Missile Barge TRO: Der Tag

[beachhead1985]

Type: Missile Barge
Mass: 40 Tons
Crew: 3-10
Power Plant: locally-available 130 ICE
Cruising Speed: 46.5kph (25kts) – on average
Maximum Speed: 61.2kph (33kts) – on average
Armour Type: Standard
Armament and Equipment:
   1x LRM-15-class weapon
   4x SRM-4-class weapons
   1x LRT-5-class weapon
Manufacturer: various
   Location: water-rich and manufacturing-heavy worlds with moderate industry
   Status (as of 3099): in production on various worlds at low rates
            Production-as-required at at-least 3-dozen sites
Communication System: various
Targeting and Tracking System: Cirxese RockeCheck is most common with a sub-surface warfare add-on.

Design Quirks:
   Easy to Repair
        Narrow/Low-Profile
   Shallow Draft (Can operate in depth-0 water)
   Ubiquitous
   Flat-bottomed (Hard to pilot on open ocean)
   Bad Reputation
   Difficult Targeting (airborne +1 to-hit)
   Poor performance
   Poor workmanship

Overview:
   The missile barge is a general type of combat craft which dates back to the Terran Hegemony. Unlike most such types, however, the missile barge varies little between origins or era; heavier and lighter version of the base concept are inefficient; different performance profiles aren’t worth the trouble of re-designing the craft and the simplistic weapons array just does what it does.
   While primitive versions of the Missile Barge are known from historical documentation, none survive in the Inner Sphere. The extant primitive-armour version remains the best-known example and even then, is a relatively consistent type found only on the most backwater worlds and among nautical bandits.
   Fundamentally, Missile Barges are light naval support craft, designed for combat on narrow water-ways against targets ashore. Their usefulness on open water is limited, due to the design of the craft, which quickly renders it unmanageable among heavy seas.
   A missile barge is at its best as a tool of asymmetric warfare, turning its weapons against enemies that have limited means to respond. At it’s worst, such craft are cheap and basic firepower add-ons for water-based forces.
Development:
   It is unclear where the Missile Barge originates, but it is probably somewhere on Terra, as a cheap security tool of the late-stage Terran Alliance or early Terran Hegemony. The bast concept remains from those early days; a battery of missile weapons managed without the complexity and height of a turret, from a central, lightly-protected citadel as a basic fire-support craft.
   The Missile Barge has been reinvented time and time again in various places, but always on the similar basis of a commonly available, shallow-draft hull, which is able to support some small degree of modern protection. In some ways, the later eponymous Monitor from Aldis takes its inspiration from the Missile Barge, albeit in a much more ambitious concept.
   As it is, most Missile Barges aren’t even made to a common set of plans, but rather a common series of requirements for basic mobility on restricted waterways, delivering modestly effective fire support against an enemy who is out-matched by basic military hardware. Those requirements tend to produce something which is going to fit into a narrow set of definitions, here described as a Missile Barge.

Description:
   Missile barges are small, low-slung, narrow bodied craft with flat-bottomed hulls mounted by an angular, armoured superstructure, surmounted by a small pilot house. At the front of the superstructure, behind the bow, is the main weapon; normally an LRM-15 of some type, supplemented by a similarly-generic or commonly-available SRM-4, joined by three more of its ilk on the port and starboard sides, with the last covering the aft of the craft. 
   A single Long or Short-Range Torpedo System it typically mounted at the bow, as a “just in case” and retained more often than not as a useful tool against smugglers-subs and underwater obstacles.
   The engine, along with the spaces for the crew to live and fight are all centrally mounted, within and below the same superstructure as most of the weapon systems. This is both a blessing and a curse. This method of construction does make a missile barge easy to operate in action and aides the crew in conducting repairs while away from port. It also makes these cheap to produce, because all the vital systems are in one spot that just needs space in the displacement hull. What it also means is that any penetrating hit is likely to disable something or someone.
   Against more serious opposition, penetrating hits are all too-common on Missile Barges forced out of their weight-class. This gives these craft the reputation of widow-makers among their own crews, partly because the ammo is in the same space as everything else.

