For those interested in my view about warships in Elite, this post is a followup to a larger thread, which can be found here: Navy Ships in Elite
back when Finland had recently gained it's independence in WW-I, the nation was building up it's navy. The Baltic sea is shallow, and the coast of Finland is a complex archipelago dangerous for large ships requiring deep water. It was also quite a dangerous flash point, with the navies of Russia, Germany, France and potentially UK contesting the water.
The Finns put a lot of money into developing a credible navy. Mine layers and submarines were a big part of securing territorial integrity, but the big ticket was building two large (well, middle range) armoured warships with heavy guns to create a Fleet in Being effect.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnish_coastal_defence_ship_Ilmarinen
The ships were called "Armoured ships" in Finnish, which obviously doesn't translate very well. Coastal Defence Ship is the commonly used international term for this intermediate class, and for Elite I guess it would transform to:
System Defence Ship (or maybe Heavy Defence Ship or something)
The inspiration for Elite would be in the fact that direct fire guns are very important in Elite, unlike in present day when guns and armour have given way to anti-aircraft missiles, antiship missiles, cruise missiles and high speed.
The major powers field Cutters (small general purpose warships for patrol and interdiction), Frigates (anti-small ship, anti torpedo boat), Destroyers (main combatants, powerful individually cruising warships) and the massive capital ship battle cruisers. There will be other classes to round that system out, but we don't know about them yet (aside from apparently some stuff in the official fiction books).
Now, I'm thinking the System Defence Ships are an option for individual starsystem states, and mini empires & coalitions who need something bigger than cutters to enforce and secure their sovereignty, but can't really afford to build full size destroyers (remember, these are more like cruisers in the old world wars paradigm). Cutters, fighter patrols and torpedo boats help, but they can suffer appalling casualties against larger scale aggression. What you want, is a few serious warships to keep your neighbors at bay.
The System Defence Ship should be heavily armoured, and carry a few batteries of the heavy guns seen on the capital ships, and as the main defensive armament of the Coriolis stations. Twin mounts in armoured gun turrets should do the trick, probably with placement on both "top" and "bottom". Secondary armament is needed for point defence against swarming fighter and torpedo bombers, but really these ships are intended to engage larger targets with their heavy guns. The primary opponents are Corvette / Cutter sized small warships, and engaging enemy frigates in the style of battle they normally wish to avoid.
Now, presumably these "pocket battleships" will be at a disadvantage when facing full scale Destroyers, but where the destroyer is an all round design, the System Defence Ships are dedicated (if small) ships of the line. The cost difference should hopefully mean that they can engage destroyers two, or even three on one, and have a good chance of defeating or driving away the enemy.
***
The drawbacks of the narrow focus can also be taken from the Coastal Defence Ships. They were top heavy and slow, and terribly uncomfortable in rough seas. The System Defence Ships should be slow and lumbering, and if they have jump drives at all, the jump range should be very limited, and fuel use punishing. Supercruise speeds should also be slow. Basically these are defencive ships, that protect important areas (like a space station or a rich resource gathering area), not something you can easily use with an invasion force. Of course, you use the Navy you have, not the one you would want, so sometimes they may be presse into service when invading a neighboring system.
back when Finland had recently gained it's independence in WW-I, the nation was building up it's navy. The Baltic sea is shallow, and the coast of Finland is a complex archipelago dangerous for large ships requiring deep water. It was also quite a dangerous flash point, with the navies of Russia, Germany, France and potentially UK contesting the water.
The Finns put a lot of money into developing a credible navy. Mine layers and submarines were a big part of securing territorial integrity, but the big ticket was building two large (well, middle range) armoured warships with heavy guns to create a Fleet in Being effect.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finnish_coastal_defence_ship_Ilmarinen
The ships were called "Armoured ships" in Finnish, which obviously doesn't translate very well. Coastal Defence Ship is the commonly used international term for this intermediate class, and for Elite I guess it would transform to:
System Defence Ship (or maybe Heavy Defence Ship or something)
The inspiration for Elite would be in the fact that direct fire guns are very important in Elite, unlike in present day when guns and armour have given way to anti-aircraft missiles, antiship missiles, cruise missiles and high speed.
The major powers field Cutters (small general purpose warships for patrol and interdiction), Frigates (anti-small ship, anti torpedo boat), Destroyers (main combatants, powerful individually cruising warships) and the massive capital ship battle cruisers. There will be other classes to round that system out, but we don't know about them yet (aside from apparently some stuff in the official fiction books).
Now, I'm thinking the System Defence Ships are an option for individual starsystem states, and mini empires & coalitions who need something bigger than cutters to enforce and secure their sovereignty, but can't really afford to build full size destroyers (remember, these are more like cruisers in the old world wars paradigm). Cutters, fighter patrols and torpedo boats help, but they can suffer appalling casualties against larger scale aggression. What you want, is a few serious warships to keep your neighbors at bay.
The System Defence Ship should be heavily armoured, and carry a few batteries of the heavy guns seen on the capital ships, and as the main defensive armament of the Coriolis stations. Twin mounts in armoured gun turrets should do the trick, probably with placement on both "top" and "bottom". Secondary armament is needed for point defence against swarming fighter and torpedo bombers, but really these ships are intended to engage larger targets with their heavy guns. The primary opponents are Corvette / Cutter sized small warships, and engaging enemy frigates in the style of battle they normally wish to avoid.
Now, presumably these "pocket battleships" will be at a disadvantage when facing full scale Destroyers, but where the destroyer is an all round design, the System Defence Ships are dedicated (if small) ships of the line. The cost difference should hopefully mean that they can engage destroyers two, or even three on one, and have a good chance of defeating or driving away the enemy.
***
The drawbacks of the narrow focus can also be taken from the Coastal Defence Ships. They were top heavy and slow, and terribly uncomfortable in rough seas. The System Defence Ships should be slow and lumbering, and if they have jump drives at all, the jump range should be very limited, and fuel use punishing. Supercruise speeds should also be slow. Basically these are defencive ships, that protect important areas (like a space station or a rich resource gathering area), not something you can easily use with an invasion force. Of course, you use the Navy you have, not the one you would want, so sometimes they may be presse into service when invading a neighboring system.
