imperial II as KDY was able to test many of the ships electronics, computer and fire control systems as well as the weapons that would be deployed aboard Imperial Warships under realistic conditions. As she was only a testbed though, the RA-3 only had a Type-6 hyperdrive and carried little in the way of supplies and had overy large crew quarters for technicians and engineers but this was only fitting for her role as a testbed.
It would have remained this way until the advent of the NEP (Naval Expansion Program) and the huge boost in naval spending that saw a focus on newer vessels and the retirement of many of the oldest ships in the fleet.
With the Vindicator class Heavy cruiser in widespread production as a general purpose cruiser it was felt that the Vindicator was somewhat under gunned should it be called upon to fight more powerful Seperatist craft that still eluded Imperial forces and sectors with a limited number of major capital ships could be at risk until more powerful forces responded.
The gun heavy RA-3 prototype was then put forwards as an answer to this problem. Once properly outfitted for naval service instead of being a testbed the ship could very well be a formidable challenge with its heavy turbolasers allowing it to engage targets at longer range than the Vindicator, and thanks to the turrets being mounted along the ships upper hull, they commanded wide arcs of fire, allowing it to support multiple ships in an engagement.
Properly converted into a warship and fitted with the standard Type-2 hyperdrive the RA-3 could carry up to 1,600 troops as well as their equipment and up to 36 AT-ST type vehicles. With shield strength equal to a Victory II refit and a sublight speed just short of a Vindicator and enough supplies for 2 years of patrols the design was offered to the Imperial Navy and accepted for service as the Procursator class.
Very much a gunboat the Procursator was built in somewhat limited numbers compared to the Imperial II and Vindicator classes but this was due to its more specialised nature in its role as a support ship and bombardment platform. On more distant stations the Procursator would serve as a flagship when a ‘true’ Star Destroyer was not available and in larger formations they would deploy ahead of the main battle line to use their heavy long range firepower to either engage lighter targets whilst Star Destroyers engaged hostile capital ships or, manoeuvre to support friendly capital ships by engaging hostile vessels from different angles, upping the drain on their shields. Although the dorsal weapon mountings were successful, because of their size and bulk and the impositions they placed on a ships interior with the power feeds and turbines having to be routed through the core of the ship down to the reactor rather than in the more traditional ‘wing’ arrangements, it was not possible to repeat this layout on ships like the Imperial II. But, such dorsal mounts would re-appear on larger vessels like the Bellator class Dreadnought and the Allegiance Class Heavy Star Destroyer/Battlecruiser.
Their lack of fighters (although they did have a heavy anti-fighter armament) meant that they could not be deployed for lone patrols but this suited the Imperial navy just fine, the Vindicator was a patrol cruiser, and if it ran into anything it couldn’t safely engage, then a Procursator could usually deal with the threat.
CRMcNeill
7 years ago
Does the Procursator carry any fighters? I looked on Star Destroyer but couldn’t find any word either way.
Hmm. Seems odd. Fractal’s own Vigil-Class carries a full squadron of TIEs and it’s only 254-meters long. This is consistent with other ships in the SWU, like the Nebulon B, which can pack 24 TIEs into that spindly hull. A 1,200 meter wedge should be able to fit in a couple squadrons for patrol / defense purposes.
It does have a small bay for shuttles that could be reconfigured for a few light fighters, but the whole point of the Procursator is to operate as a specialist screening unit for other ships in a fleet, rather than go off alone gallivanting in the outer rim. If used as intended, dedicated carriers like the Impellor should provide it with fighter cover.
Also, how the heck does a Nebulon fit 2 squadrons? With the pathetic amount of volume it has, there isn’t any room for a hangar bay that big, unless that figure assumes that the fighters are carried on external racks.
From what I understand, that’s exactly how the Nebulons carry them. I thought I saw a post from fractal on one of the Procursator designs saying it carries a squadron or two.
That was a WEG decision reaching all the way back to the First Edition. However, they did come out with a game supplement called The Far Orbit Project with a partial deck plan of the Nebulon B that included the main hangar bay, complete with overhead racks with room for 24 TIEs. The Medical Variant basically converted most/all of that hangar bay into a hospital.