Capabilities:
   Missile Barges are relatively mobile shallow-draft vessels, able to operate very close to shore and within extremely restricted waterways. They are fast enough for most purposes, but their boxy-shape keeps them from accelerating quickly, leading to accidents among inexperienced crews.
   The weapons and armour are effective enough against the likes of pirate and insurgents and equally useful in the hands of such irregulars, making Missile Barges valued prizes. But against serious land-based defences, real warships or worst of all, ‘Mechs; the type suffers appropriately. Missile Barges are typically poor anti-aircraft platforms as well.
   One advantage of the type is that the crew-spaces are usually roomy and able to be configured for “hot-bunking” making the type suitable for long-patrols or extended periods of waiting on station to be called in or spring an ambush. Most examples can be operated by a crew of three; a coxswain, a gunner/weapons officer and an engineer. But by the same token, some examples can sustain up to ten crew members in tight quarters for days at a time. Another perk is that Missile barges are notoriously hard to spot in crowded rural ports and easy to hide alongside riverbanks, within navigable swamps or under bridges. Missile barges operating packed to the gunwales with extra crewmembers, however are often said to give their positions away by smell alone. While basic sanitation facilities are adequate, bathing must be done in whatever is on hand in terms of what the local waterways provide, although there is room for deck chairs fore, aft and atop the superstructure.
   Even a charitable sailor will admit that the inside of a Missile Barge has a certain bouquet all its own combining leaking diesel exhaust, missile fumes, grease and unwashed bodies in close quarters. Many will claim they just come that way, factory-fresh.

Deployment:
   Missile Barges are common on literal backwater-worlds. Most professional militaries prefer something else, but will tend to acquire the craft as budget and needs dictate. Even the Clans are forced to make use of the type from time to time, but will eagerly discard them when they can.
   The craft are as common with pirates and brigands as their would-be enemies and it is not uncommon for a given craft to change hands several times as fortunes wax and wane.
   Criminals have little use for the Missile Barge, except as a terror weapon to be wielded against the helpless and downtrodden; the craft can only pack along a few hundred measly extra kilos of contraband in place of extra-crew and they are not very quick or responsive at the helm.

Code: [Select]

     
Type/Model:    Missile Barge
Mass:          40 tons
Construction Options:  Fractional Accounting

Equipment:                                 Items    Mass
Int. Struct.:  16 pts Standard               0      4.00
Engine:        130 I.C.E.                    0      9.00
    Cruise MP:   4
     Flank MP:   6
Heat Sinks:      0 Single                    0       .00
Cockpit & Controls:                          0      2.00
Crew: 3 Members                              0       .00
Armor Factor:   48 pts Standard              0      3.00

                          Internal    Armor
                          Structure   Value
   Front:                     4         15
   Left / Right Sides:        4      11/11
   Rear:                      4         11

Weapons and Equipment    Loc  Heat  Ammo   Items    Mass
--------------------------------------------------------
1 LRM 15                 Front    0   24     2     10.00
1 SRM 4                  Front    0   25     2      3.00
1 SRM 4                  Left     0          1      2.00
1 SRM 4                  Right    0          1      2.00
1 SRM 4                  Rear     0          1      2.00
1 LR Torpedo 5           Front    0   24     2      3.00
--------------------------------------------------------
TOTALS:                           0          9     40.00
Items & Tons Left:                           4       .00

Calculated Factors:
Total Cost:        922,400 C-Bills
Battle Value 2:    551 (old BV = 459)
Cost per BV:       1,674.05
Weapon Value:      223 / 223 (Ratio = .40 / .40)
Damage Factors:    SRDmg = 23;  MRDmg = 12;  LRDmg = 5
BattleForce2:      MP: 4N,  Armor/Structure: 0 / 2
                   Damage PB/M/L: 2/3/1,  Overheat: 0
                   Class: NS;  Point Value: 6
                   Specials: if


[beachhead1985]

Variants:

   The primitive-armour version is the most well-known variation, but not the most common. They exist mainly in the deep periphery and in the hands of terrorists and ne’er-do-wells.

