Alternate Weapons of War thread...

Now only found in the hands of the Atomic Knights, the last decaying remnants of the old Star Empire, or within the clutches of the lucky adventurers and pirates, the famed atomic blasters are weapons of legend. Long replaced by simpler magnetic sluggers and cheaper laser guns, these mythical weapons were overpowered, with an energy equivalent to the blaze of suns. Capable of melting through Diamantum steel, to incapacitate everything short of a tank and vaporize unarmored targets, nothing handheld in the current era even come close to such output.
Thrusting an highly concentrated and contained radiation beam, the sheer energy delivered was enough to inflict radiation burn and curse the survivor with acute radiation poisoning. Invisible in the void of space, in any atmosphere, the energy cause the environing gas to turn into plasma, rendering the beam visible. Said plasma also shielded the rest of the beam from the exterior and allowed the lethality to be maintained almost without loss of energy.
Their secret came from the fusion battery of the old Atomic Technist Union, the ancient organization with the monopoly on nuclear technology of the old Empire, their feats were never equalized once their secrets were lost, the focalizer and condensator of the atomic blasters are the only thing capable of containing the absurd amount of energy allowed by the fusion batteries. Only a few craftsmen of the Atomic Knights are capable of merely maintaining the weapon, unable to replace any broken pieces.
With their numbers slowly declining as the broken blasters are lost to the world, the rarity of the atomic blasters value have only increased, but also meant that fewer and fewer organization, bar the Atomic Knights, seek such weapons, most peoples willing to put the price are rich nobles and warlords.
It is mind boggling that the Empire used to arm entire divisions with Atomic Rifles and even more that the fusion battery still working today were made to be replaced after only a decade of use. But the true testament to the Empire wealth and prowess were the modest Atomic Pistols, not only did they armed officers, but they were sold to civilians who could afford it and were produced and sold in such high numbers then even a thousand years after the Empire fall, the vast majority of the atomic blasters found in the galaxy are these same pistols.

(OOC: Just a fun project of drawing retro pulp sci-fi guns)
Just a comment, but 100 Petawatts for 1 second is literally about 24 Megatons of TNT, and would require the fusion of multiple tons of material to generate. Unless your beam duration is well under a microsecond, you are talking about doing nuclear levels of damage with each shot
 
Just a comment, but 100 Petawatts for 1 second is literally about 24 Megatons of TNT, and would require the fusion of multiple tons of material to generate. Unless your beam duration is well under a microsecond, you are talking about doing nuclear levels of damage with each shot
COOL!
 
When you say not really alternate, what do you mean? As far as I'm aware Simonov commenced development of their rifle for the gas operated rifle requirement in 1931, and that would eventually result in the Simonov Automatic Rifle model 1936 being accepted for service, beating out a design from the Tokarev bureau. This looks like an internal magazine version of that?
 
Just a comment, but 100 Petawatts for 1 second is literally about 24 Megatons of TNT, and would require the fusion of multiple tons of material to generate. Unless your beam duration is well under a microsecond, you are talking about doing nuclear levels of damage with each shot
The beam is near instantaneous, under 0.04 microsecond.
Most of the peoples only see the beam when in atmosphere due to the residual heat and gas turning into plasma. The energy dissipation rate, which determine how long the shot is visible, depend on the atmosphere density and gaseous composition.
(Thanks for the math ! Kinda underestimated a Petawatt power :coldsweat: )
 
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View attachment 483587
Here is my first (poor) attempt to draw a vehicle in an electronic medium. As in I first drew this ship physically. I kind of tried to make it scaled here but don't think it really worked. It is supposed to be a soft sci-fi spaceship.
I tried to use the colours to show what is closer or farther from the viewer (darker means farther away).
As for technical details this is the Pawn-class Frigate which is circa 100 meters long and has a crew of around 50 people with 10 Marines also on-board. Its main armament are 10 torpedo tubes (5 seen), the ship carries 120 torpedoes. Another main weapon is the 10m long 50cm in diameter triple coilgun turret (which is technically a cruiser armament). There are also 10 dorsal and 8 ventral point defence laser turrets (only half seen). Oh and also its supposed to have wings (thats what that lighter coloured thing in the middle is supposed to be). P-247 happens to be the name of this particular ship.

View attachment 483747
View attachment 483748
Side and Top views of a Knight-Class Destroyer, from the same fleet as the Pawn-class Frigate. It is 250m long and crewed by 200 people, has 40 Marines with 2 AFVs (either Dingo APC or Coyote IFV). Its main weapon is a 100m long and 1m in diameter spinal railgun. There are 9 5m long 30cm in diameter double coilgun turrets. there are 10 laser point defense turrets and 6 torpedo tubes. 60 torpedoes are stored on-board. There are 8 orbital drop-pods (carry 5 marines in power armour) and 2 vehicle drop-pods (each able to carry one AFV, with the APC comfortably carrying 20 men or 10 marines in armour). A hangar carrying a squadron of strike-craft has been removed from the original drawing. Lancelot is the name of this particular ship. Also the Pawn had the number of torpedo tubes raised from 6 to 10 when compared to the original drawing.

Edit: just realised that I drew drop-pods than there was supposed to be. Please imagine seeing one less drop-pod in the image.
New Edit: actually don't do that, just got to change the writing. And just changed it.

