Tartar Class DropShip
With Project Zhukov well underway, the Horses had to turn to their naval capabilities. Never the strongest arm of the Touman, the Horses used a mixture of Broadsword, Union C and Overlord C's as their main transports. But, with the emphasis shifting back to a true combined arms doctrine and the wider deployment of Nova's these DropShips proved less than ideal. The Horses had often just resorted to configuring ships as needed, but this was slow and resource intensive and far from ideal as conversions would require extensive reworking of a ships interior whilst trying to minimise the effects on its centre of gravity which if thrown off, could prove catastrophic in an atmosphere.
Although at the time it was considered a bold step, the design of a new DropShip was put fowards to help carry Hell's Horses formations into battle safely. But to carry a suitable number of Mech's and tanks to fit the new Nova standards would require a larger DropShip, although not going into the realm of the Overlord-C in terms of weight.
Inspiration came from two sources, one, the common Triumph class that had been used by the SLDF although it had long since fallen out of favour with the Clans owing to its primary role as a tank and infantry carrier. The other source was far more surprising. The Pueblo class DropShip had been one of the crown jewels of the SLDF and Terran Hegemony's intelligence departments but the class had suffered in the Armaris civil war, with the survivors taken by the SLDF into Exodus. The Pentagon Civil War and the birth of the Clans had seen the classes numbers diminish even further as the ships were either destroyed or gutted and scrapped for parts and equipment, their numbers dwindling until barely a dozen remained.
Four of these ships were still held in the Hell's Horses naval cache, long since stripped of many of their components, their hulls empty and open to space, but they served as useful design information for large aerodyne hull designs that would be used in the new DropShip. It was felt that an aerodyne could defend itself better with its agility and would present a smaller target than the large Spheroid hulls of other DropShips.
What slowly took shape and finally launched in 3000 was as one Inner Sphere pilot commented "The bastard offspring of a Triumph and a DroST" in terms of looks and capabilities although it also had the Pueblo's huge delta wings mounted high up on the hull for maximum lift and to give the most internal room for its cargo. The craft's body was dominated by its cargo bay, capable of carrying a full combined arms Binary Nova of 10 Mechs, 20 tanks and 50 Elementals. This large bay was split down the middle by a cargo bay which could take over 480 tons of munitions, spare parts and equipment for the embarked forces.
The tanks and Mechs could disembark from either the large bow doors or through the side although tanks had to use the bow doors until the Mech's had disembarked. The cockpit section jutted over the bow of the ship, giving the most room possible for the embarked troops to be able to get off as quickly as possible.
Every effort went into saving room and freeing up space and this meant that the Tartar class DropShip as they were called were horribly cramped affairs.
The armament was simple but effective with lasers, particle cannons and missiles placed across the hull and wings to provide good all-round fire and there was even bunks for up to 5 Marines who helped secure the bridge section of the ship and were often older Elementals that many Clans would consider Solhama personnel. As fast in an atmosphere or space as a Union-C the Tartar was heavily protected with layers of Ferro-Aluminuium providing protection that came close to that of the larger Overlord-C.
One thing about their design was that the layout of the troop and vehicle bay was integral to the hull, and it could not be easily altered although some Tartar's did carry full loads of cargo instead of Mech's and tanks several times. This specalized nature saved the class from being the subject of many Trials. Most other Clans barely considered using vehicles in any meaningful way beyond defensive roles and even those that didn't would not look at tanks in the same light as the Hell's Horses did. And with their layout being largely fixed, the Tartar could not be converted into other roles like a pure Mech carrier easily or quickly. Making the conversion both time consuming and resource intensive enough to, in most Clans eyes, not be worth the effort. So, unlike the Zenith class Elemental Transport, the Tartar was seen very rarely outside of the Horses Touman. It wasn't until 3058 that a variant of the Tartar was completed by another Clan, stripping out its troop capacity and reducing the cargo to allow it to carry and launch a Binary of fighters (20 craft), allowing it to operate as a medium carrier, fitting into the space between the Carrier and Titan/Miraborg classes.