Regarding the Procursator, though, what it’s intended to be used for is not necessarily how it ends up being used in practice. Giving it a couple squadrons of TIEs would allow it to contribute to a task force’s defense – even if just a little – and allow it to be sent off on its own on the odd chance that sort of thing became necessary.
Sure, you could probably put in a few squadrons of TIEs… or you could take that volume and fill it with more armor, capacitor banks, heat sinks, or a secondary reactor so that the Procursator is more lethal and survivable in a fleet brawl.
Pretty much every other heavy frigate/light destroyer in the fleet has a fighter bay if you need a ship for some side mission, so the Procursator can specialize in fighting. Perhaps it might have only been put into production during the true Galactic Civil War after Endor to replace some of the tens of thousands of Imperators lost to other Imperials.
There reaches a point at which minor capacity is actively harmful. In this case, if I were the fleet commander, I wouldn’t want the Procursator captains to even have to think about fighter operations, even if that was as much as turning out of close formation to launch. I’d rather have the ship land even one more HTL alpha. This is really a specialized ship. I do have in my notes a Procursator II version that strips the heavy missile magazines, expands the hangar, and lightens the main battery to turn it into a fairly standard general purpose light destroyer though.
Fractal I wonder if you could do the Procursator Version 3?
Like having an updated sensor globes and bridge details like on the Imperator redux but most importantly updating the 3 triple 175 TT heavy turbolasers so it look like actual cannon turrets instead of being plain non-tube cylinders.
Chris
8 years ago
About 1/3 of the way back from the nose…are those missiles??
So Fractal what the polygon count on this new version like around 1-2 millions?
Sephiroth0812
8 years ago
These comparison pics with the ImpStar somehow make me chuckle, it’s almost like a little brother tagging along with big bro trying to show off that he’s a toughie too. ;D
Right, trading fire rate/duration & multi-tasking for initial offense. These two might make solid light-to-middling wolfpack complements if one’s short on Tectors or heavier.
PhantomFury
8 years ago
I noticed a notch midship on the first terrace that looks like it could fit a turret in there, but was left as an opening. Rather, there seems to be something that looks like a closed hangar door. Is that an airlock perhaps? Something to get around the issue that the Procursor-class lacks a hangar?
Ah, I see, so the ventral hangar does have uses for basic crafts. Initially thought it was something along the lines of “quick patch job.”
gorkmalork
8 years ago
No denying the texture upgrade, but I’m rather torn about that bridge reshaping. Makes sense for playing up the ‘pocket Impstar’ aesthetic, to be sure. Two scattershot musings come to mind: (a) how often the name similarity to Procurator produces massive clerical errors and (b) how many Procursators you’d need to wolfpack the older ship (I’m guessing an even dozen).
The only major difference on the bridge is that I decided to go with full sized sensor globes vs the half-sized one from before. The surface greebles were re-arranged a bit but the overall module is otherwise identical in proportions.
a) people can deal with it 🙂
b) A lot – by reactor it’s about a 30x difference. Both designs are capacitor-happy (more alpha than sustained firepower), and there’s the missile wildcard in play, but probably at least 20 of the light destroyers to reliable challenge the battlecruiser.
Oh, and you ain’t kidding about the missile wildcard-they’re obviously a boon for platforms that have to put in extra evasive effort, and on the heavy target’s end there’s the question of keeping focus on your attackers (which missiles can also help with, but far slower than energy weapons) or maneuvering to give PD a better shot at inbound barrages. Plus, I get the impression prolonged combat=more TL bleedthrough=more tender bits zorched, light laser/missile stations included, which might favor the wolfpack *if* enough manage not to die (or break & flee) in that duration. All told, there’s a reason wolves don’t take on moose but once in a blue moon, and vaguely similar principles may apply here.
So Fractal I notice something strange when I post a picture in this website at first it was the right size to see probably but then suddenly much later the picture become much smaller than it was so what up with that?
Whoa boy – well, I think it depends a lot on how much fuel weighs, and since that apparently has a complex mass component, who knows? This is getting a bit far into analysis of something that is functionally magic. We can interpret symptoms, but not cause, in other words.
Sorry, I didn’t formulate my question well. I meant excluding the fuel, even if I realize it’s kinda nonsensical, since it’s an essential component of the ship. Obviously, making a precise estimate of the density of HM is impossible with the information at hand, so my question would be more like: if we know an ISD to be ~90 million m3, is it reasonable to assume a weight of around a 100 million tons as a lower limit ?