View attachment 484019
The Bishop-class Cruiser, whose weapons, drop-pods and point defences were heavily increased from the first version (physical drawing) while torpedoes were removed. It is ~500m long with ~500 crew-members. Also carrying 100 Marines and 4 armoured vehicles (according to general regulations, one Wolf Tank and 3 Dingo APCs or Coyote IFVs). 12 drop-pods and 4 vehicle drop-pods. Its main weapon is a 200m long and 2m in diameter spinal railgun. Has 6 triple coilgun turrets on center-line and 4 of the same turrets on the sides of the superstructure. The Coilgun turrets are the same as the one in the Pawn-class Frigates (10m long and 50cm in diameter barrels). 15 center-line laser point-defense turrets and 18 laser point-defense turrets divided equally on the sides of the superstructure. A Hangar holding 3 squadron strike-craft is also included. I have no design for Battleship or Carrier yet, despite having plans to create them.

A continuation to these posts.
View attachment 522236
A Rook-class Battleship. (I realized that I was making the hull lines too thick too late so it stayed like that.) Its ~1000 meters long with two 400m long 4m diameter spinal railguns, no torpedoes, ~700 crew, 300 marines, 40 laser point-defense turrets (might add a few more on the "wings"), 26 double gun coilgun turrets (20m long and 1m diameter barrels). 9 of those turrets are on each of the "wings", while 8 of them are centerline. Not counting the bridge-superstructure the ship has a cross-like shape when viewed from the front. Btw I am unsure of what to use the free space in the ventral stern. I am divided over 2 more turrets, a strike-craft hangar or drop-pods.

In addition the naming scheme is as follow:
Due to all these classes being designed and built to be used together and to standardize the navy they all share the theme of being named after chess pieces.
Frigates are the Pawn class and get a designation of P followed by three numbers (therefore the 500th Pawn built would be P-500). There was a proposal to name them after fallen servicemen in the past but it was rejected due to the negative connotations of the word Pawn.
Destroyers are the Knight class and are named after great famed warriors (legendary or historical). The namesakes need not be knights as samurai, Ancient Greek heroes, heroic soldiers from more modern wars, etc are all used. (maybe Generals too)
Cruisers are Bishop class and are named after historical men and woman of faith. This includes bishops, cardinals, popes, Saints, Orthodox patriarchs, Biblical Jewish prophets, Muslim Caliphs, Imams, Buddhist Monks, etc.
Battleships are Rook class and are named after castles, palaces and fortifications.
Carriers are Queen class and named after historical Queens and Empresses or other politically important women.
Not sure about the King piece. Either Emperors, Kings and other men of political importance can be added into carrier or used for star-bases/orbital defenses. Or maybe create a new Rook class heavy cruiser (designating Bishop as a light cruiser) while making the Queen and King as Carrier and Battleship classes (not completely sure if respectively or vice versa). If anybody has a good idea for it feel free.

A continuation to these.

Firstly:
Rook-class Battleship (side).png

Some additions to the Rook class Battleship. With 28 new laser turrets on the "wings" (bringing the total up to 68), 18 drop pods and 6 vehicle drop pods. The vehicle drop pods generally holds 3 tanks 3 IFV/APCs, 2 tanks-4 IFV/APCs or 6 IFV/APCs.

Secondly:
Queen-class Battlecruiser (side).png

The Queen-class Battlecruiser. While called a battlecruiser, the class is designed with multi -purpose operations in might rather than a role analogous to maritime battlecruisers. The class shares many things with the Rook and can be considered a variant of the Rook.
The class is, like the Rook, ~1000m longs armed with two 400m long 4m diameter spinal railguns. It also shares the same double gun coilgun turrets (20m long and 1m diameter barrels) but lacking the 18 "wing" and 2 aft ventral turrets (remaining with only 6 turrets). It also has 8 torpedo tubes, carrying 80 torpedoes. Also has a large hangar, stretching from one "wing" to the other. This allows it to carry more than a dozen squadrons of strike-craft. The Queen is also designed with 30 drop pods and 10 vehicle drop pods. Vehicle drop pods generally holding 2 tanks 8 IFV/APCs, 4 tanks 6 IFV/APCs or 10 IFV/APCs. Queen shares the 68 laser point-defense turrets of the Rook but has 32 extra on the "wings" where the Rook has coilgun turrers (a total of 100 laser turrets). Queen has a similar crew size to the Rook (including marine compliment).


I'll probably do a King-class Fleet carrier sometime later.
 