Tartar DropShip
Base Tech Level: Standard (Clan)
Level Era
-------------------
Experimental -
Advanced -
Standard 3071+
Tech Rating: F/X-X-E-E
Weight: 8200 tons
BV: 10,738
Cost: 662,040,000 C-bills
Movement: 4/6
Heat Sinks: 200 [400]
Fuel Points: 9000 (300.0 tons)
Tons Per Burn Day: 1.84
Structural Integrity: 20
Armor: 1191 (Ferro-Aluminum)
Armor
-------------------
Nose 341
Left Side 287
Right Side 287
Aft 276
Weapons Loc Heat
-----------------------------------------------
PPC Bay NOS 30
ER PPC
ER PPC
LRM Bay NOS 15
LRM 15
LRM 15
LRM 15
LRM 15 (Clan) Artemis-capable Ammo 120
Laser Bay NOS 34
ER Large Laser
ER Large Laser
ER Medium Laser
ER Medium Laser
AMS Bay NOS 2
Anti-Missile System
Anti-Missile System
Anti-Missile System Ammo [Clan] 72
PPC Bay RS 45
ER PPC
ER PPC
ER PPC
LRM Bay RS 10
LRM 15
LRM 15
LRM 15 (Clan) Artemis-capable Ammo 80
Laser Bay RS 44
ER Large Laser
ER Large Laser
ER Medium Laser
ER Medium Laser
ER Medium Laser
ER Medium Laser
AMS Bay RS 2
Anti-Missile System
Anti-Missile System
Anti-Missile System Ammo [Clan] 72
PPC Bay LS 45
ER PPC
ER PPC
ER PPC
LRM Bay LS 10
LRM 15
LRM 15
LRM 15 (Clan) Artemis-capable Ammo 80
Laser Bay LS 44
ER Large Laser
ER Large Laser
ER Medium Laser
ER Medium Laser
ER Medium Laser
ER Medium Laser
AMS Bay LS 2
Anti-Missile System
Anti-Missile System
Anti-Missile System Ammo [Clan] 72
PPC Bay AFT 30
ER PPC
ER PPC
LRM Bay AFT 10
LRM 15
LRM 15
LRM 15 (Clan) Artemis-capable Ammo 80
Laser Bay AFT 34
ER Large Laser
ER Large Laser
ER Medium Laser
ER Medium Laser
AMS Bay AFT 2
Anti-Missile System
Anti-Missile System
Anti-Missile System Ammo [Clan] 72
Equipment Loc
---------------------
Artemis IV FCS NOS
Artemis IV FCS NOS
Artemis IV FCS NOS
Artemis IV FCS RS
Artemis IV FCS RS
Artemis IV FCS LS
Artemis IV FCS LS
Artemis IV FCS AFT
Artemis IV FCS AFT
Carrying Capacity
-----------------
Heavy Vehicle Bay (2 doors) - 20 units
Mech (2 doors) - 10 units
Battle Armor Bay (2 doors) - 10 Points
Cargo Space (1 door) - 484 tons
Crew
-----------------------
Officers 5
Enlisted/Non-rated 11
Gunners 7
Bay Personnel 240
Marines 5
Quirks
------
Atmospheric Flyer<br/>
Improved Communications
Zenith Class DropShip
Although the Sassanid class DropShip was a capable craft, its hodgepodge of weapons, and less than idea infantry bay loading and unloading areas were marks against the class, at least in saKhan Yana Fletcher’s eyes. He also felt that it was too slow and getting Elementals onto the ground quicker at a decisive point would be of more use than just acting as an armed transport for them. During the Battle of Niles, the Horses were unable to move various units scattered across their holdings on the planet due to the threat of the Bear’s holding orbital dominance. And, although there was very little fighting in space, the fighting over the area where the Trial took place was very bloody for both sides and it was felt that it was too risky to land a DropShip in the area to unload its forces directly into the battle whereas a faster craft could have gotten in and helped.
Whilst this went against the Trial style of combat the Clans loved and enshrined, the Battle on Niles was far more savage than the typical Clan Trial clashes and could be more comparable to a Trial of Absorption, albeit an undeclared one such was the fury of the Ghost Bear Warriors in their assault.
This close brush with being Absorbed also quietly shaped the Hell’s Horses doctrine and the development of their forces moving forwards and the new Zenith class DropShip was also part of this shaping of doctrine and military forces.
Although the design massed 3,000 tons like the Sassanid class, it was an aerodyne, its genesis starting with a stretched and more streamlined Broadsword hull with raised nose and bridge section and a notable ‘belly’ section for the Elementals and cargo. Unlike the Sassanid, the Zenith could carry two Trinaries worth of Elementals, 150 in total and, unlike the other design it was built to carry larger and smaller Elementals including the Deimos, Alecto and Alastor suits. Doors and hatches along the DropShips sides under its cockpit and even on its belly let suits disembark quickly allowed jump capable suits to be deployed from high altitude although to unload the Alecto the Zenith had to land. The troop bays were split by a cargo bay that could hold over 470 tons of supplies, spare parts and ammunition, easily allowing the Zenith to support its Elementals and repair them if needed. The DropShips armament was also considerable thanks to a mix of energy and ballistic weapons, allowing it to act, in a pinch as a ground attack craft whilst fourty tons of Ferro-Aluminium armour gave it a thick hide, allowing it to withstand a considerable amount of hostile attention.