I think it would be more than that – Titanic was something like 0.5 ton/m3, so a mile long space warship is likely to be a lot more heavily built than that.
If you consider the Clone Wars cartoon canon, there’s a fairly small bay door on the bottom.
Anonymous
8 years ago
That’s a really nasty version, I like it much better than the previous one. The first version look unfinished to be honest. Is it still in the same 1200-1300m range as old one or is it smaller as Imperator seems to be about one third larger. Can forward “closed” hangar still be used to deploy fighters/small craft? Does it have any fighters at ll?
P.S.
I think that I found small error in your model. The point defence guns at the middle of the bottom spine have non-symmetrical arrangement for no obvious reason. It can be easily spotted here: https://fractalsponge.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/proc33.jpg Six guns “points” upward, and only four downward.
That hangar looks big enough for Lambda-grade shuttles and at least a handful of fighter squads. Not potential Impstar capacity, but comparable to an MC80’s internal space for alphabet birds.
Probably just a shuttle/utility craft group. Maybe a squadron of light fighters if everyone squeezes in, but the layout would really not be meant for combat ops.
Correction appreciated; hadn’t realized this one was that gunboat-optimized. I suppose Allegiance supports a proportion/role-comparable number of small craft, then.
Ahh, a nice clear look at the bottom. No open hanger eh? Just landing craft/troops? Or none of those either? Ah well that is what Ton Falks are for. Are the HTL’s here superior to those on say a victory (besides having a 3rd barrel)? Same firing rate/yield? If not than the little Victory outguns her 18 to 9.
These are triple 175 teraton, vs twin 70 teraton HTL.
No seriously deployable troops – mostly for internal security/boarding action.
Anonymous
8 years ago
So I found this cruiser which is the Liberator class it’s length is unknown but it is said to be slender and small in size but carry a lot of weapons which is 240 heavy turbolasers (40×2 on both fore and aft and 80×2 on both port and starboard) and 200 ion cannons (40 on fore and 80×2 on again both port and starboard) and it carry 6 starfighter squadrons and 3 troop regiments.
Here what it look like:/revision/latest?cb=20120613093221
Apparently the numbers were somewhat overinflated. I just looked “liberator cruiser” and the first wikia page reference those numbers, but the next one say the ship is 398 m, with an armement of 24 TLs and 20 ICs. The troop and fighter complement stay consistent though.
@Valoren
Good check-the second page’s heavy-weapon count makes much more sense. Wouldn’t mind more Sullustan heavy metal (including stuff comparable to Imp cruisers or mid-Rebellion Mon Cal flagships), but that one at least seems a couple steps up from the Quasar Fire.
The Broadside cruiser is claimed to be inspired by the Gladiator-class Star Destroyer in terms of overall keel design, but it could be as easily also the Liberator.
As far as I know the Liberator was a ship created solely for the old PC game Star Wars: Rebellion (Supremacy in the UK) and barely used elsewhere in the old Legends EU.
In-game it was supposed to be the Rebel Alliance’s “answer” to the Empire’s Victory II-class Star Destroyer.
I can attest re: Liberator never, ever seeming to crop up in any of the EU novels I cracked open. Still doesn’t strike me as a good one-on-one match for any light destroyer, and it goes in the opposite direction if we ignore the carried-craft numbers + abstract-seeming model in favor of HTL count and assume it *is* battlecruiser-scale, but such is mid-90s game balance.
The explanation for the high number of turbolasers is a mistake in translation from the primary source (the Star Wars: Rebellion strategy game). Those numbers actually represent relative “throw weight” of a ship’s weaponry compared to other ships. For the sake of comparison, here are the game’s stats for the Liberator, the MC80 and the ISD I:
So, per the primary source, the Liberator has a weaker hull rating and less powerful weaponry than an MC80, but has stronger shields, and the same fighter and troop transport capacity as an ISD I. The 398m length is someone’s factless fancy; there is no way you could fit 72 starfighters and 9,700 troops & their attendant equipment in a ship with that build at less than 400 meters long.
When I made D6 stats for this ship, I put it at 1,300 meters, with about 80% of the firepower of an MC80.
