Re: OU Ship Designs.

Eureka has had some OU designs out for some time now, but I haven't seen
any SSDs for them. So, here are some designs for people's edification
and amusement. My thanks to Brendan Robertson esq for the peer review.
I've also unashamedly stolen ideas from him. I have changed things a bit
though, so any errors are mine alone.

Oceanic Union ships
===================
There are currently 4 ships in Eureka's OU lineup. They are:

Destroyer
Light Cruiser
Heavy Cruiser
Escort Carrier

...with more promised.

All of them appear to be - er - "inspired" by the Confederation
spaceships from the movie  "The Fifth Element" - see 
http://home1.swipnet.se/~w-12454/fe/media/5thmodelshipcloseup.gif
http://home1.swipnet.se/~w-12454/fe/media/5thmodelship.jpg

The destroyer is moderately large for such a vessel, more like a
superdestroyer. The light- and heavy- cruisers likewise, judging by
volume/weight rather than length/width. These are chunky, thickset
vessels, remiscent of NSL designs rotated by 90 degrees along the
longtitudinal axis.

The exception is the Escort carrier. It's basically a slightly smaller
version of the heavy cruiser, but with a hanger bay attached on the side
as an outrigger, ( rather  than a true catamaran ).

Brendan Robertson said somewhere in the archives, re OU ship design
philosophy:

"We know the OUDF produces some Stargrunt vehicles under licence from
the
FSE (from Owen's orbat) so they would probably source the basic escort
hulls from the same source (repeat business). The few cruiser's the OUDF
use would likely be custom built at home, predominately as support ships
(ADAF & missiles/SMBs would fit this role). The largest military ship
they possess would be a battlecruiser or escort carrier, to use as a
flagship, possible with a single HBS for punch.

Given their penchant for reliability, & that the OU fleet is more geared
towards police actions, the weapon fits would be more like the ESU, to
reduce maintainance & ammunition costs." 

In another article, somewhere on his web page, he said:

"OUDF ships follow mixed design principles, generally having excellent
defences combined with light armour & moderate speeds. Nearly all ships
under 4,000 tons have been at least partially streamlined to allow more
varied mission profiles.

The full range of weapons are used throughout the fleet, with the
exception of Salvo Missile Launchers, to reduce reliance on supply
lines.
Submunition Packs are an exception to this, as they are reliable & offer
cost effective punch against heavy ships. 
Long term wars put the OU at a disadvantage due to a lack of capital
ships, but the Kosciusko class Carrier is capable of taking out warships
twice it's size due to the large fighter complement. Fighter doctrine is
still in it's infancy, but currently relies on specialised light
carriers armed only with fighters & light weaponry for defence." 

B.R's designs include
Anzac Class  (24) Partial Streamlining for landings
Keppel Class  (44) Stealth SpecOps ship
Luisade Class (48) Chasseur (Speed 8 Pursuit vessel)
Sydney Class (64) Escort (PDS galore!)
Solomon Class  (84) Fast CA
Auckland Class (90) Old, Fast CA/BC
Kosciusko Class (90) eggshell carrier
Canberra-II Class (134) close-range brawler

All of these are specialist types. Only the Sydney,Solomon and Kosciusko
designs could possibly be represented by the Eureka models, and that
requires 2 to be unusually thrusty ships and the third to be a slow,
fighter-bays-at-all-costs almost unarmed fighter platform, almost
a slow transport.

I therefore would like to have the Eureka minis that are currently in
production as new designs. (and B.R agrees)

For one thing, they all have the same "look and feel". They also look as
if they're cheap, cookie-cutter designs, with
ease-of-manufacture-in-bulk ahead of combat efficiency.

The Robertson designs I'd like to keep "as is" though, as they occupy
vitally important niches that the Cookie-cutter designs
couldn't deal with, ie Spec Ops, Streamlined small ships, and fast
vessels for chasing down raiders.
I also like his idea of the OU often being more optimised for
close-range "knife-fights".

