Britannic League Battleships (White Sector)

[White Nun]

This is the 'Pegasus' which is a member of a class of space ironclad built as a replacement for the much older 'Vulcan' class of ironclads. ('Vulcan' is behind 'Pegasus' in this photo) Armament is similar being with both ships having two turret mounted heavy particle cannons.
As built 'Pegasus' had a higher turn of speed than the 'Vulcan' class, but since rebuilding it is now 'Vulcan' that holds the victor's crown. As the first ironclad to be rebuilt 'Vulcan' was rebuilt with three OT boosters being plumbed into her four original aetheric ion engines, but after the first highly successful, but alarming steaming and speed trials it was decided it might be wise to limit all future ironclad rebuilds to just two OT boosters.

(And yes I know Pegasus is missing her engines and turret tops, but they are hopefully arriving soon on my next Bricklink order)

Vulcan.



Pegasus.

[Warhead]

I just knew it was a good idea to appoint you Admiral of the White. Great looking craft, very steampunk Victorian in every way.

[White Nun]

Thanks Warhead I think I'll build a second ironclad like Pegasus and then look at building some smaller escort vessels. Vulcan will remain the sole surviving member of her class as she's plainly (at least to my eye anyway) a much older ship than the rest of the White Sector fleet. A venerable old ironclad used as a prototype and test bed for engine experiments, but with the money spent on her too valuable to either mothball or scrap.

[subyrally]

that is definitely cool. i am loving your victorian steam punk space theme going on here. very well done!

[BFenix]

Steampunk dreadnoughts, IN SPACE! Good stuff Nun, are you planning on making a microspace battle?

[enders_shadow]

Great job, these ships are looking quite nice. The Pegasus is a lot more sleek and flowing than the Vulcan, but both are very nice. Can't wait until you start building the mechs!

[White Nun]

Well the Ironclads certainly aren't difficult to build and the more modern (relatively speaking) 'Pegasus' class is more straightforward to build than 'Vulcan'. It would be really nice to see one or two Britannic Ironclads appearing in fleets on the forum. Now I just need to teach myself to construct the spaceships from the other factions' fleets.

I'm going to standardise on that white tailfin for all my White Sector Ironclads and Dreadnoughts as a way of identifying their sector origins. This morning I placed an order for 6 more white tailfins so I must be feeling inspired

I'm presently figuring out a design for a much bigger three funnel (not that they are actually funnels since they are spaceships) three turret Ironclad that will indeed be a 'Dreadnought'. This will be the mighty 'Leviathan' class and the pride of the White Sector fleet.

The particle cannon is the great grand daddy of the railgun and is based upon modified Tesla coil technology. Essentially a sphere of almost any compressed solid material, -though usually it's lead, - is electrically excited until it becomes a molten ball of barely contained energy which is then fired at high velocities at a usually distant target. Dismissed by modern day naval warfare experts as being slow in its rate of fire as well as being possibly dangerous to any vessel on which it is mounted, the particle cannon's capacity to hit any target like a major landslide lies behind the White Sector's decision to retain this older technology.
Britannic White Sector tactics usually involve standing quite a long way off and firing monstrous broadsides at the foe. The particle cannon is as you would imagine very well suited for these tactics.

I love this picture by the way.......


Still thinking things out with mechs. Some of the Bionicle based designs I've put together are Ok, but it would be nice to be able to move away from using Bionicle parts and do something original.

And yes space battles are something that's on my mind, but I'm not sure where to play them just at the moment.

[Silent-sigfig]

I love these. Now me and Silent need to starting massing Britannic dreanoughts and we can have a united fleet.

Agreed. But I plan on making a fighter first.

Oh and btw

[Zupponn]

Awesome. Reminds me of a cross between the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia.

I was wondering, do the turrets move on their own on a swivel, or do you manually take them off and put them back on?

[White Nun]

No they don't swivel at the moment as I haven't found a neat and tidy way of doing this. The easiest way to setup for firing a broadside is to actually just shift the gun barrel around to the next pinhole in the turret rather than lift off the whole turret.

I did have the Civil War Ironclads in mind when I worked out the design for these ships as they are just too classic to ignore.

[White Nun]

The French Colonial Gunboat 'Lyon' which is usually stationed in orbit above Dinoreich.
The French Colonies are nominal allies of the Britannic League and for this reason the presence of 'Lyon' is tolerated in the White Sector.

Alongside 'Vulcan' to give an indication of size.