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The independent Republic of Quebec had always a difficult time to assert its dominance over the St-Lawrence gulf. For a long time, the Marine Républicaine Québécoise (Quebec Republican Navy) often had to make due with obsolete and/or small ships that were often not enough to face its rival. The Royal Navy and its Newfoundland ally often deployed their military ships in the gulf while Newfie and British fishermen from the Maritime illegally depleted the fish reserves of the gulf. While early in its independence, their American ally supported Quebec, with time the real politik meant that their support chilled and they aligned with the British interests as long as they did not threatened the small french republic.
To assert dominance, the Quebec Republic invested in a new class of ship: the Voltigeur Class gunboat.
With a 6-inch gun at the bow, quadruple-mount 2 pounder at the rear and single-mount 2 pounder on top, it was so heavily armed that its speed and range was dramatically reduced but since it would only operate within coastal waters it was considered an acceptable trade-off. Barely 2 months after the first three were launched, a Newfie smuggler ring was busted, with two ships disabled, two impounded and one destroyed. As the Captain said: "They were maybe faster then my ship but not my shells", as after three visual and vocal demands and a warning shot, the boats had tried to escape. Even if it had not stopped to rescue and arrest the ships that were damaged or surrendered, he was confident that he would have not left one escape. While the Quebec press was ecstatic, the English and Newfie press were not so happy and while the fair trial did showed that they were indeed guilty and were given a light sentence before being extradited, this incident brought reactions.
Over the course of the years, the Royal Navy increased its presence on this side of the Atlantic with frigates and even a light cruiser. While they didn't expected war, the MRQ still wanted to answer to avoid looking weak. Not wanting to buy bigger ships, it was decided to simply modify the Voltigeur Class with torpedo in order to create a credible threat to the Royal Navy bigger ships. The torpedo boat version of the Voltigeur was considerably cheaper, as it replaced the 6 inch gun with a triple-torpedo mount and a small 4 inch gun at the bow, the quadruple-mount 2 pounder was removed and replaced by a single 2 pounder. This made the torpedo boat version much more lighter and faster then its gunboat counterpart, its also made it cheaper.
Despite the arrival of the first batch of torpedo Voltigeur, the situation would began to warm up slightly. Informal talks through American networks eventually led to the Prince-Edward negotiations and eventually accord in 1925. This meant the depart of the Royal Navy heavier elements, joint patrols and law enforcement and clear zones of authority in the gulf. While many nationalists were disgruntled at the "abandonment of Quebec sovereignty" regarding the gulf of St-Lawrence, the majority of the population were satisfied of the deal.
This meant that the next batch of gunboat Voltigeur were cancelled, with only the more ready elements finished, the only ship of the class built would be the torpedo version. Ironically, due to its higher speed and cheaper cost, it would overtake the gunboat duty of policing the gulf along the British and Newfie navies.

Thanks to its cheap cost of maintenance, its small frame and usefulness, the Voltigeur class would be continuously upgraded and improved until 1947 when it was found that its obsolete design had reached the limit of its capacity. While their role would be divided between fast torpedo boat and frigates, a few Voltigeur of each class would be kept either as museum or training ship.
 
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With the end of the Voltigeur class, the Republic of Québec had learned its lessons from its first home-built ship. First was to design its ship with a clear goal in mind and second, to design a ship that could work in tandem with the US Navy. With the close US-UK relations, many Quebecois politicians realized that the US-Québec friendship was maybe not a given and some work would be needed to maintain and deepen it. The best way to protect Québec suzerainty in the St-Lawrence gulf was determined as making the gulf a key element of the US strategy.
In 1944, Québec would achieve this political masterstroke by inserting itself in the North American Naval Act of 1944, a new US strategy to protect "the coast and territorial integrity of the USA and its continental allies". It signed in parallel the St-Lawrence Joint Defence Initiative where the defense of this key artery of the continent would be the duty of Québec and the US, with the UK and Newfoundland being only observatory due to their own web of alliances. One of the key role of Québec in this new world was the anti-submarine warfare, both to play on each co-belligerent strength and to avoid menacing the UK and Newfoundland possessions.

This led to the first design of the future Tadoussac Frigate, at first it was supposed to only be armed of a single 47 gun and the newly designed hedgehog ASW weapon. But the Québecois sailors, used to the depth charges, were not impressed by the hedgehog. It is true that the first version was finicky and dangerous to load, but part of it was also due to the need to train with a different system: having to "pin-point" the enemy instead of just dumping large barrels of TNT in a general vicinity. So the naval engineers also added a depth charge ramp behind the ship in addition of the hedgehogs as a compromise. Eventually, two 50. cal and a 30-06 browning were added for close protection.

Launching in 1947, the Tadoussac, the first vessel of the Class, was the biggest ship indigenous of Québec and thus, both its admiral ship and training platform. It performed admirably well but in 1951, the ship would receive two Mark 43 ASW torpedo launchers, courtesy of the Americans, to increase its lethality. Four more ships would join the MRQ (Marine Républicaine Québécoise/Quebec Republican Navy): Stadacona, Hochelaga, Saguenay and Shawinigan. These would form the core of the MRQ as well as the official ASW support for the joint defense of the St-Lawrence co-jointly with the USN.
Despite being designed as ASW Frigate from the start, they would also serve as long-range patrol boats and support small torpedo-boat flotilla with the task of patrolling Québec's shores, supporting the also newly created Garde-côte (Coast-guard) police force.

In 1955, the American pushed for Québec to improve their frigate with newer ASW weapons, mainly to buy their Alpha Weapon, a heavy mortar but, in a twist of faith, the Québecois sailors had grew to like the hedgehog and its multiple tubes so the single mouth Alpha was seen as a step back. Eventually, after a few months of research, even briefly considering the British Limbo mortar, realpolitik dictated the MRQ needs and the Alpha was installed on the rotating platform.
In 1958 the new weapon system was integrated to the ship systems and two more Tadoussac class would be built (Rimouski and Gaspé) with the new weapon and through the years, the five earlier ships would be upgraded too. This would mark the end of the designs changes for nearly 20 years and the seven ships would stay as Québec ship-of-the-line until the electronics advance in both radar and communication seemed to doom the Tadoussac Class.