*I've opted not to create any kind of record sheet for this one, but if anyone wants to all the data is presented here to remake a SupVee-rules Missile Barge. I just wanted something easy and simple and stuck to standard construction rules.

   The Rocket Barge is a similar craft, deployed for mass-bombardment of static targets, or as a means of over-awing an opponent. These mount a single medium-laser and supporting equipment at the back of an extended hull festooned with rocket-launchers of various sizes. Within the hull is a cargo bay, capable of holding reloads for the launchers; hard labour for the crew between mass employment of their weapons.

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Type/Model:    Rocket Barge
Mass:          40 tons
Construction Options:  Fractional Accounting

Equipment:                                 Items    Mass
Int. Struct.:  16 pts Standard               0      4.00
Engine:        130 I.C.E.                    0      9.00
Power Amplifiers:                            0       .10
    Cruise MP:   4
     Flank MP:   6
Heat Sinks:      3 Single                    0      3.00
Cockpit & Controls:                          0      2.00
Crew: 3 Members                              0       .00
Armor Factor:   86 pts Standard              0      5.38

                          Internal    Armor
                          Structure   Value
   Front:                     4         27
   Left / Right Sides:        4      19/19
   Rear:                      4         21

Weapons and Equipment    Loc  Heat  Ammo   Items    Mass
--------------------------------------------------------
4 Rocket Launcher 20 (OS)Front    0          4      6.00
5 Rocket Launcher 10 (OS)Front    0          5      2.50
1 Medium Laser           Rear     3          1      1.00
1 Rocket Launcher 15 (OS)Left     0          1      1.00
1 Rocket Launcher 15 (OS)Right    0          1      1.00
Cargo Bay Capacity       Body                1      5.00
--------------------------------------------------------
TOTALS:                           3         13     39.98
Items & Tons Left:                           0       .02

Calculated Factors:
Total Cost:        676,160 C-Bills
Battle Value 2:    480 (old BV = 342)
Cost per BV:       1,408.67
Weapon Value:      395 / 395 (Ratio = .82 / .82)
Damage Factors:    SRDmg = 119;  MRDmg = 50;  LRDmg = 9
BattleForce2:      MP: 4N,  Armor/Structure: 0 / 3
                   Damage PB/M/L: 1/1/-,  Overheat: 0
                   Class: NS;  Point Value: 5
                   Specials: tran5

   ASW Escorts are similar in concept, but instead possess a ring of Torpedo Launchers for defending convoys and other vulnerable craft from submersibles. These are more effective ocean-going craft, without the flat-bottomed hulls and built to different specifications.

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Type/Model:    ASW Escort
Mass:          40 tons
Construction Options:  Fractional Accounting

Equipment:                                 Items    Mass
Int. Struct.:  16 pts Standard               0      4.00
Engine:        130 I.C.E.                    0      9.00
    Cruise MP:   4
     Flank MP:   6
Heat Sinks:      0 Single                    0       .00
Cockpit & Controls:                          0      2.00
Crew: 3 Members                              0       .00
Armor Factor:   48 pts Standard              0      3.00

                          Internal    Armor
                          Structure   Value
   Front:                     4         15
   Left / Right Sides:        4      11/11
   Rear:                      4         11

Weapons and Equipment    Loc  Heat  Ammo   Items    Mass
--------------------------------------------------------
1 LR Torpedo 15          Front    0   16     2      9.00
1 LR Torpedo 5           Rear     0   48     2      4.00
1 LR Torpedo 5           Left     0          1      2.00
1 LR Torpedo 5           Right    0          1      2.00
1 SR Torpedo 2           Front    0   50     2      2.00
1 SR Torpedo 2           Left     0          1      1.00
1 SR Torpedo 2           Right    0          1      1.00
1 SR Torpedo 2           Rear     0          1      1.00
--------------------------------------------------------
TOTALS:                           0         11     40.00
Items & Tons Left:                           2       .00