Lyon is a very typical French Colonies gunboat fitted with twin French versions of the classic aetheric ionizing engine (which they claim is much better than the Britannic Armstrong & Whiting patent etheric ionization engine, but they would say that) and a large and powerful turret mounted ion discharge cannon. All in all a tidy little gunboat.
Already the Admiral of the White Fleet is sending messages to the shipyards at New Glasgow demanding to know why she can't have similar vessels for the White Sector.

[Warhead]

Due to the recent defeat of two of our supposed top the line Britannian Battlecruisers at the hands of those rough sorts the Assyrian Star Empire all naval building in the Core systems have been commandeered to begin production on a new line of Britannian ships which you are not as yet cleared to know of. My dear lady, as you no doubt understand this will take time and we must all manage with what we have at our immediate disposal while these new ships are built. We can not even spare a small amount of these now obsolete Battlecruisers for your sector as her majesty feels that the Core must be protected if hostilities with the Assyrians begin in earnest. The colonies will have to fight on as best they can I'm afraid. I'm sure you understand old bean.

Below is a data file of the Assyrian Incident. (I'll remove it once I manage to sort it up on the Wiki. I just included it here for your Info)

CLASSIFIED: ADMIRALTY EYES ONLY - "THE ASSYRIAN INCIDENT"

Update...

The Britannian League Navy - Spearhead Class Battlecruisers: The HMS Artemis and her sister ship the HMS Boadicea.

Armaments:

Twin Centreline Main Lance Batteries. (Under the Bow)
Twin Centreline Grand Canon Batteries. (Under the Bow)
Twin Centreline Torpedo Batteries. (Above the Bow)
Twin Turreted Canon Batteries. (Port and Starboard Amidships)
Twin Turret Grand Canon Battery. (Central Amidships)
Ten Turreted Flak Canon Batteries. (Artemis being an older commissioned ship has only 8.)

Six Valkyre 2nd Generation Fighters. (That's what the grey claws with the blue plasma vapour contrail are btw).

+++++THE ASSYRIAN EMPIRE-PART I+++++
some of the following isn't mine, some of it is and yes I am aware of any inconsistencies and irregularities, and that much of it is crap without photoshop editing, too bad, I do what I can. As for taking any liberties with names, story etc, I simply had to. In war all is not as you might like it to be.



High above the Britannian planet of Praetoria...



An Assyrian Venus Class Heavy Destroyer serenely idles in a stationary orbit.



Closely escorted by two Spearhead Class Battlecruisers: The HMS Artemis and her sister ship the HMS Boadicea. The serenity is illusory as a heated discussion continues across the gulf of space.


2nd Leutenant Commander Ivana commanding the ANS Venus.

...I say again, we have people on the surface in need of assistance. I have a priority request from my Captain for an immediate planetary bombardment...

Flag Admiral, Lady Elizabeth Halifax Northbrook of her Majesties Britannian League Navy, commanding HMS Boadicea and her Majesties forces Praetoria.

You WILL power down your weapons Commander or I shall consider this an act of war. We also have people down there and I am not prepared to give up on them just yet.

Commander! We have an emergency fighter launch from the Boadicea, six Valkyre Fighters, tactical says they're setting up for an anti-shipping run.

Set all point defence for anti-fighter defence! Navigation! Plot me a course past the Artimis... Main weapon! I want a firing resolution on that ship, yesterday!

Aye, aye Commander!..

Tactical! I have two more ships launching from the Artimis, could be heavy bombers or assault shuttles.

Very well, Main Weapon, FIRE!!!

To be continued...

THE UNDEAD DEADLY SPACEMEN OF THE AZURE GUARD



UDSM Commander, having once been a DSM before undeath, turns his hand to a feat of Lego Engineering...



...and rolls two crits, one after the other. Blastoff in 'T' minus... 5, 4...



3, 2, 1!..



*VWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!!!*

We have blastoff!!!



*RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!*

...



*RUMBLE! RUMBLE! RUMBLE!*

..? Hey? Where's the controls for the attitude thrusters?..



FFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu...



...FFFFUUUUUUUUUUUuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu...



CK!!!... Oh!



Wow!.. Hey, look at that.



Ooo!



Aah!



Eee!



Wuh-Oh!.. Not a stable orbit then...



...ffffuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuUUUUUUUUUU...



fffffffuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!



Ooo, attitude thrusters controls! Yay!



Detach Thruster! *BOOM!*



Ta-da! Perfect landing!