But a nation with a limited budget has the choice to either dither or innovate and amidst a budget heavy with social programs, Québec decided to keep the Tadoussac class way further then its expected shelve life. The electronics and communication improvement program of the Tadoussac would take years but eventually in 1977, the class namesake would be fully upgraded with a new mast to support the new antennas. A main problem would be however spotted: the exhaust was fouling the delicate dishes and causing issues. This would lead to both the installation of filters and new, cleaner, diesel engines, forcing further delays in upgrades. It would be at the beginning of 1980's that all the ships were upgraded but the hulls were showing their age and in 1987, the Stadacona would be declared un-seaworthy during a dry dock examination due to water infiltration. Further check-up on the other ship of the class would reveal that the Stadacona, Saguenay, Shawinigan and Hochelaga were also at their structural limit. It was thus decided to work on a new, advanced, design for the next Québec ASW Frigate. Two years later, the Tadoussac, Rimouski and Gaspé were decommissioned, announcing the end of a class of ships that saw 40 years of loyal service.
 
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M38 Grenade Launcher
Alt     Tromboncino Model 28 Grenade Launcher.png

Italian grenade launcher first issued to troops in 1938, the M38 was a simpler, lighter and a reasonably more practical weapon than the M28 (it's predecessor) and was issued to elite Paratroopers of the "Nembo" and "Folgore" divisions.

The M29 inspired many copycats including the German Sturmpistole 41 and the US M79.
 
Sturmpistole-41
Sturmpistole-41+++.png

A semi copy of the Italian M38 grenade launcher, the German ATP-41 was first issued to troops in mid 1942 Russian records show numerous reports about the weapon from Soviet troops who fought at Stalingrad where the STP-41 was used to great effect.
Allied troops in the Western theater did not encounter the STP-41 until the Battle of Monte Casino where German paratroopers also put the weapon to deadly use.
 
In December of 1941, only 2 months after the HMCS Escorter departing on its first mission, the United States was struck by surprise by the Japanese Empire at Pearl Harbor, bringing them in the Second World War. With the arrival of the American industrial might and Navy on the side of the British Empire, the Canadian government expected a breath of fresh air regarding the Atlantic War. But with the American focus on the Pacific front, it would take time until their naval build-up would be able to divert ships and take over the Atlantic front from the Canadians.
But one thing that was available in growing numbers were the "Liberty Ships", British cargo ships modified to be mass-produced by the American shipyards. While the majority were planned for their original task, the Canadian government asked and received four Liberty ships to study the possibility of turning them into Converter-class Escort carriers. During much of 1942, the Halifax Shipyard of the Dominion and Steel Corporation would not only work on the conversion but also improve on the original design and increase the standardization of the second generation of Converter Escort Carrier. In February 1943, the first result of the Canadian new-found experience in carriers would be christened as the HMCS Guardian and go on sea trials as work accelerated on its sister-ship, the future HMCS Custodian. But aboard the HMCS Guardian, the old workhorse of the Canadian naval air-corp; the Sea-Hurricane and Swordfish had been replaced by newcomers: the TBF Tarpon Mk.I and F-4 Martlet Mk.V, the British variant of the American Grumman TBF Avenger and Grumman F4F Wildcat.
But as the training period was coming to a close, with the Canadian pilot used to their new ship and birds, the new HMCS Guardian was thrown into the brutal Atlantic Battle, as the Nazi U-boat fought tooth and nail to prevent the Allies to build-up forces in England and North-Africa to invade and put an end to their evil empire. With the HMCS Custodian following a few months later, both ships would protect troop transport vessels as well as armament, supplies and food cargo. These ships, coupled to the other Converter Escort Carrier, would prove to be the most vital assets of the ally convoy and despite the air escort not being as deadly to German submariner as believed, they were essential to force them to dive far from the convoy and cut contact with their wolf pack. Nobody could know for sure how many brave ally sailors and ships were saved by the floating air umbrella offered by the Canadian carriers but one thing that was sure was that a convoy protected by a carrier, usually suffered less then 5 % casualties compared to a corvette-only protection of around 25 %.
In 1944, the US Navy was fully capable of protecting all convoys with enough destroyers and the hunt for German u-boats had broke much of the dreaded wolf-packs. Despite the submarine threat still being present until the end of the war, it didn't justified the conversion of the two remaining Liberty ships into carriers so they were reverted back into cargo. The Canadian shipyards were then focused on making corvette and cargo ships to better support the war in Europe and keep the allies soldiers supplied.
But the Converter Escort Carrier would stay in operations until the end of the war, and a third generation was planned with better RADAR, communication array and sonar when the end of hostilities put an axe in the project. In fact, of the fiver Coverter carriers, only the Guardian and Custodian would stay in the RCN service as the three others, the Protector, Defender and Escorter, were all suffering from hull fatigue, due to the longevity of their previous civilian identity, the stress of the war conversion and heavy usage. The Guardian and Custodian would stay in service until 1957, when the HMCS Bonaventure carrier would enter RCN service, as a fully modernized, dedicated carrier, it was much more suited then the old Converters who were finally laid down.


