“The universe is not required to be in perfect harmony with human ambition.” – Carl Sagan
The stars are vast and wars are long. Carries and Battleships require massive amounts of time and resources to build. The need for large cheap mass produced warships were needed, to bolster fleets and expand the Union’s sphere of influence. The “Pikeman” class system Cutter was designed for that purpose in mind.
Hull:
The hull is a reinforced version of the “Nomad” class merchant vessel. It was chosen due to its efficient balance of space & size. Also, the design has been around for a number of decades and has proven itself to be one of the most reliable hulls ever launched.
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=353591
Engines:
1 Kruger & Hogan M-717 Hyperspace Engine
2 Dolmer Sublight Engines
Power plant:
One of the most expensive parts to a ship is its power core. Due, to most core’s having to be uniquely designed for new hulls. Since a commercial hull was chosen, a commercial power plant was used. The Mark 23 “Phoenix” Fusion reactor was chosen for it’s high power output, and it’s design compatibly with lvl 4 commercial hulls.
Crew: 10
1 Commander
1 Weapons Officer
2 Pilots
6 Marines (2 Assault Team’s)
Armor:
The cost & time to manufacture thick multi-fused heavy armor plating was too slow & costly. To minimize the cost & still provided more than adequate protection. The “Pikeman” uses a spaced armor outer plate with a moderately armored inner hull. The outer plate primary function is to diffuse (by direction & intensity) both kinetic and energy weapons fire to minimize damage to the inner hull.
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=353590
Shields:
Military Grade Muti-Phase Shield
Armament:
Armed with an array of weapon systems, the “Pikeman” is capable of engaging a squad of fighters to engaging most but the largest of SHIP’s. One of the smallest spacecraft to carry a heavy weapons system, the 407mm Railgun Cannon is capable of dealing significant damage to most SHIP’s.
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=353597
1 407mm Railgun Cannon
2 2x165mm Railgun Turrets
8 2x25MW (Megawatt) Ion Cannon Batteries
3 Phalanx XVII Anti Missile System
3 4x “Sparrow” AFM (Anti Fighter Missile) Turrets
2 2x “Lancer” ASM (Anti Ship Missile) Racks
2 10 Kiloton Atomic Torpedoes (Dry launch from Railgun Cannon)
Compliment:
The P-23 “Hog” Battle Pod was chosen for it’s versatility, as a transport & gunship. With it’s similar armored plating, the “Hog” can take enough punishment to get it’s package/boarding party to where ever it needs to go.
http://www.brickshelf.com/cgi-bin/gallery.cgi?f=353596
Crew: 3-4
1 Pilot
2 Passengers (Seated) or 3 Man Assault Team (Standing)
Armament:
2 25MW (Megawatt) Ion Cannons
2 MRM (Multi Role Missile)
With it’s simple design, and standardized parts, these ships can be built within 4-6 months. Thus, making it possible to build a sizable fleet in a fairly short amount of time. And designed to be less than 100S(the “Pikeman” is 96S long) and classified as a Cutter, this ASHIP(Almost SHIP) is not restricted to the Galactic Convention of weapon to size ratio and the class maximum build limitations. One of these ships is powerful enough to take on most SHIP’s, but in large enough numbers, nothing much in this universe would be able to hold them back.