Calculated Factors:
Total Cost:        754,400 C-Bills
Battle Value 2:    542 (old BV = 449)
Cost per BV:       1,391.88
Weapon Value:      207 / 207 (Ratio = .38 / .38)
Damage Factors:    SRDmg = 19;  MRDmg = 15;  LRDmg = 8
BattleForce2:      MP: 4N,  Armor/Structure: 0 / 2
                   Damage PB/M/L: 3/3/2,  Overheat: 0
                   Class: NS;  Point Value: 5

   True variations on the Missile barge are hard-to-spot detail variations, reinforcing the LRM battery at the expense of the SRMs, swapping the torpedo-systems back and forth between long- and short-ranged versions, or deleting them entirely. “Ammo” variants down-grade the LRM launcher in order to provide a more diverse array of munitions to meet the tactical needs of larger operations. These are unpopular among crews who are all-too-aware they are carrying more boom than they can ever bang-off, amounting to working on a floating bomb.

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Type/Model:    Missile Barge  LRM
Mass:          40 tons
Construction Options:  Fractional Accounting

Equipment:                                 Items    Mass
Int. Struct.:  16 pts Standard               0      4.00
Engine:        130 I.C.E.                    0      9.00
    Cruise MP:   4
     Flank MP:   6
Heat Sinks:      0 Single                    0       .00
Cockpit & Controls:                          0      2.00
Crew: 3 Members                              0       .00
Armor Factor:   48 pts Standard              0      3.00

                          Internal    Armor
                          Structure   Value
   Front:                     4         15
   Left / Right Sides:        4      11/11
   Rear:                      4         11

Weapons and Equipment    Loc  Heat  Ammo   Items    Mass
--------------------------------------------------------
1 LRM 20                 Front    0   24     2     14.00
1 LR Torpedo 5           Front    0   24     2      3.00
1 SRM 2                  Front    0   50     2      2.00
1 SRM 2                  Left     0          1      1.00
1 SRM 2                  Right    0          1      1.00
1 SRM 2                  Rear     0          1      1.00
--------------------------------------------------------
TOTALS:                           0          9     40.00
Items & Tons Left:                           4       .00

Calculated Factors:
Total Cost:        808,400 C-Bills
Battle Value 2:    575 (old BV = 482)
Cost per BV:       1,405.91
Weapon Value:      173 / 173 (Ratio = .30 / .30)
Damage Factors:    SRDmg = 18;  MRDmg = 13;  LRDmg = 7
BattleForce2:      MP: 4N,  Armor/Structure: 0 / 2
                   Damage PB/M/L: 2/3/2,  Overheat: 0
                   Class: NS;  Point Value: 6
                   Specials: if


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Type/Model:    Missile Barge SRT
Mass:          40 tons
Construction Options:  Fractional Accounting

Equipment:                                 Items    Mass
Int. Struct.:  16 pts Standard               0      4.00
Engine:        130 I.C.E.                    0      9.00
    Cruise MP:   4
     Flank MP:   6
Heat Sinks:      0 Single                    0       .00
Cockpit & Controls:                          0      2.00
Crew: 3 Members                              0       .00
Armor Factor:   48 pts Standard              0      3.00

                          Internal    Armor
                          Structure   Value
   Front:                     4         15
   Left / Right Sides:        4      11/11
   Rear:                      4         11