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After the introduction of the Tadoussac Class Frigate, the Republic of Québec started to work on the replacement of the very useful torpedo-boat version of their old Voltigeur gunboat. One of the issue raised about the gunboat was its shallow draft that was problematic in the high sea of the Saint-Lawrence gulf where it operated, forcing them to sail near the coast. Its successor, the Rivière Class torpedo boat was thus designed to be able to sail in open sea but also received a Mark 14 quintuple torpedo tube to allow deadly volley, its complementary armament was limited to a 30 mm canon and a 50 cal browning.
One thing that would be installed was an important communication array as the Rivière Class was expected to both work in tandem with the Tadoussac Frigate but also alone or in small recon flotilla. Main patrol boat of the MRQ (Marine Républicaine Québécoise/Quebec Republican Navy), its cheap construction and operating cost allowed a first batch of 16 being fielded between 1950 and 1955. Pretty fast thanks to its powerful engine, it would often been deployed in search and rescue missions along the new Garde-côte (Coast-guard) police force.

Its versatility would led to another batch of 20 in the early 1960 to be laid out and distributed to the MRQ, allowing both a permanent attachment of torpedo boats to Tadoussac fleets and independent Rivière fleets operating simultaneously.
Exercises with the US fleet for the St-Lawrence Joint Defence Initiative would reveal that with the Tadoussac and Rivière, the republic of Québec possessed a very complete Interception Fleet, perfectly in tune with the US naval strategy.
But the inexorable march of time and technology would eventually, like the Tadoussac, doom the brave little torpedo boat and in 1988, its last representative would be removed from the MRQ.


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The birth of the Mi'kmaq submarine Class, also nicknamed the M-Class, found its birth with the 1960 St-Lawrence Joint Defence Initiative naval exercise. While the MRQ (Marine Républicaine Québécoise/Quebec Republican Navy) was confirmed to be a very good Interdiction Fleet, the Québecois naval officers were disappointed of the lack of "offensive" capacity of their fleet.
While constrained both by budget and the necessity to not "threaten" the Royal Navy and its Newfoundland Dominion, they found that their best assets would be a small submarine fleet. Going to the USA, they acquired the obsolete O-Class submarine design and not only adapted it to the Québec shipyard, but also modernized it. Succeeding in making a useful hybrid, the MRQ launched a first one in 1966 to train the first crews and fully test their design. After small modifications, the three next were built and delivered during the 1970's, armed with Mark 37 torpedo bought from the massive US stocks and a 3-inch gun.
The small squadron of 4 M-Class coastal submarines were appreciated by their crew and the higher ups but not really by Québec's neighbors. While the Frigate and Torpedo boat were not very a concern, these new submarine were interpreted as an offensive move by Newfoundland. The Royal Navy was not very concerned by the small coastal subs and their obsolete torpedo but the noises from their Dominion forced them to increase their fleet in Halifax with a small fleet of ASW Destroyers. With very angry memos coming from the USA, Québec accepted to abandon their plan of increasing their submarine fleet in exchange of keeping the four current ones. This was accepted and eventually the RN reduced their ASW force through the years until it was back to the pre-Mi'kmaq levels.

While Newfoundland pestered, they acquired old RN ASW Corvette, made some noise afterward and the rivalry eventually died down. Pretty liked by their crew, cheap to operate and overall effective in the Saint-Lawrence gulf meant that it stayed in service much longer then the other ships of its generation and only a fire breaking out in the Montagnais boat in 2005 revealed their run down state, finally forcing Québec to decommission the Class in 2006.
 
M38 Grenade Launcher
View attachment 696777

Italian grenade launcher first issued to troops in 1938, the M38 was a simpler, lighter and a reasonably more practical weapon than the M28 (it's predecessor) and was issued to elite Paratroopers of the "Nembo" and "Folgore" divisions.

The M29 inspired many copycats including the German Sturmpistole 41 and the US M79.
An improved pic of the M38, earlier pic has the bolt in the wrong place.
Ital model 38 cavalry carbine-Tromboncino-28 Grnd. Lnchr..jpg
 
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When the Francophonie designed the FEMAP-1, they quickly realized that the rifle would be more heavy and expensive then the equivalent of other countries. But politics and a few attention-grabbing military operation put the rifle into such a spotlight that quietly shelving it was impossible. Not only was the weapon presented as the peak of Francophonie technology, it was also a pork-barrel weapon, with parts built all across the union. That and the fact that the Fusiliers-Spatiaux had used the FEMAP-1 in successful and highly-publicized missions made its cancellation impossible. But the Francophonie did not had the finance to furnish the entire defense forces with it, only a few elite regiments were equipped with it, often those wearing assisted exo-squeleton.
Amidst a defense crisis, the government decided to secretly give another contract for a cheap, light and simple weapon, disguising it as a personal defense weapon for non-front line personnel. Taking off-the-shelves technologies, even putting five batteries together to avoid designing a new powerful battery, the Manufacture d'Armement de la Francophonie (Francophonie Armament Manufacture) presented the MAF-38. Cheap, it was however less powerful and had a slower rate of fire then other countries weapons, despite having a good accuracy. A coil assault rifle, using electro-magnetic coils to propel metallic flechette, it might have looked crooked, but was very reliable. Making a first batch to test amongst regular soldiers, it was revealed that after the initial disappointment of not being provided with the famed FEMAP-1, the soldiers quite liked the light, precise and reliable MAF-38.
While the battery was enough to fire 1000 rounds, it meant that the soldiers needed to carry extra battery packs if they believed that they were going to fire over 30 of the 35 rounds magazine. Secondary production lines were set up for the MAF-38 and its related parts such as magazine, battery and flechette, under the guise of producing it as a side-weapon. But after years, it was now obvious to every enlisted man and politicians that the MAF-38 was not there to be a side weapon for the FEMAP-1 but the opposite, with over 75 % of the Francophonie soldiers, guards and militia armed with the MAF-38.
 