MEANWHILE IN ORBIT ANOTHER BATTLE RAGES

+ + + + + + + ASSYRIAN STAR EMPIRE + + + + + + +

For those of you who may not have noticed the space action in the background while the UDSM Commander achieved escape velocity in his make shift rocket chair then here is some info. The situation between the Britannian Navy and Assyrian Demi-Destroyer went to hell. Despite repeated attempts to hail the Britannian ships and have them stand down the two squadrons of Britannian Strike Fighter kept closing to attack range. Making a judgement call the Assyrian Commander captaining the Venus engaged with point defence and blasted both squads from the void. Diplomacy having failed and the Britannian Ships targeting and shields starting to engage the Assyrians outclassed spent no time coming to a decision... Politics be damned, people were dying down there! The fighters launched by the Agamemnon are swatted aside with a torrent of point defence laser fire.
[Rules are nothing fancy, Britannian Crew and Tech are lower so most Skill rolls work on a 5+ to hit or succeed on a D6 roll. Assyrian Tech and Crew are Elite so have on most rolls a 4+ with one re-roll per turn of combat. However, The Britannian Ship has more numerous main weapons than the Venus, but the Venus is far more manoeuvrable AND has a super weapon. Britannian Fighters are 2nd Generation and so require to get within knife range to launch an attack. Each Ship gets to make a repair roll for shields and damage at he end of every three combat turns and each may perform a Captains Hero Feat once at any point within the three combat turns, for any skill roll].



The Britannian Battlecruiser Agamemnon takes the full brunt of the Super Laser which cuts through the larger ships shielding and hull effortlessly.



The Britannian Battlecruiser Boadicea bombards the Venus as she pores on the speed. The Assyrians divert as much power as they can to shields, specifically the rear.





Keel severed and blazing fires erupting throughout the ship the Agamemnon refuses to quit and blasts of energy span the void in fury. The Venus with her smaller main guns makes up for the fact with more advanced technology and an Elite Crew. Both ships rake each other relentlessly.





Three of the Boadicea's Valkyre fighters race forward and attract the Venus' defensive fire. Despite their tight twisting evasive manoeuvres two fighters die.



Meanwhile the Boadicea fires volley after volley of Canon Battery fire but the Venus's shields refuse to give.



But a lucky shot shorts out a shield at the wrong moment and the Venus loses a secondary engine assembly to the Boadicea's Grand Battery before she can pull behind the wrecked Agamemnon.



Another squadron of Valkyrie push the envelope powering to attack speed in pursuit.



The Boadicea continues to fire as she comes about to engage the Venus with her main weapons.



But the Assyrian Captain uses his Hero Feat to make an emergency manoeuvre to starboard and the Venus responds swinging her nose about without undue stress on the ships hull.



On the far side of the Agamemnon there is no let up from the fusillade of shots, thankfully the Agamemnon's Grand Battery was taken out previously so the weight of firepower rests solely with the Assyrian Ship.



The Assyrians use the advantage to strip the Agamemnon of her last Main Battery and another hit explodes on the main decks leaving the ship a powerless hulk.



The Valkyrie fighters catch up with the Venus and commence their attack runs. One is blasted apart by deadly point defence.



The Valkyrie slash in to knife edge ranges and release their payload.



Two attacks fail to penetrate the shields but the shields are overwhelmed and the last attack hits!



Another secondary engine is lost and the ships speed and manoeuvring decreases.



While the Britannian Boadicea struggles to clear a line of sight to the Venus the Captain takes the opportunity to use the lull in the fighting to fire a MK-IV "Fat-Man" Torpedo at the planet below. The Commander breathes a sigh of relief, mission accomplished!

Mjr Natalya attempts to concentrate on the Maytricks... if only that fucking Greater Daemon would stop roaring all the time!



She reaches out and connects to the Computer mind of the Fat-Man Torpedo's targeting systems as it plunges through the planets atmosphere. Left a bit!.. NO! Right a bit!..



YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA- *ULP!* !!! o_0 !!!



Critical Success! Right down the OLD ONES throat!









OH, SHIT!!!



KRAK-KOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!

Having contained much of the explosive power within his Daemonic Hide the sheer scale of energy seeks some form of release.



*WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!*





The Quarterback IS toast! So endeth the OLD ONE who is cast from his mortal Shell and banished back to the Hell Worlds were he must fester and lick his wounds until summoned once more.

It's POWER UP time! Having survived to the end and having killed many of the warm blooded infidel the last UDSM becomes a Minor Hero, with a couple of truly amazing Trans Neon Green Chainsaws. But what now, the games about to end, what's the point? What's left to do?



TELEPORTING! Yet another players faction disobeys a direct order to fight to the death and takes the cowards way out. Is this just a flimsy excuse to keep the UDSM alive as a team for future battles?.. Who would be so shamefully shallow? Who could bring themselves so low to do such an underhanded thing?..

Not me. This is at the request of another.