Weapons and Equipment    Loc  Heat  Ammo   Items    Mass
--------------------------------------------------------
1 LRM 15                 Front    0   24     2     10.00
1 SRM 4                  Front    0   25     2      3.00
1 SRM 4                  Left     0          1      2.00
1 SRM 4                  Right    0          1      2.00
1 SRM 4                  Rear     0          1      2.00
1 SR Torpedo 4           Front    0   25     2      3.00
--------------------------------------------------------
TOTALS:                           0          9     40.00
Items & Tons Left:                           4       .00

Calculated Factors:
Total Cost:        954,800 C-Bills
Battle Value 2:    543 (old BV = 451)
Cost per BV:       1,758.38
Weapon Value:      226 / 226 (Ratio = .42 / .42)
Damage Factors:    SRDmg = 25;  MRDmg = 10;  LRDmg = 4
BattleForce2:      MP: 4N,  Armor/Structure: 0 / 2
                   Damage PB/M/L: 3/3/1,  Overheat: 0
                   Class: NS;  Point Value: 5
                   Specials: if


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Type/Model:    Missile Barge No LRTs
Mass:          40 tons
Construction Options:  Fractional Accounting

Equipment:                                 Items    Mass
Int. Struct.:  16 pts Standard               0      4.00
Engine:        130 I.C.E.                    0      9.00
    Cruise MP:   4
     Flank MP:   6
Heat Sinks:      0 Single                    0       .00
Cockpit & Controls:                          0      2.00
Crew: 3 Members                              0       .00
Armor Factor:   48 pts Standard              0      3.00

                          Internal    Armor
                          Structure   Value
   Front:                     4         15
   Left / Right Sides:        4      11/11
   Rear:                      4         11

Weapons and Equipment    Loc  Heat  Ammo   Items    Mass
--------------------------------------------------------
1 LRM 15                 Front    0   24     2     10.00
1 SRM 4                  Front    0   25     2      3.00
1 SRM 4                  Left     0          1      2.00
1 SRM 4                  Right    0          1      2.00
1 SRM 4                  Rear     0          1      2.00
1 LRM 5                  Front    0   24     2      3.00
--------------------------------------------------------
TOTALS:                           0          9     40.00
Items & Tons Left:                           4       .00

Calculated Factors:
Total Cost:        922,400 C-Bills
Battle Value 2:    551 (old BV = 459)
Cost per BV:       1,674.05
Weapon Value:      223 / 223 (Ratio = .40 / .40)
Damage Factors:    SRDmg = 23;  MRDmg = 12;  LRDmg = 5
BattleForce2:      MP: 4N,  Armor/Structure: 0 / 2
                   Damage PB/M/L: 2/3/1,  Overheat: 0
                   Class: NS;  Point Value: 6
                   Specials: if


Code: [Select]


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Type/Model:    Missile Barge Ammo
Mass:          40 tons
Construction Options:  Fractional Accounting

Equipment:                                 Items    Mass
Int. Struct.:  16 pts Standard               0      4.00
Engine:        130 I.C.E.                    0      9.00
    Cruise MP:   4
     Flank MP:   6
Heat Sinks:      0 Single                    0       .00
Cockpit & Controls:                          0      2.00
Crew: 3 Members                              0       .00
Armor Factor:   48 pts Standard              0      3.00

                          Internal    Armor
                          Structure   Value
   Front:                     4         15
   Left / Right Sides:        4      11/11
   Rear:                      4         11

Weapons and Equipment    Loc  Heat  Ammo   Items    Mass
--------------------------------------------------------
2 LRM 5s                 Front    0   96     3      8.00
1 SRM 4                  Front    0   75     2      5.00
1 SRM 4                  Left     0          1      2.00
1 SRM 4                  Right    0          1      2.00
1 SRM 4                  Rear     0          1      2.00
1 LR Torpedo 5           Front    0   24     2      3.00
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TOTALS:                           0         10     40.00
Items & Tons Left:                           3       .00