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Posted this in my test thread and the graphics thread as well but this place is also fitting.

Had some sci-fi British Empire ideas, in something of an era of technological evolution and in a war against a technologically more advanced (well, at the beginning at least) power with some notes of a big climactic Jutland style battle.

Capital Ships of the Grand Fleet at the Battle of Dogger's Star (June 3921):
Rear Squadron:
-8 Reaper class BB: Reaper, Ramillies, Revenge, Redoubtable, Retribution, Resolution, Royal Oak, Royal Sovereign
-4 Reliant class BC: Reliant, Renown, Repulse, Resistance
Main Squadron:
-8 Illustrious class BB: Illustrious, Implacable, Indefatigable, Indomitable, Inflexible, Invincible, Iron Duke, Irresistible
-4 Leviathan class BB: Leviathan, Dreadnought, Temeraire, Bellerophon
-4 Monarch class BB: Monarch, Majestic, Albion, Ark Royal
-5 Panther class BC: Panther, Leopard, Lion, Tiger, Jaguar
-5 Admiral class BC: Hood, Nelson, Rodney, Anson, Howe
Van Squadron:
-6 Vanguard class BB: Vanguard, Valiant, Venerable, Vengeance, Vigilant, Warspite
-6 Victorious class BC: Victorious, Furious, Glorious, Courageous, Conqueror, Formidable