Shamefully belated thanks for the much-needed clarification WRT Rebellion’s rating system. Not sure I buy a ship of this size & shape packing enough juice for 4/5ths of a Mon Cal’s energy-weapon yield *plus* twice the shield strength, but the small-craft, troop & heavy turret count as per its model seems to make sense; if anything, Liberators might have space enough for an extra two fighter squads if an especially lucrative convoy raid’s in the offing. Might also be *just* survivable enough against Vics or Venators to jump clear or pick off the 418 preventing said escape.
Rebellion also has ISDIIs outgunning ISDIs by 800 to 300, so I’d take it all with a huge grain of salt. It’s artificial gradations into game classes, and doesn’t make much sense otherwise. If they had made Rebel ships a lot cheaper and thus able to be more numerous though less powerful, that’d make a lot more sense.
Right, the old gameplay unit-balance chestnut, albeit applied to a nominally capital craft instead of snubs. Given the scale of those turret(?) bumps I’m tempted to roll with McNeill’s take on its size, but Libs may be much better-suited to convoy-raiding (or escort), bargain Acclamator substitution, or rounding off a light destroyer squadron’s small-craft shortages. Certainly a step or three up from Quasar Fires, though Ton Falks may have ’em beat WRT hangar efficiency.
Squinting at the model, I wonder if those visible bumps on the bow forks & aft flanks might account for multi-barrel HTLs & ions, with the remainder being medium & PD zappers. The small-craft count seems to fit a frigate-scale ship.
Anonymous
8 years ago
Whoa so this is was the Procursator look like when you put great effort into it instead of being done in just two days amazing!
Also since this is a version 2 will there be anymore of them on different ships or this is will be the only one you did?
Really wow I shouldn’t have underestimate your skills.
Although this version seem to have way less light turbolasers than the older version which would have been awesome to see them with this detail but hey I take what I got.
I spy new geo! (I think) Light guns and hand-wave bits from the Victory. Possibly the bow has new bits too. Whether any of this correct- been awhile since I took a gander at the Procursator gallery- it looks phenominal.
It reminds me of historical real-life battleships, with the triple-gun main batteries arranged along the center and being able to fire forwards, upwards, or in broadsides. This is a VERY cool design.
only thing missing is guns on the bottom and maybe some more point defense
I feel like this design would’ve been a great design to see in action a lot more in the star wars universe. The spinal armament is an awesome idea and the missle tubes and strong PD system make it far more versatile. The lack of a hanger is a problem, however this just makes it a perfect ship to be placed with carrier classes or even as escorts for an ISD. I think 2 of these and an ISD would make for a great composition for almost any type of mission. Argue with me if you disagree, i’m open for other perspectives!
Just head-canoning
The Procursator class Star Destroyer actually started off as a testbed built by KDY during the development of the Imperial II class. Smaller than a typical Imperial class ship at 1,200 meters long the KDY Prototype RA-3 looked very much like a scaled down Imperial class but it lacked the large ventral hanger only having a small hanger for shuttles. The ship was used to test the triple heavy turbolaser mount as well as its associated fire controls and electronics as well as the reactor systems and power linkages. Although these could have been replicated on a fixed platform, it was felt that making a test ship would allow for more accurate testing and simulations. The heavy turbolaser turrets were not mounted on the hull but along the ships dorsal spine leading up towards the command bridge with all three turrets superfiring over one another.
Thirty two quad heavy laser mounts were also installed as well as nine quadruple medium turbolaser mountings alongside the ships superstructure (with one mounting on the ships belly) as well as sixteen medium ion cannons in single turrets mounted towards the rear of the ship in dorsal and ventral mounts.
Used as a testbed the RA-3 helped ease the introduction of the Imperial II as KDY was able to test many of the ships electronics, computer and fire control systems as well as the weapons that would be deployed aboard Imperial Warships under realistic conditions. As she was only a testbed though, the RA-3 only had a Type-6 hyperdrive and carried little in the way of supplies and had overy large crew quarters for technicians and engineers but this was only fitting for her role as a testbed.
It would have remained this way until the advent of the NEP (Naval Expansion Program) and the huge boost in naval spending that saw a focus on newer vessels and the retirement of many of the oldest ships in the fleet.