SURPRISE! Having monitored the battle raging in orbit the UDSM watched for the right opportunity to act. He materialises on board the Bridge of the Britannian Battlecruiser Boadicea.



Unprepared for such an event the slaughter is terrible. Panic ensues.

Answer: Lots!

THE UDSM HAVE LEFT THE GAME!

+ + + + + THE ASSYRIAN EMPIRE + + + + +

The cult and mouse game between the Destroyer Venus and the Britannian Heavy Cruiser Boadicea continues. Despite keeping the wreckage of the Britannian sister ship between them Boadicea manages to get line of sight with two of her Grand Turrets. Unfortunately the Venus' shields are up to the job.



The last three Valkyre 1st Generation strike fighters power in on another attack run, their ordinance has already been spent so this must be a suicide run!





The Point defence network desperately try to destroy the suicide charge.



The fighters face a blistering salvo of anti fighter firepower, even the main cannon try to engage even though the odds are slim.



Two Valkyre die before they can do any harm...



but the last fighter slashes into the side of the Venus and one of the Light Super Laser assemblies is obliterated and the hull on the main deck is breached.



As damage control parties frantically set to work on the breached deck the Venus and the Boadicea yet again continue to circle the wreckage and fail to bring their weapons to bare. Major Natalya is once more on the Bridge after her ordeal and after a short update takes command...



Comms: "I have something, unusual Captain. I'm receiving a distress from the Boadicea..?" +++

Major Natalya, looking over at her comms officer knows he is not one to make jokes at a time like this.
"Tactical! Are their shields still up?"

Tactical: "Aye, ma'am. Shields are up and weapons powered but I am detecting that their main targeting systems have shut down and are no longer focused on us."+++

...What by Assyria could this mean? "Comms, patch that distress call through."

+++BNS Boadicea: "By the Gods help us! AAAAAAAAAAAGH *KTSHHHHHHHH!*"+++

Comms: "We've lost transmission Captain."

Tactical: "Their Hyperdrive just went on line!"



Startled out of her puzzlement Major Natalya looked to her screens in time to see the Boadicea engage her Hyperdrive...





before disappearing leaving the Venus the uncontested badass in local space.



Tactical: "I have probable course projections Captain, shall I send them to Helm Control?"

"No, that wont be necessary Tactical our job here is still unfinished, have the TacCom project a full planetary bombardment on the Pretoria space port."

Tactical: "Aye, Captain. Targets set and awaiting your command."

"Commence firing."





Tactical: Cursory scans indicate a massive buildup of energy on the target location..? Only, it isn't us."

"What?!." Startled Natalya was forced to remain calm, it had been a most unusual day and it looked like it still wasn't over yet.

Tactical: "I don't know Captain, it's like nothing I've ever seen before, TacCom confirms our bombardment has had no effect."

"..?.. HELM! GET US CLEAR OF THE PLANET, FULL POWER!"

[White Nun]

Wow! That was an amazing space battle.

The Britannian League Navy - Spearhead Class Battlecruisers: The HMS Artemis and her sister ship the HMS Boadicea. What a pair of magnificent vessels! After seeing how the Venus cleaned them up though I think Vulcan and Pegasus wouldn't stand a chance.

Communiqué From: Grand Admiral of the White to High Lord Grand Admiral Cromwell: wrote:

The garrison on Dinoreich has been much distressed by the news of the defeat of the HMS Artemis and the HMS Boadicea. However it was my privilege to lead the men in prayers for the fallen at this morning's roll call and it is with much pride that I may now inform you that every Britiannian soldier stationed on Dinoreich is firmly resolved to do his duty.
My report that the rebuilt Ironclads 'Vulcan' and 'Pegasus' are proving highly successful in containing the villainy of the self-styled mercenary pirates of Tyrus will in no way compensate for the loss of two battlecruisers. Though it is my hope that should the White Sector fleet should be sore tested in a likewise fashion that our nerve shall not fail us and that the Assyrians will not leave the field of battle without having tasted Britannian cold steel.

[Zupponn]

Whoa. I totally didn't remember that the UDSM ended up with GTCs. I love those things!

[White Nun]

Not such a good night for aether warship building I started with the idea of building a solar sailer because I've always like the idea ever since I read, 'The Mote in God's Eye', - only I didn't have the right bits to make the solar sail.
So then I thought I'd make a a ship for the Tyrus pirates and I started to build it in red which was a bit dumb since I don't have that good a selection of red bricks with most being second hand or from clone sets, Mega Bloks and heavens knows where else.
The pirate vessel wasn't going well, so I thought I'd build it as an nasty evil alien slaver's ship instead. I'm not happy with the tail fin or some of the minor details, but I guess I can have another go at those tomorrow night.