Athena-class cruiser: FR2765:Periphery
The Athena is a bit of a tough ship to write about because everything about it is so odd. At 500,000 tons it is tiny. It has 30 missile launchers and huge naval laser batteries, yet can still play gun duels with big bads like Camerons. Its fluff is complex (and I won’t do it justice) yet tells us very little about the service history of the class. So just how did the Magistracy of Canopus end up with the most powerful Periphery WarShip short of a Stephan Amaris?
At its heart the Athena is basically a thought exercise. “Designed” by the Terran Alliance in the age before James McKenna it would be revised by the Terran Hegemony to see service as the Aegis before finally being built by the Magistracy. The Athena’s basic 2170s concept was simple. Nuke it till the dust glows. Big lasers would provide support against less nuke worthy targets and allow orbital bombardment. It is really truly that simple.
In the real world the Hegemony navy found NACs could chainsaw their way through most things and you didn’t need to throw 18 nukes a minute at a target to win. So the design went no further (or did it… Eyes Cruiser class cruiser.) until the Magistracy of Canopus found the design and decided that they could build it. NACs were added for frontal attacks and orbital bombardment.
First launched in 2569 the Athena class arrived just in time to fight in the Succession War starting 2577. We don’t know what the eleven ships of the Magistracy were, but it seems to have been mostly corvettes. Ultimately Tetski (2682) and Thurrock (2683) reduced the fleet to a Concordat and Athena. These two ships survived the war and would ultimately be part of the Magistracy’s contribution to New Vandenberg Uprising (2765). We can guess what happened to them.
So what do we get in an Athena? She is a tiny ship with a lot of guns. As noted the broadside is comparable to a second line SLDF cruiser. The missile battery is the impressive part. Lots and lots of White Sharks. Two problems stand out. Firstly they are not particularly accurate meaning close ranged combat. Secondly the magazines are shallow and the small cargo bay won’t help with reloads. Quad NAC30s sit forward and aft creating an interesting tactical problem. The broadside arc has inferior throw weight compared to fighting off the fore or aft quarters. Fighting in these arcs is a little tricky given the Athena’s low thrust.
Armour is a little light for a cruiser but good for a frigate. As noted the cargo bay is small. On the other hand living conditions are very good with all crew in first-class passenger compartments while there are two 225m Grav decks. Surely these were known as the love boats? As an older design the Athena lacked docking collars and had 22 Small craft. Four Motorized Infantry Platoons are carried. I am not sure for what purpose. I guess it represents extra equipment for the marines?
So how do you use an Athena? Well the lack of collars and limited flight deck make this a straight gun boat. Bearings-Only Launches are attractive given the size of the missile battery. Accuracy could be a problem as will be the ammo bins. More important is the lack of pinning units to force the targets to stay in a predictable location. Still a role as very long distance fire support exists against both fighters and capital ships.
Closer in the Athena would be advised to fight bow on, or if possible, on the aft quarter pulling away from the enemy. Way Point Launches are a must to get that extra bit of firepower from the capital missiles in disengaged arcs.
The AA potential of the Athena is formidable, but Evasion will limit accuracy outside 25 hexes.
Finally there is the nuclear option. The Athena can throw a lot of nukes which is completely legitimate under the Ares Convention.
Probably the safest way of dealing with an Athena is using aerospace fighters. It would take about 80, but it is safer than facing all those potential nukes. The 80:18 fighter overlap in the merge means the Athena’s screen will evaporate. Hit a single arc then wear the armour out. The danger is from the missile systems. They will kill a fighter or two for 10 turns, then ammo becomes a problem.
(Played this out with 18 Stuka, 6 Hammerhead, 12 Samurai, and 18 Sparrowhawk vs 1 Athena, 6 Eagle, 6 DragonFly, 6 Sabre representing Reunification War forces. With just 54 fighters the Athena was relying on its SI to survive.)