With the Vindicator class Heavy cruiser in widespread production as a general purpose cruiser it was felt that the Vindicator was somewhat under gunned should it be called upon to fight more powerful Seperatist craft that still eluded Imperial forces and sectors with a limited number of major capital ships could be at risk until more powerful forces responded.
The gun heavy RA-3 prototype was then put forwards as an answer to this problem. Once properly outfitted for naval service instead of being a testbed the ship could very well be a formidable challenge with its heavy turbolasers allowing it to engage targets at longer range than the Vindicator, and thanks to the turrets being mounted along the ships upper hull, they commanded wide arcs of fire, allowing it to support multiple ships in an engagement.
Properly converted into a warship and fitted with the standard Type-2 hyperdrive the RA-3 could carry up to 1,600 troops as well as their equipment and up to 36 AT-ST type vehicles. With shield strength equal to a Victory II refit and a sublight speed just short of a Vindicator and enough supplies for 2 years of patrols the design was offered to the Imperial Navy and accepted for service as the Procursator class.
Very much a gunboat the Procursator was built in somewhat limited numbers compared to the Imperial II and Vindicator classes but this was due to its more specialised nature in its role as a support ship and bombardment platform. On more distant stations the Procursator would serve as a flagship when a ‘true’ Star Destroyer was not available and in larger formations they would deploy ahead of the main battle line to use their heavy long range firepower to either engage lighter targets whilst Star Destroyers engaged hostile capital ships or, manoeuvre to support friendly capital ships by engaging hostile vessels from different angles, upping the drain on their shields. Although the dorsal weapon mountings were successful, because of their size and bulk and the impositions they placed on a ships interior with the power feeds and turbines having to be routed through the core of the ship down to the reactor rather than in the more traditional ‘wing’ arrangements, it was not possible to repeat this layout on ships like the Imperial II. But, such dorsal mounts would re-appear on larger vessels like the Bellator class Dreadnought and the Allegiance Class Heavy Star Destroyer/Battlecruiser.
Their lack of fighters (although they did have a heavy anti-fighter armament) meant that they could not be deployed for lone patrols but this suited the Imperial navy just fine, the Vindicator was a patrol cruiser, and if it ran into anything it couldn’t safely engage, then a Procursator could usually deal with the threat.
Does the Procursator carry any fighters? I looked on Star Destroyer but couldn’t find any word either way.
No it doesn’t carry any fighters due to not having a hanger bay. expect the one that carry shuttles.
Hmm. Seems odd. Fractal’s own Vigil-Class carries a full squadron of TIEs and it’s only 254-meters long. This is consistent with other ships in the SWU, like the Nebulon B, which can pack 24 TIEs into that spindly hull. A 1,200 meter wedge should be able to fit in a couple squadrons for patrol / defense purposes.
It does have a small bay for shuttles that could be reconfigured for a few light fighters, but the whole point of the Procursator is to operate as a specialist screening unit for other ships in a fleet, rather than go off alone gallivanting in the outer rim. If used as intended, dedicated carriers like the Impellor should provide it with fighter cover.
Also, how the heck does a Nebulon fit 2 squadrons? With the pathetic amount of volume it has, there isn’t any room for a hangar bay that big, unless that figure assumes that the fighters are carried on external racks.
From what I understand, that’s exactly how the Nebulons carry them. I thought I saw a post from fractal on one of the Procursator designs saying it carries a squadron or two.
That was a WEG decision reaching all the way back to the First Edition. However, they did come out with a game supplement called The Far Orbit Project with a partial deck plan of the Nebulon B that included the main hangar bay, complete with overhead racks with room for 24 TIEs. The Medical Variant basically converted most/all of that hangar bay into a hospital.
Regarding the Procursator, though, what it’s intended to be used for is not necessarily how it ends up being used in practice. Giving it a couple squadrons of TIEs would allow it to contribute to a task force’s defense – even if just a little – and allow it to be sent off on its own on the odd chance that sort of thing became necessary.
Sure, you could probably put in a few squadrons of TIEs… or you could take that volume and fill it with more armor, capacitor banks, heat sinks, or a secondary reactor so that the Procursator is more lethal and survivable in a fleet brawl.
Pretty much every other heavy frigate/light destroyer in the fleet has a fighter bay if you need a ship for some side mission, so the Procursator can specialize in fighting. Perhaps it might have only been put into production during the true Galactic Civil War after Endor to replace some of the tens of thousands of Imperators lost to other Imperials.