Classes:
Prince of Wales:
(Prince of Wales, Duke of York, Princess Royal, Queen Elizabeth)
Built 3910-3912
Last battleships without any particle beam armament.
All but the name ship lost earlier in the war, Prince of Wales was in the 11th Battle Squadron in the Home Fleet during Battle of Dogger's Star.
-Dimensions: 800m long (200m dedicated to the drive section), 100m high (fuselage), 80m wide.
-Speed: [15 knots] FTL, [21 knots] STL (in FTL speed in c and STL acceleration in g)
-Armament: 6x4 20"/50 railgun turrets (3 dorsal, 3 ventral, ABX layout), 2 chase masers, 2 chase grasers, 64 long range anti-ship missiles in VLS cells, 256 standard VLS cells (each capable of holding one standard anti-ship/anti-missile multirole missile or four point-defense counter-missiles), 4 point-defense missile launchers (each holding 9 point-defense counter-missiles), 8 point-defense laser turrets.
-Shields: 12 shield units
London:
(London, Jellicoe, Beatty, Cunningham)
Built 3912-3914
Last battleships with kinetic turrets.
Beatty lost earlier in the war, rest were in the 11th Battle Squadron in the Home Fleet during Battle of Dogger's Star.
-Dimensions: 800m long (200m dedicated to the drive section), 110m high (fuselage), 80m wide.
-Speed: [16 knots] FTL, [21 knots] STL (in FTL speed in c and STL acceleration in g)
-Armament: 6x4 20"/50 railgun turrets (3 dorsal, 3 ventral, ABX layout), 1 chase particle beam, 64 long range anti-ship missiles in VLS cells, 256 standard VLS cells (each capable of holding one standard anti-ship/anti-missile multirole missile or four point-defense counter-missiles), 4 point-defense missile launchers (each holding 9 point-defense counter-missiles), 12 point-defense laser turrets.
-Shields: 14 shield units
Panther:
Built 3912-3916
Ships formed the 1st Battlecruiser Squadron in the Battle of Dogger's Star, all but Tiger were lost.
-Dimensions: 800m long (230m dedicated to the drive section), 100m high (fuselage), 80m wide.
-Speed: [16 knots] FTL, [27 knots] STL (in FTL speed in c and STL acceleration in g)
-Armament: 8x2 particle beam turrets, 2 chase masers, 2 chase grasers, 60 long range anti-ship missiles in VLS cells, 240 standard VLS cells (each capable of holding one standard anti-ship/anti-missile multirole missile or four point-defense counter-missiles), 4 point-defense missile launchers (each holding 9 point-defense counter-missiles), 8 point-defense laser turrets.
-Shields: 8 shield units
Monarch:
Built 3913-3916
Ships formed the 1st Battle Squadron in the Battle of Dogger's Star, all but Monarch were lost.
-Dimensions: 900m long (225m dedicated to the drive section), 110m high (fuselage), 85m wide.
-Speed: [16 knots] FTL, [21 knots] STL (in FTL speed in c and STL acceleration in g)
-Armament: 8x3 particle beam turrets, 4 chase masers, 4 chase grasers, 80 long range anti-ship missiles in VLS cells, 256 standard VLS cells (each capable of holding one standard anti-ship/anti-missile multirole missile or four point-defense counter-missiles), 4 point-defense missile launchers (each holding 16 point-defense counter-missiles), 8 point-defense laser turrets.
-Shields: 15 shield units
Leviathan:
Built 3914-3916
Enlarged version of the Monarch class.
Ships formed the 2nd Battle Squadron in the Battle of Dogger's Star, all destroyed.
-Dimensions: 950m long (230m dedicated to the drive section), 150m high (fuselage), 90m wide.
-Speed: [16 knots] FTL, [21 knots] STL (in FTL speed in c and STL acceleration in g)
-Armament: 8x3 particle beam turrets, 4 chase masers, 4 chase grasers, 80 long range anti-ship missiles in VLS cells, 280 standard VLS cells (each capable of holding one standard anti-ship/anti-missile multirole missile or four point-defense counter-missiles), 8 point-defense missile launchers (each holding 16 point-defense counter-missiles), 8 point-defense laser turrets.
-Shields: 15 shield units
Reaper:
Built 3915-3918
Designed primarily for long range missile combat, fit well in the Rear Squadron.
Last battleships without lance weapons, last battleships with particle beam turrets.
Ships formed the 6th and 7th Battle Squadrons in the Battle of Dogger's Star, Revenge and Retribution survived the battle.
-Dimensions: 950m long (230m dedicated to the drive section), 175m high (fuselage), 95m wide.
-Speed: [18 knots] FTL, [21 knots] STL (in FTL speed in c and STL acceleration in g)
-Armament: 6x3 particle beam turrets, 4 chase masers, 4 chase grasers, 100 long range anti-ship missiles in VLS cells, 300 standard VLS cells (each capable of holding one standard anti-ship/anti-missile multirole missile or four point-defense counter-missiles), 8 point-defense missile launchers (each holding 16 point-defense counter-missiles), 16 point-defense laser turrets.
-Shields: 16 shield units
Reliant:
Built 3915-3917
Designed primarily for long range missile combat, fit well in the Rear Squadron.
Based on the Reaper class.
Last capital ships with particle beam turrets.
Ships formed the 5th Battlecruiser Squadron in the Battle of Dogger's Star, all but Repulse were lost.
-Dimensions: 950m long (250m dedicated to the drive section), 175m high (fuselage), 95m wide.
-Speed: [18 knots] FTL, [27 knots] STL (in FTL speed in c and STL acceleration in g)
-Armament: 6x3 particle beam turrets, 1 chase lance, 2 chase masers, 2 chase grasers, 80 long range anti-ship missiles in VLS cells, 300 standard VLS cells (each capable of holding one standard anti-ship/anti-missile multirole missile or four point-defense counter-missiles), 8 point-defense missile launchers (each holding 16 point-defense counter-missiles), 16 point-defense laser turrets.
-Shields: 10 shield units
Admiral:
Built 3916-3918
Ships formed the 2nd Battlecruiser Squadron in the Battle of Dogger's Star, Hood and Rodney survived the battle.
-Dimensions: 1000m long (250m dedicated to the drive section), 150m high (fuselage), 100m wide.
-Speed: [18 knots] FTL, [30 knots] STL (in FTL speed in c and STL acceleration in g)
-Armament: 8x2 lance turrets, 2 chase particle beams, 72 long range anti-ship missiles in VLS cells, 288 standard VLS cells (each capable of holding one standard anti-ship/anti-missile multirole missile or four point-defense counter-missiles), 6 broadside masers, 6 broadside grasers, 8 point-defense missile launchers (each holding 16 point-defense counter-missiles), 16 point-defense laser turrets.
-Shields: 15 shield units
Illustrious:
Built 3916-3918
Ships formed the 3rd and 4th Battle Squadrons in the Battle of Dogger's Star ("In"s in 4th, others in 3rd). Illustrious, Indomitable and Iron Duke survived the battle.
-Dimensions: 1000m long (250m dedicated to the drive section), 200m high (fuselage), 100m wide.
-Speed: [18 knots] FTL, [25 knots] STL (in FTL speed in c and STL acceleration in g)
-Armament: 8x3 lance turrets, 4 chase particle beams, 64 long range anti-ship missiles in VLS cells, 280 standard VLS cells (each capable of holding one standard anti-ship/anti-missile multirole missile or four point-defense counter-missiles), 8 broadside masers, 8 broadside grasers, 8 point-defense missile launchers (each holding 16 point-defense counter-missiles), 16 point-defense laser turrets.
-Shields: 18 shield units
Victorious:
Built 3917-3919
Designed specifically for Van Squadron service.
Partially based on the Admiral class.
Built around spinal coilgun.
Ships formed the 3rd and 4th Battlecruiser Squadrons in the Battle of Dogger's Star (Vic, Con, For in 3rd; Fur, Glo, Cou in 4th). Victorious, Glorious and Formidable survived the battle.
-Dimensions: 1000m long (300m dedicated to the drive section), 150m high (fuselage), 100m wide.
-Speed: [18 knots] FTL, [35 knots] STL (in FTL speed in c and STL acceleration in g)
-Armament: 1 spinal coilgun (600m long, 3m diameter), 6x2 lance turrets, 72 long range anti-ship missiles in VLS cells, 264 standard VLS cells (each capable of holding one standard anti-ship/anti-missile multirole missile or four point-defense counter-missiles), 6 broadside masers, 6 broadside grasers, 8 point-defense missile launchers (each holding 16 point-defense counter-missiles), 16 point-defense laser turrets.
-Shields: 15 shield units
Vanguard:
Built 3918-3920
Designed specifically for Van Squadron service.
Ships formed the 5th Battle Squadron in the Battle of Dogger's Star, Vanguard and Warspite survived the battle.
Based on the Victorious class.
Built around spinal coilguns.
-Dimensions: 1000m long (250m dedicated to the drive section), 200m high (fuselage), 150m wide.
-Speed: [18 knots] FTL, [30 knots] STL (in FTL speed in c and STL acceleration in g)
-Armament: 2 spinal coilguns (600m long, 3m diameter), 6x3 lance turrets, 72 long range anti-ship missiles in VLS cells, 264 standard VLS cells (each capable of holding one standard anti-ship/anti-missile multirole missile or four point-defense counter-missiles), 4 broadside particle beams, 4 broadside masers, 4 broadside grasers, 8 point-defense missile launchers (each holding 16 point-defense counter-missiles), 16 point-defense laser turrets.
-Shields: 20 shield units
St. George:
(St. George, St. Andrew, St. David, St. Patrick)
Built 3919-3921
Only recently commissioned at the time of the Battle of Dogger's Star.
Ships formed the 12th Battle Squadron in the Home Fleet.
-Dimensions: 1100m long (250m dedicated to the drive section), 200m high (fuselage), 110m wide.
-Speed: [18 knots] FTL, [30 knots] STL (in FTL speed in c and STL acceleration in g)
-Armament: 8x3 lance turrets, 2 chase lances, 72 long range anti-ship missiles in VLS cells, 280 standard VLS cells (each capable of holding one standard anti-ship/anti-missile multirole missile or four point-defense counter-missiles), 4 broadside particle beams, 8 broadside masers, 8 broadside grasers, 8 point-defense missile launchers (each holding 16 point-defense counter-missiles), 16 point-defense laser turrets.
-Shields: 20 shield units
Queen:
(Queen, Black Prince, Warrior, Defiant)
Built 3919-3922
Only the name ship commissioned at the time of the Battle of Dogger's Star.
Ships to form the 13th Battle Squadron in the Home Fleet.
-Dimensions: 1100m long (250m dedicated to the drive section), 225m high (fuselage), 175m wide.
-Speed: [18 knots] FTL, [30 knots] STL (in FTL speed in c and STL acceleration in g)
-Armament: 8x3 lance turrets, 3 chase lances, 80 long range anti-ship missiles in VLS cells, 280 standard VLS cells (each capable of holding one standard anti-ship/anti-missile multirole missile or four point-defense counter-missiles), 8 broadside particle beams, 8 point-defense missile launchers (each holding 16 point-defense counter-missiles), 16 point-defense laser turrets.
-Shields: 22 shield units


