Author Topic: The M5 Drone WarShip  (Read 21334 times)

DarthRads

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The M5 Drone WarShip
« on: 15 January 2012, 02:31:12 »
Now that we have the image and know stats will (finally) be coming, I would like to ask the designers to please make it live up to the fluff and be a true terror.

That being said, what do we all think the Caspars were like? Terrors? Examples of Extreme Marketing and propganda, but average in reality?

Thoughts...

Stormfury

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Re: The M5 Drone WarShip
« Reply #1 on: 15 January 2012, 04:09:40 »
Average in reality. I suspect what will make them scary will be the numbers of them available and a nuclear arsenal.

I would expect the Caspars, as long as they retain the Lola's weight, to put whatever remains of the ~110 kiloton cargo mass after mounting the drone/AI system towards larger engines and full armour more than towards a substantially more powerful weapons array.
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Isanova

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Re: The M5 Drone WarShip
« Reply #2 on: 15 January 2012, 10:59:08 »
Take the Lola III, bump it to 5/8, add more armor and switch to an All-Laser barrage. Imagine a ship with  26 NL/35s, 22 NL/45s and 18 NL/55s plus an array of Large Lasers for fighter defense and you have a largely independent warship.
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DarthRads

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Re: The M5 Drone WarShip
« Reply #3 on: 15 January 2012, 16:49:53 »
I think they'll still have a missile delivery system to nuke things...I recall playing with this idea a few years ago and giving a Lola hull the arsenal of a Cameron, thus putting Battlecruiser Firepower on a Destroyer hull to match the fluff...I agree speed will be 'upped'

Billy Boy Mark II

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Re: The M5 Drone WarShip
« Reply #4 on: 15 January 2012, 17:42:54 »
Not to appear stupid, but where do we get an image and confirmation stats will be coming?

snewsom2997

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Re: The M5 Drone WarShip
« Reply #5 on: 15 January 2012, 18:49:41 »
I believe in Liberation Terra Vo 1, 2, .....

DarthRads

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Re: The M5 Drone WarShip
« Reply #6 on: 15 January 2012, 20:19:04 »
There's a discussion in the General list on the art work, my phone won't let me link to it however...

Korzon77

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Re: The M5 Drone WarShip
« Reply #7 on: 15 January 2012, 23:24:43 »
Do't forget, Caspers also *ram*.  That in and of itself makes 'em scary :)

verybad

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Re: The M5 Drone WarShip
« Reply #8 on: 15 January 2012, 23:30:01 »
I guess the AI design must have been outsourced to a Davion company...
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VhenRa

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Re: The M5 Drone WarShip
« Reply #9 on: 16 January 2012, 03:07:44 »
Me, I am more hoping for Riga stats.

DarthRads

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Re: The M5 Drone WarShip
« Reply #10 on: 16 January 2012, 04:23:31 »
Me, I am more hoping for Riga stats.

 The Destroyer/Carrier I assume...

VhenRa

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Re: The M5 Drone WarShip
« Reply #11 on: 16 January 2012, 04:32:20 »
Yeah.


Its kinda a pain not having it.

I am Belch II

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Re: The M5 Drone WarShip
« Reply #12 on: 16 January 2012, 05:15:15 »
Firepower of a battlecrusier in the nice tight package of a destroyer. Lot of room for weapons when you are not using the space and weight for the KF drive.
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Stormfury

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Re: The M5 Drone WarShip
« Reply #13 on: 16 January 2012, 05:25:34 »
We've done that dance many times. Monitors do not exist in the BT universe, and Caspars are confirmed as having K-F drives.
Mordin Solus: We need a plan to stop them.
John Shepard: We fight or we die. That's the plan.
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Isanova

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Re: The M5 Drone WarShip
« Reply #14 on: 16 January 2012, 05:35:21 »
They were in use before the Kerensky campaign for the Hegemony. Pg 86 of the Star League SB, a TH transport division and a Royal Battlemech Division tried to re-take the planet, only to run into the vicious advanced SDS drones.

It mentions the Caspars surrounded and "sliced" a ship apart... to me that strikes of Laser firepower, and why I thought heavy on NLs. I just imagine any drone warship need be as independent as possible, which means no ammo to me.
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DarthRads

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Re: The M5 Drone WarShip
« Reply #15 on: 16 January 2012, 06:39:07 »
We've done that dance many times. Monitors do not exist in the BT universe, and Caspars are confirmed as having K-F drives.

Correct, I believe word from on high confirms this...can't find the exact quote though...

Stormfury

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Re: The M5 Drone WarShip
« Reply #16 on: 16 January 2012, 07:11:44 »
The question was asked of Herb before the Great Forum Purge, yes.
Mordin Solus: We need a plan to stop them.
John Shepard: We fight or we die. That's the plan.
Ashley Williams: Wow. That's the plan? Is it just me, or did Shepard have better plans before he died?
Urdnot Wrex: Silence! This is the best plan anyone, anywhere has ever had!
Garrus Vakarian: Yes! I AM SO THERE I AM THERE ALREADY!
Tali'Zora vas Normandy: *Facepalm*

cray

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Re: The M5 Drone WarShip
« Reply #17 on: 16 January 2012, 10:29:44 »
Lot of room for weapons when you are not using the space and weight for the KF drive.

If the Caspar's a WarShip, not a DropShip, then it has a KF drive.
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DarthRads

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Re: The M5 Drone WarShip
« Reply #18 on: 16 January 2012, 15:52:59 »
The question was asked of Herb before the Great Forum Purge, yes.

Knrw I'd seen it...

Hellraiser

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Re: The M5 Drone WarShip
« Reply #19 on: 16 January 2012, 16:29:56 »
We have the Stats for the Lola-I

I always went for simple conversion myself.