There reaches a point at which minor capacity is actively harmful. In this case, if I were the fleet commander, I wouldn’t want the Procursator captains to even have to think about fighter operations, even if that was as much as turning out of close formation to launch. I’d rather have the ship land even one more HTL alpha. This is really a specialized ship. I do have in my notes a Procursator II version that strips the heavy missile magazines, expands the hangar, and lightens the main battery to turn it into a fairly standard general purpose light destroyer though.
Except*
Fractal I wonder if you could do the Procursator Version 3?
Like having an updated sensor globes and bridge details like on the Imperator redux but most importantly updating the 3 triple 175 TT heavy turbolasers so it look like actual cannon turrets instead of being plain non-tube cylinders.
About 1/3 of the way back from the nose…are those missiles??
In the trench? Yes – same size as the launch tubes on Venator and Victory.
Kewl…that would be a nice little punch on a broadside.
how long is this fine vessel
1.2 Km long
So Fractal what the polygon count on this new version like around 1-2 millions?
These comparison pics with the ImpStar somehow make me chuckle, it’s almost like a little brother tagging along with big bro trying to show off that he’s a toughie too. ;D
Funny thing is, the Procursator’s actually packing punchier (albeit fewer) main guns than that Impstar Deuce. Short kid with an aluminum bat.
9x175TT vs 64×32/40TT. Fewer big sticks, designed for big targets, which as a fleet escort/pack boat, is more important to shoot at.
Right, trading fire rate/duration & multi-tasking for initial offense. These two might make solid light-to-middling wolfpack complements if one’s short on Tectors or heavier.
I noticed a notch midship on the first terrace that looks like it could fit a turret in there, but was left as an opening. Rather, there seems to be something that looks like a closed hangar door. Is that an airlock perhaps? Something to get around the issue that the Procursor-class lacks a hangar?
Well there is a hangar ventrally where you’d expect it, but it’s just covered with armored hatches.
Ah, I see, so the ventral hangar does have uses for basic crafts. Initially thought it was something along the lines of “quick patch job.”
No denying the texture upgrade, but I’m rather torn about that bridge reshaping. Makes sense for playing up the ‘pocket Impstar’ aesthetic, to be sure. Two scattershot musings come to mind: (a) how often the name similarity to Procurator produces massive clerical errors and (b) how many Procursators you’d need to wolfpack the older ship (I’m guessing an even dozen).
The only major difference on the bridge is that I decided to go with full sized sensor globes vs the half-sized one from before. The surface greebles were re-arranged a bit but the overall module is otherwise identical in proportions.
a) people can deal with it 🙂
b) A lot – by reactor it’s about a 30x difference. Both designs are capacitor-happy (more alpha than sustained firepower), and there’s the missile wildcard in play, but probably at least 20 of the light destroyers to reliable challenge the battlecruiser.
Ah, another case of insufficient squinting on my part. The regulation-scale globes certainly add their share of character.
Oh, and you ain’t kidding about the missile wildcard-they’re obviously a boon for platforms that have to put in extra evasive effort, and on the heavy target’s end there’s the question of keeping focus on your attackers (which missiles can also help with, but far slower than energy weapons) or maneuvering to give PD a better shot at inbound barrages. Plus, I get the impression prolonged combat=more TL bleedthrough=more tender bits zorched, light laser/missile stations included, which might favor the wolfpack *if* enough manage not to die (or break & flee) in that duration. All told, there’s a reason wolves don’t take on moose but once in a blue moon, and vaguely similar principles may apply here.
What are those two spikes below the bridge tower? That’s a feature I haven’t noticed on any other star destroyer type.
Random antennae.
So Fractal I notice something strange when I post a picture in this website at first it was the right size to see probably but then suddenly much later the picture become much smaller than it was so what up with that?
Awesome update!
Fractal, what do you think is the average density of a Star Wars warship ?
Whoa boy – well, I think it depends a lot on how much fuel weighs, and since that apparently has a complex mass component, who knows? This is getting a bit far into analysis of something that is functionally magic. We can interpret symptoms, but not cause, in other words.