Notes:
The speeds given in [] is not actual, of course. As noted, the STL speed is probably gonna be "max (sustainable) acceleration in Gs" and FTL will be "times Lightspeed". The numbers given is to mostly give an idea of proportion of speed between various classes, with actual proper numbers to be given when I figure out numbers that might scientifically make some sense (same for weapon power and stuff).

Masers have proven more effective against hulls than lasers or grasers, while grasers have proven to be more effective against shields than lasers or masers.
It is because of this that masers and grasers are used together.
(Maser is microwave laser and graser is gamma ray laser, fyi)

2 grasers and 2 masers can inflict 1 shield unit of damage in one shot.
The 20"/50 railgun can inflict 2 shield units of damage in one shot.
A particle beam can inflict 3 shield units of damage in one shot.
A standard anti-ship missile can inflict 4 shield units of damage.
A lance can inflict 5 shield units of damage in one shot.
A long range anti-ship missile can inflict 8 shield units of damage.
A spinal coilgun (600m long, 3m calibre) can inflict 10 shield units of damage.

A long range anti-ship missile launcher has same surface area as two standard missile launchers (but a third deeper)
Maser and Graser mounts cover similar volume.
Particle Beam mounts are 1.5 times deeper and has twice the surface area. (And require 4 times the energy of a single maser/graser)
Lance mounts are the same size as particle beam mounts but deeper still. (2 times that of masers/grasers) (and requires 6 times the energy of a single maser/graser)


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A basic generic concept for these classes. Of course the number of turrets or missile tubes or chasers (and broadsides, in the earlier classes they have windows and hangars but are replaced with weaponary in later classes (Reaper and Reliant classes have even more missile tubes there)) would be different depending on the class, as would the general scaling of stuff (it would probably be longer front of the the fore turrets). The tower at top is not an actual bridge. Or well, it is the navigation/peacetime cruising bridge, and various observation and mess decks. The actual bridge and CIC is more towards the middle inside the main fuselage. The middle grey is armour, layered upon the hull proper in four pieces (actually thinking on it again might simply be two pieces).
 
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Once it began to be clear that the MAF-38 was going to be the main weapon of the Francophonie, its main flaws of a slow rate of fire and lack of power were now no longer small hick ups but severe limitations. Needing to modify the gun, the government however refused to finance a full new rifle, especially as the assembly lines for the MAF-38 were already set up and rolling. Needing to work with a fixed design, the engineers at Manufacture d'Armement de la Francophonie (Francophonie Armament Manufacture) achieved what many consider a miracle after many sleepless nights. By adding seven capacitors and a electronic system, the new MAF-40 allowed to chose between a powerful single shot or a fully automatic high rate of fire.
While this new design was hated by many in the military for being unwieldy and preventing the addition of under-barrel equipment, the soldiers on the ground much preferred the MAF-40, despite its heavier weight, because it allowed much more flexibility. With the need of simply adding a capacitor line of production, the MAF-40 was able to pick-up seamlessly the pace of production, even allowing the return of some MAF-38 in factory for transformation into MAF-40.
While still maintaining some of the MAF-38 teething issues and still being overall inferior to foreign design, the low-cost refit allowed the Francophonie to keep the pace in small-arm development and giving to all its soldiers a reliable piece of equipment.
 
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