Calculated Factors:
Total Cost:        885,200 C-Bills
Battle Value 2:    481 (old BV = 388)
Cost per BV:       1,840.33
Weapon Value:      198 / 198 (Ratio = .41 / .41)
Damage Factors:    SRDmg = 21;  MRDmg = 9;  LRDmg = 4
BattleForce2:      MP: 4N,  Armor/Structure: 0 / 2
                   Damage PB/M/L: 3/3/1,  Overheat: 0
                   Class: NS;  Point Value: 5
                   Specials: if

   The MRM-variant is a development crews, bystanders and DCMS professionals all find dubious. The centuries-old standard Missile Barge is already a weapon of worrying vague nature, with the normal likelihood of missile systems to send their ordnance astray among friendly troops and civilians while in close support or in otherwise “complex” operations. Adding MRMs to the mix in place of the mixed LRMs and SRMs produces a system which needs to get closer to its targets and is more likely to miss them and scatter high-explosive, dual-purpose warheads among the very troops the craft is meant to support, as well as any erstwhile innocents caught in the crossfire. On a simpler, littoral two-range range, the MRM Missile Barge is a better prospect, if slightly larger and infinitesimally-better protected than its cousins. Those crews who find themselves at peace with this more recent variation have a grim motto; “Close Enough”.

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Type/Model:    Missile Barge MRM
Mass:          45 tons
Construction Options:  Fractional Accounting

Equipment:                                 Items    Mass
Int. Struct.:  20 pts Standard               0      4.50
Engine:        150 I.C.E.                    0     11.00
    Cruise MP:   4
     Flank MP:   6
Heat Sinks:      0 Single                    0       .00
Cockpit & Controls:                          0      2.25
Crew: 3 Members                              0       .00
Armor Factor:   52 pts Standard              0      3.25

                          Internal    Armor
                          Structure   Value
   Front:                     5         16
   Left / Right Sides:        5      12/12
   Rear:                      5         12

Weapons and Equipment    Loc  Heat  Ammo   Items    Mass
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1 LR Torpedo 5           Front    0   24     2      3.00
3 MRM 10s                Front    0   72     4     12.00
1 MRM 10                 Left     0          1      3.00
1 MRM 10                 Right    0          1      3.00
1 MRM 10                 Rear     0          1      3.00
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TOTALS:                           0          9     45.00
Items & Tons Left:                           5       .00

Calculated Factors:
Total Cost:        719,688 C-Bills
Battle Value 2:    566 (old BV = 463)
Cost per BV:       1,271.53
Weapon Value:      270 / 270 (Ratio = .48 / .48)
Damage Factors:    SRDmg = 28;  MRDmg = 14;  LRDmg = 3
BattleForce2:      MP: 4N,  Armor/Structure: 0 / 2
                   Damage PB/M/L: 4/2/-,  Overheat: 0
                   Class: NS;  Point Value: 6

Battle History:

   Missile Barges rarely make history; their day-to-day operations are mainly for security and rarely involve warming up the tubes with a few volleys. When they do fight, it’s often against targets who can’t respond in kind and when they can, things tend to go poorly for the Missile Barge crews.
   A typical operation occurred on Ilyushin, capital of the Taurian Concordant in March of 2872. Ilyushin is mainly known as a Grassy-world of vast plains, but it has its littoral zones and one such contained the Vistula River Delta on the continent of Whey. On this river were a band of criminals and malcontents, who had taken to piracy along the shallow waterways.
   Unable to employ their Blue-Water naval forces and uncertain of accurately localizing a para-drop of jump-infantry, the local militia sent in River Squadron-29, which included a small division of four Missile Barges. Following Lengthy operations to locate and corral the pirates, the Missile Barges were employed to drop blind LRM volleys on the limited roads and trail networks, weaving out of the swampy area by the rivers, up to the coastal highlands, where they could escape. While the Missile Barges emptied their LRMs on targets pre-marked by Militia Scouts, infantry were landed to secure the illegal freeport, the pirates that established.
   The Missile Barges saw no direct combat and the operation was judges a success, with over 400 detainees captured, along with millions in contraband and stolen goods and over a dozen small nautical craft and blowers.
   A most untypical deployment occurred with the 29th CAAN Regiment on the Canopian world of Wildwood II following the Amaris Coup. Details are sketchy, but one of the Regiment’s Brown-Water Flotillas had been deployed there on orders from Terra shortly before the coup and found themselves embroiled in a very hot insurgency shortly thereafter.
   Struggling to survive against encroaching Magistracy units who shouldn’t even have existed, let alone been on Wildwood, the 4th Littoral Support Flotilla found themselves boxed in to a narrow lodgement around the island spaceport they’d established in Chauncy in the world’s windward isles. The region was a scattering of small volcanic islands, cut by saltwater rivers weaving in and out of gorgeous hidden grottos and harbours. Unfortunately, it was too vast an area for the 4th to hold alone, and they found themselves pushed back into the mangrove swamps around the island of Chauncy following months of hard fighting.
   By this point, they’d lost all their blue/green-water assets and most of their personnel were ashore, rigging whatever defences they could from equipment salvaged from lost vessels. A handful of Missile Barges constituted their remaining combat vehicles, morale was low and the 4th hadn’t had contact with anyone outside the 29th CAAN since before the coup; they didn’t even know it had happened yet.
   The Missile Barges were concentrated in the natural harbour of West-Bite, undergoing repairs and servicing, when a company of Magistracy Wasps, supported by VTOL-born infantry attacked the StarPort from the north-side of the island on the morning of July 11th, 2767. The Missile Barges, organized the 2nd Support Group, hauled out to meet the attack, but when they approached the attack, they found themselves ambushed in-turn by the supposed “Wasps”, which turned out to be Phoenix Hawks.
   Maneuvering as best they could amid the coastal waves, the flat-bottomed Missile Barges were badly tossed about, however; they managed to bring down two of their attackers, before superior BattleMech protection and maneuverability, spelled their end. The Chauncy StarPort was lost and the remainder of the 4th Flotilla captured. This incident is thought to have strongly influenced the eventual capitulation of the 29th CAAN and their decision to turn their coats and throw their lot in with the rebels.

Notable Vehicles and Pilots:

   The Shaggy Dog

   A “Shaggy Dog” joke is one which is long, silly and leads to an often-unsatisfying conclusion. “The Shaggy Dog” is a Missile Barge, or former Missile Barge of Star-League Vintage, which gives its name to a comedy club on Carver V. The one-time CAAN craft has been hauled well-out of the water, gutted and set as the entrance to a mid-sized entertainment venue, which has been in constant service under the same name since the Mid-2840s. The Shaggy Dog is found on the hills over-looking the port of the capital of Ballacqu and generally considered a standby of the city’s night life.
   Over the years, The Shaggy Dog has been the start and end of many and comedy career, but it’s best know for its seafood, erroneously said to be cooked on equipment salvaged from the original craft from which the club get’s its name. The place has been through many evolutions over the years, never great, never poor, always in the middle, always going on and there are many who say the final punchline will be an unsatisfying one, as the namesake suggests.
   The original craft bears no known battle honors or famous crews; it was salvaged from the harbour many years after the exodus when it was abandoned by its former crew, where it had sank while tied up at the pier.

Key Recognition Features:

   Missile Barges are low, narrow craft, on flat-bottomed, usually rectangular-hulls. They sport a boxy, armoured superstructure, atop of which is an equally-well (or poorly)-protected pilothouse. The sides of the superstructure are sloped, as much to give their weapons better elevation, as for protection.

Meta Note:

   The inspiration for the Missile Barge comes from the TRO Entry for the Mauna Kea, which references “Displacement Missile Boats” in service with pirate forces. I wanted to represent something truly generic that would, in all likelihood vary from example to example in exact size, armour arrangement and capabilities, but keep the stats modest enough and the variants diverse enough to give that feel without providing dramatically differing examples of what is practically the same unit.