Sorry, I didn’t formulate my question well. I meant excluding the fuel, even if I realize it’s kinda nonsensical, since it’s an essential component of the ship. Obviously, making a precise estimate of the density of HM is impossible with the information at hand, so my question would be more like: if we know an ISD to be ~90 million m3, is it reasonable to assume a weight of around a 100 million tons as a lower limit ?
I think it would be more than that – Titanic was something like 0.5 ton/m3, so a mile long space warship is likely to be a lot more heavily built than that.
Thanks. On a totally unrelated note, have you ever wondered where the hangar doors are placed on an acclamator assault-ship ?
If you consider the Clone Wars cartoon canon, there’s a fairly small bay door on the bottom.
That’s a really nasty version, I like it much better than the previous one. The first version look unfinished to be honest. Is it still in the same 1200-1300m range as old one or is it smaller as Imperator seems to be about one third larger. Can forward “closed” hangar still be used to deploy fighters/small craft? Does it have any fighters at ll?
P.S.
I think that I found small error in your model. The point defence guns at the middle of the bottom spine have non-symmetrical arrangement for no obvious reason. It can be easily spotted here: https://fractalsponge.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/proc33.jpg Six guns “points” upward, and only four downward.
I wouldn’t consider that an error but that’s just my opinion
That hangar looks big enough for Lambda-grade shuttles and at least a handful of fighter squads. Not potential Impstar capacity, but comparable to an MC80’s internal space for alphabet birds.
Probably just a shuttle/utility craft group. Maybe a squadron of light fighters if everyone squeezes in, but the layout would really not be meant for combat ops.
Correction appreciated; hadn’t realized this one was that gunboat-optimized. I suppose Allegiance supports a proportion/role-comparable number of small craft, then.
Allegiance would be similar yes – more light craft but only by virtue of increased size, and definitely not optimized for combat operations.
Ahh, a nice clear look at the bottom. No open hanger eh? Just landing craft/troops? Or none of those either? Ah well that is what Ton Falks are for. Are the HTL’s here superior to those on say a victory (besides having a 3rd barrel)? Same firing rate/yield? If not than the little Victory outguns her 18 to 9.
These are triple 175 teraton, vs twin 70 teraton HTL.
No seriously deployable troops – mostly for internal security/boarding action.
So I found this cruiser which is the Liberator class it’s length is unknown but it is said to be slender and small in size but carry a lot of weapons which is 240 heavy turbolasers (40×2 on both fore and aft and 80×2 on both port and starboard) and 200 ion cannons (40 on fore and 80×2 on again both port and starboard) and it carry 6 starfighter squadrons and 3 troop regiments.
/revision/latest?cb=20120613093221
Here what it look like:
240 HTLs ?! That thing has to be a battlecruiser. It’s four Impstars worth of turbolaser.
I think its pretty conclusively a heavy frigate. 240 particularly oversized LTL might be believable, especially for a vessel designed to fight piracy.
Apparently the numbers were somewhat overinflated. I just looked “liberator cruiser” and the first wikia page reference those numbers, but the next one say the ship is 398 m, with an armement of 24 TLs and 20 ICs. The troop and fighter complement stay consistent though.
You sure I check it again and it the same: http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Liberator-class_cruiser
You know the Liberator class cruiser look quite like the broadside class cruiser when you compare them.
@Valoren
Good check-the second page’s heavy-weapon count makes much more sense. Wouldn’t mind more Sullustan heavy metal (including stuff comparable to Imp cruisers or mid-Rebellion Mon Cal flagships), but that one at least seems a couple steps up from the Quasar Fire.
That is a Rebel ship…
The Broadside cruiser is claimed to be inspired by the Gladiator-class Star Destroyer in terms of overall keel design, but it could be as easily also the Liberator.
As far as I know the Liberator was a ship created solely for the old PC game Star Wars: Rebellion (Supremacy in the UK) and barely used elsewhere in the old Legends EU.
In-game it was supposed to be the Rebel Alliance’s “answer” to the Empire’s Victory II-class Star Destroyer.
I can attest re: Liberator never, ever seeming to crop up in any of the EU novels I cracked open. Still doesn’t strike me as a good one-on-one match for any light destroyer, and it goes in the opposite direction if we ignore the carried-craft numbers + abstract-seeming model in favor of HTL count and assume it *is* battlecruiser-scale, but such is mid-90s game balance.