Hence the BORON design programme: Basic Operational Refit Of Navy
(Boron being the 5th element, of course).

Brendan quoth:
"Given their penchant for reliability, & that the OU fleet is more
geared towards police actions, the weapon fits would be more like the
ESU, to reduce maintainance & ammunition costs."

I've decided as a first cut that that means strong hulls, a smidgin of
armour, nothing larger than class-2 beams. Mass should be X x 20 + 2, in
order to get the maximum number of repair crews per mass, and so
simulate the reliability factor. The exception would be at the small
end, where numbers are important and quality less so. BORON ships will
tend to be a bit bigger, quite under-armed, about the same price as
their counterparts in other navies, but also quite a bit tougher. 
In most cases, they have a standard 8-mass weapons pack, which usually
contains a standard gunboat mix, but can be swapped for other systems
(SMRs, Scatterpacks, Ortillery, Cargo , ADAF).

Hence the designs:
Destroyer:
This is the Freemantle class modular patrol ship (in the ship yard).
(Mass 40 in combat config)
This original BORON design was such a success that it laid the basis for
many future designs.

------------------------------------------------------

"Numbat" class Light Cruiser
Actually a Medium or Escort Cruiser. Mass 62
Cost 205. Strong Hull(7,6,6,6). 2 armour. Shield-1. Thrust-4
2 FC, 1PD, 1 Bm1, 1 Bm2 (F)
Sister Ships NullaNulla, Nulka, etc
Always fitted with a weapons module, usually containing
1 PD, 1 Bm1, 3 Bm2 (L,R,F).

(ie with weapons module, has 2 PD, 2 Bm1/6, 2 Bm2/3-Fwd, 1 Bm2/3 LF, 1
Bm2/3 RF)

The Numbat is often used in the ADAF role, but is also the standard
medium cruiser of the OU. It is relatively cheap to construct, but lacks
long-range firepower. Close in, it is the equal of most medium cruisers.

-----------------------------------------------------
  
"Tuvalu"class Heavy Cruiser Block II. Mass 82
Cost 271. Strong Hull(9,8,8,8). 2 armour. Shield-1. Thrust-4
2 FC, 2PD, 2 Bm1, 2 Bm2 (F,AR)

Block I Sister Ships Tahiti, Tarawa etc
Block II Sister Ships Karriwarra, Kiribati. 
Always fitted with a weapons module,usually containing
1 PD, 1Bm1, 3Bm2 (L,R,F)

The Block I design has an average hull, (7,6,6,6), 3 armour, and 2
weapons modules, cost 279. 

The Block I design was deemed to be too expensive, and a less capable
variant was developed. The Block II design, as well as being slightly
cheaper, is tougher and has a much longer range. Most Block II vessels
are fitted as flotilla flagships.

--------------------------------------------------------
 
"Robertson" class Block I Escort Carrier. Mass 102
Cost 346+Fighters. Av Hull (8,8,8,7). 3 armour. Shield-1
2 FC. 3 PD, 3 Bm1, 3 Bm2 (L,R,AR), 2 Fighter Bays. Thrust-4

Block II ships have ADAF, 5 PD, and delete the L and R Bm2s. Cost 347.

Derived from the earlier Koscuisko class, but constructed
using standard BORON techniques. The Kosciuskos don't have the	large
ventral fin, and have fewer pylons in the nose.
Sister Ships Rarotonga, Rapanui, Richardson, Rotarua.
Block II Sister ships Wollongong, Wooloomooloo, Wagga Wagga, Waitangi.

Unlike the Kosciuskos, these are small multi-role ships. The Block II
variant is a specialist escort, and is often found either as the sole
escort of a convoy, or in company with 2 Block I ships.
 
I've just painted up some OU ships in Aboriginal "Dreamtime" colour
schemes. Had to be careful not to use genuine Koori designs. I still
have a few OU ships to paint - some will be Tiki (New Zealand) designs,
but my knowledge of Polysnesian art is scanty. Can anyone help?

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