Take the base weapon (NAC10) and upgrade a step or 3 it to NAC20/25/30
Take the NL batteries & make the NPPCs
Upgrade the LL's to ER's

Max out the Armor tonnage.

4/6 speed is plenty since a drone has no need to restrict itself to "human" g-force limits.
The fact that they are supported in system means they can burn fuel as fast as they want too by doing nothing but overthrust moves.

48 Armor per section.
   16 NL55
    2  NL45
   14 NAC/10
   32 Large Laser
   
v/s

90-120 Armor per section
   18 Medium NPPC
   14 NAC/25
   32 ER Large Laser


Seriously, that is a WHOLE different beast & on high speed passes would be brutal.

And it doesn't involve new engines or SI or massive weapons placement changes.
Just some thicker armor & bigger barrels
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DarthRads

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Re: The M5 Drone WarShip
« Reply #20 on: 16 January 2012, 23:22:26 »
We have the Stats for the Lola-I

I always went for simple conversion myself.

Take the base weapon (NAC10) and upgrade a step or 3 it to NAC20/25/30
Take the NL batteries & make the NPPCs
Upgrade the LL's to ER's

Max out the Armor tonnage.

4/6 speed is plenty since a drone has no need to restrict itself to "human" g-force limits.
The fact that they are supported in system means they can burn fuel as fast as they want too by doing nothing but overthrust moves.

48 Armor per section.
   16 NL55
    2  NL45
   14 NAC/10
   32 Large Laser
   
v/s

90-120 Armor per section
   18 Medium NPPC
   14 NAC/25
   32 ER Large Laser


Seriously, that is a WHOLE different beast & on high speed passes would be brutal.

And it doesn't involve new engines or SI or massive weapons placement changes.
Just some thicker armor & bigger barrels

Not bad...

General308

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Re: The M5 Drone WarShip
« Reply #21 on: 16 January 2012, 23:37:18 »
If the Caspar's a WarShip, not a DropShip, then it has a KF drive.

Caspar Dropship's now that is a fun ideal

tekteam26

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Re: The M5 Drone WarShip
« Reply #22 on: 17 January 2012, 08:55:33 »
Based on what I could see of the new illustrations for the Lola's that had been converted into Caspars, it certainly appears that the transit drives have been upgraded at least some. 5/8 speed would be a reasonable assessment for the Caspars' speed. The armament probably would have been upgraded significantly, especially in regards to capital lasers and missiles while the armor may not have been upgraded very much at all. In fact, none of the canon has ever said anything about the Caspar's armor having been upgraded at all over that of the original Lola's armor levels.
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Re: The M5 Drone WarShip
« Reply #23 on: 17 January 2012, 10:17:02 »
How do you think the Caspar's AI will work, especially compared to the Caspar II? Identical? Similar, but superior or inferior? Completely different?
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Isanova

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Re: The M5 Drone WarShip
« Reply #24 on: 17 January 2012, 10:24:11 »
How do you think the Caspar's AI will work, especially compared to the Caspar II? Identical? Similar, but superior or inferior? Completely different?
I think the Original Caspar would have to be superior... I sort of think of the Caspar II as being the megamek computer, and the original Caspar as the computer in War Games. Caspars are quite capable of winning a battle entirely alone... Caspar II's really need assistance. I'm not sure how easily it would translate into game terms however.
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sillybrit

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Re: The M5 Drone WarShip
« Reply #25 on: 17 January 2012, 11:11:44 »
Yah, the implications from SLSB are that the original Caspar AI system was far more capable, at least that's how I read it.

The simplest rules could be to treat them as if they were equivilant to a manned unit, without the somewhat inflexible instruction set that the Caspar IIs have to follow.


snewsom2997

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Re: The M5 Drone WarShip
« Reply #26 on: 17 January 2012, 11:54:42 »
Yah, the implications from SLSB are that the original Caspar AI system was far more capable, at least that's how I read it.

The simplest rules could be to treat them as if they were equivilant to a manned unit, without the somewhat inflexible instruction set that the Caspar IIs have to follow.

If just trying to mash something together, make Casper I 50% heavy than Casper II, and then have the piloting and gunnery Start at 3/4 with extra weight taking it to 2/3.

VhenRa

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Re: The M5 Drone WarShip
« Reply #27 on: 17 January 2012, 18:27:36 »
Well.


As stated in JHS: Terra, the Caspars needed to be linked into a coordinating computer system for best effect, just like the Caspar IIs. However unlike the Caspar IIs, the original Caspar system didn't need any humans in the command loop for that computer system. So I suppose you could stick the coordinating system onto a Caspar itself...

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Re: The M5 Drone WarShip
« Reply #28 on: 17 January 2012, 18:32:46 »
the original Caspar system didn't need any humans in the command loop for that computer system. So I suppose you could stick the coordinating system onto a Caspar itself...
They didn't ?
I think the SLSB describes the SDS as being a combo of Drones & manpowered Ground Bases.
I think its also implied that the SLDF even trained the Amaris troops on how to work those bases which is why our SDS system was turned against us.
I would think the C-1 system would still have people in the loop, even if they do have a detailed system for autonomous processing that is more advanced than the C-2 stuff we have rules on.
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Isanova

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Re: The M5 Drone WarShip
« Reply #29 on: 17 January 2012, 19:12:35 »
Most of the Caspar-1 systems had independent higher-command computers, though they could be used with ground-based orders (retreat, attack priority, formation, etc)

Since almost all the original Caspar warship fleets operated as interception forces at or near the main jump points, they were too far away to have human command decisions... any messages would be minutes-delayed, and Caspars did not have mobile HPGs onboard.
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