The explanation for the high number of turbolasers is a mistake in translation from the primary source (the Star Wars: Rebellion strategy game). Those numbers actually represent relative “throw weight” of a ship’s weaponry compared to other ships. For the sake of comparison, here are the game’s stats for the Liberator, the MC80 and the ISD I:
LIBERATOR
Fighter capacity: 6
Troop capacity: 3
Shield strength: 600
Hull strength: 1800
Sublight engine rating: 4
Maneuverability: 2
Fore Aft Port Starboard
Turbo Lasers 40 40 80 80
Ion Cannons 40 0 80 80
Laser Cannons 0 0 0 0
MC80
Fighter capacity: 3
Troop capacity: 1
Shield strength: 300
Hull strength: 2400
Sublight engine rating: 4
Maneuverability: 2
Fore Aft Port Starboard
Turbo Lasers 60 60 120 120
Ion Cannons 40 40 60 60
Laser Cannons 0 0 0 0
ISD I
Fighter capacity: 6
Troop capacity: 3
Shield strength: 300
Hull strength: 2750
Sublight engine rating: 4
Maneuverability: 1
Fore Aft Port Starboard
Turbo Lasers 100 40 60 60
Ion Cannons 100 40 40 40
Laser Cannons 0 0 0 0
So, per the primary source, the Liberator has a weaker hull rating and less powerful weaponry than an MC80, but has stronger shields, and the same fighter and troop transport capacity as an ISD I. The 398m length is someone’s factless fancy; there is no way you could fit 72 starfighters and 9,700 troops & their attendant equipment in a ship with that build at less than 400 meters long.
When I made D6 stats for this ship, I put it at 1,300 meters, with about 80% of the firepower of an MC80.
Shamefully belated thanks for the much-needed clarification WRT Rebellion’s rating system. Not sure I buy a ship of this size & shape packing enough juice for 4/5ths of a Mon Cal’s energy-weapon yield *plus* twice the shield strength, but the small-craft, troop & heavy turret count as per its model seems to make sense; if anything, Liberators might have space enough for an extra two fighter squads if an especially lucrative convoy raid’s in the offing. Might also be *just* survivable enough against Vics or Venators to jump clear or pick off the 418 preventing said escape.
Rebellion also has ISDIIs outgunning ISDIs by 800 to 300, so I’d take it all with a huge grain of salt. It’s artificial gradations into game classes, and doesn’t make much sense otherwise. If they had made Rebel ships a lot cheaper and thus able to be more numerous though less powerful, that’d make a lot more sense.
Right, the old gameplay unit-balance chestnut, albeit applied to a nominally capital craft instead of snubs. Given the scale of those turret(?) bumps I’m tempted to roll with McNeill’s take on its size, but Libs may be much better-suited to convoy-raiding (or escort), bargain Acclamator substitution, or rounding off a light destroyer squadron’s small-craft shortages. Certainly a step or three up from Quasar Fires, though Ton Falks may have ’em beat WRT hangar efficiency.
“heavy” turbolaser? If it’s mounting 240 real HTL (20 teraton+) then it’s gotta be pretty big. I always thought it was ~600m or so.
And how big would it be like around 5km?
Squinting at the model, I wonder if those visible bumps on the bow forks & aft flanks might account for multi-barrel HTLs & ions, with the remainder being medium & PD zappers. The small-craft count seems to fit a frigate-scale ship.
Whoa so this is was the Procursator look like when you put great effort into it instead of being done in just two days amazing!
Also since this is a version 2 will there be anymore of them on different ships or this is will be the only one you did?
This was also done in 2 days 🙂
Really wow I shouldn’t have underestimate your skills.
Although this version seem to have way less light turbolasers than the older version which would have been awesome to see them with this detail but hey I take what I got.
Man just image the Impertor, the Allegiance, the Secutor, the Bellator and hell probably the Assertor with this high amount of detail.
I want the Bellator with that!
Whoooooooaaaaaaw!! Sweet!!!
Phenomenal….
damn it
I spy new geo! (I think) Light guns and hand-wave bits from the Victory. Possibly the bow has new bits too. Whether any of this correct- been awhile since I took a gander at the Procursator gallery- it looks phenominal.
Very nice, boss!