Unlike the Broadsword, the Zenith had larger wings mounted up on the hull and the distinctive reverse gull-wing shape gave the craft good stability and handing in an atmosphere.
Due to its higher speed and more capable armament the Zenith would largely displace the Sassanid as the Clans primary Battle Armour transport after the design schematics were won by Clan Diamond Shark in a Trial of Possession and it became quite widespread, but never fully replaced the older Sassanid which was less maintenance intensive and cheaper to produce. Several variants were designed including a Mech carrier that could carry a single Star of Mechs as well as a stripped out version that was assigned to the Merchant caste as a cargo carrier that was rarely seen during the initial stages of Operation REVIVAL but would become a quite common sight as the Clans took resources from the worlds they had conquered back to the Homeworlds. The cargo variant could carry over 1,300 tons of cargo quickly and efficiently but was only armed with a battery of medium lasers for any form of self defence against Dark Caste raiders or Spheroid forces.
This more general purpose design is a quite stark contrast to the far more specialized Tartar class and although the two classes have some visual similarities the Horses design was built to be flexible and adaptable and could be seen as a fig leaf towards other Clans who wanted a design for themselves, something none of the Clans were willing to Trial for over the Tartar due to its more specialized nature and integral tank bays.
Zenith Dropship
Base Tech Level: Standard (Clan)
Level Era
-------------------
Experimental -
Advanced -
Standard 3071+
Tech Rating: F/X-F-E-E
Weight: 3000 tons
BV: 9,756
Cost: 590,516,640 C-bills
Movement: 5/8
Heat Sinks: 180 [360]
Fuel Points: 9300 (310.0 tons)
Tons Per Burn Day: 1.84
Structural Integrity: 12
Armor: 1008 (Ferro-Aluminum)
Armor
-------------------
Nose 303
Left Side 252
Right Side 252
Aft 201
Weapons Loc Heat
-----------------------------------------------
PPC Bay NOS 45
ER PPC
ER PPC
ER PPC
Pulse Laser Bay NOS 16
Medium Pulse Laser
Medium Pulse Laser
Medium Pulse Laser
Medium Pulse Laser
LBX AC Bay NOS 6
LB 10-X AC
LB 10-X AC
LB 10-X AC
LB 10-X Cluster Ammo 120
AMS Bay NOS 2
Anti-Missile System
Anti-Missile System
Anti-Missile System Ammo [Clan] 72
AC Bay RS 14
Ultra AC/20
Ultra AC/20
Ultra AC/20 Ammo 50
LRM Bay RS 10
LRM 15
LRM 15
LRM 15 (Clan) Artemis-capable Ammo 48
Laser Bay RS 24
ER Large Laser
ER Large Laser
AMS Bay RS 2
Anti-Missile System
Anti-Missile System
Anti-Missile System Ammo [Clan] 72
Pulse Laser Bay RS 16
Medium Pulse Laser
Medium Pulse Laser
Medium Pulse Laser
Medium Pulse Laser
AC Bay LS 14
Ultra AC/20
Ultra AC/20
Ultra AC/20 Ammo 50
LRM Bay LS 10
LRM 15
LRM 15
LRM 15 (Clan) Artemis-capable Ammo 48
Laser Bay LS 24
ER Large Laser
ER Large Laser
AMS Bay LS 2
Anti-Missile System
Anti-Missile System
Anti-Missile System Ammo [Clan] 72
Pulse Laser Bay LS 16
Medium Pulse Laser
Medium Pulse Laser
Medium Pulse Laser
Medium Pulse Laser
PPC Bay AFT 60
ER PPC
ER PPC
ER PPC
ER PPC
LBX AC Bay AFT 12
LB 20-X AC
LB 20-X AC
LB 20-X Cluster Ammo 40
Pulse Laser Bay AFT 24
Medium Pulse Laser
Medium Pulse Laser
Medium Pulse Laser
Medium Pulse Laser
Medium Pulse Laser
Medium Pulse Laser
AMS Bay AFT 2
Anti-Missile System
Anti-Missile System
Anti-Missile System Ammo [Clan] 72
Equipment Loc
---------------------
Artemis IV FCS RS
Artemis IV FCS RS
Artemis IV FCS LS
Artemis IV FCS LS
Carrying Capacity
-----------------
Battle Armor Bay (3 doors) - 10 Points
Battle Armor Bay (2 doors) - 10 Points
Battle Armor Bay (2 doors) - 10 Points
Cargo Space (1 door) - 478 tons
Crew
-----------------------
Officers 3
Enlisted/Non-rated 2
Gunners 7
Bay Personnel 180
As always thoughts and comments are most welcome.
