[Kettch]

If you ask me, there's no real need for a craft carrying Fighters through a Jump Node.

But the Idea of a superlight Fightercarrier itself is quite good.

I'd set up three types of this thingy, one unarmed for carrying unmanned Fighters in secure shipyards, etc.

Another armed, but still rather cheap version, for patrolling purposes. Fighters 'nowadays' may mostly have intra- as well as intersystem Jumpdrives, but still their operational range should be rather short, as an extra-large fuel-tank is most likely not at very high priority for the designers of new fighters. These things are short-range highly specialised war machines after all.

The third version, as already mentioned, would be an SOC unit, including rearming capabilities, up-to-Date Weaponry (BGREEN would be a bit too much, obviously, but you know what I mean, maybe two aaaf's and two Flaks if something goes wrong)
And the newest things at electronical warfare that can be applied to a ship of this kind, like a small stealth system and stuff.

[Mustang19]

It'd also be helpful for armed reconassaince. The model is carrying Perseus, which is the best standard-issue recon craft the GTVA has.

[colecampbell666]

Amazons are virtual craft though, along with all ships encountered in Training Simulator Modules.

 

Not in FS1.

[Colonol Dekker]

I've not FreeSpace one'd in ages. Not even the port. I just like using it for cardinal spear.

[Mobius]

If you ask me, there's no real need for a craft carrying Fighters through a Jump Node.

But the Idea of a superlight Fightercarrier itself is quite good.

I'd set up three types of this thingy, one unarmed for carrying unmanned Fighters in secure shipyards, etc.

Another armed, but still rather cheap version, for patrolling purposes. Fighters 'nowadays' may mostly have intra- as well as intersystem Jumpdrives, but still their operational range should be rather short, as an extra-large fuel-tank is most likely not at very high priority for the designers of new fighters. These things are short-range highly specialised war machines after all.

The third version, as already mentioned, would be an SOC unit, including rearming capabilities, up-to-Date Weaponry (BGREEN would be a bit too much, obviously, but you know what I mean, maybe two aaaf's and two Flaks if something goes wrong)
And the newest things at electronical warfare that can be applied to a ship of this kind, like a small stealth system and stuff.

Welcome to the HLPBB!!!

IMO it seems too vulnerable to be widely used where the risks are high(delivering fighters to the battlefield). As you said it can be used for patrolling purposes - very good point here.

In addition, I think it could carry 4 more fighters. Do you agree?

[Kettch]

Welcome to the HLPBB!!!

Thanks. I've been active in the Freespace Galaxy Forum, the German little Bother so to say, for a while now. We'll see how active I'll be around here. I decided to leave the DotA-Allstars Forum due to the just uncontrolled noob/spamposterflood and therefore I guess I'll be spending some time here from now on...

IMO it seems too vulnerable to be widely used where the risks are high(delivering fighters to the battlefield). As you said it can be used for patrolling purposes - very good point here.

In addition, I think it could carry 4 more fighters. Do you agree?[/i][/color]

Well for the unarmed version I mentioned this might be really a good idea, but regarding the other ones, I'd rather extend the rear Wings and replace the docking point in the middle with a turret, the fireing radius should be ok there.
So you'll have six fighters.
This way you could use a viable mix of Fighters, e.g.  4 Herc MK2's (I consider these quite chep and therefore suited for simple patrolling purposes) and 2 Perseus for highspeed-support.

And for the SOC version it could be something like 4 Erinyes and 2 Artemisd DH, as a powerful strikegroup.

BTW what kind of texturing do you plan on using? I'd think something similar to the Aeolus theme would be fitting for the normal versions and the SOC version should get something darker, maybe something similar to the Artemis DH texturing??

And which armament did you plan on using and what about speed and maneuverbility? The more I think about this one, the more I'm getting interested in it.

[BengalTiger]

What the ship would use is some domes (or large pipes with a ladder inside or similar) around the ships' cockpits that would allow to change crews while the fighters/bombers are docked.

Also- turrets on the bottom seem to be a must (a total of 4-6 on the whole carrier would work IMHO).

Another thing- the ship could also have docking bays on the top side to double it's capacity, it's already large enough to hold life support systems for the pilots so it could extend the GTVA's abilities (picture a wing of these exploring the Shivan Nebula without the Shivans noticing for weeks, just like that much larger NTF cruiser drifted without trouble for a long time).

It's also small enough to be built in large numbers too.

P.S. if it'll stay a squad ferry without being a fully capable (alright, fully capable minus heavy repairs equiptment due to the lack of hangar/repair bays) micro-carrier, fine, it's a nice ship either way.

[Jake2447]

While I'm typically not especially fond of smaller carrier craft, I think this is a fresh take (always good), with a lot of promise.

it makes since for a makeshift pirate vessel like the rumrunner though. point is you can jump in and get your fighters into the fray immediately out of the node. good for hit and runs and saves the cost of intersystem drives.

it would also be good in the outer systems as it could ferry an exploratory group from nearest station to new systems
it would be able to go through unstable nodes that a fuller carrier might not and it seems pretty cheap
also it could be used as a small defence for minin operations that are somewhat mobile as it could probably support five pilots for a decent amount of time
maybe the mining corp would own two that would switch shifts on a weekly basis
same thing with a mercenary business

i really like the idea, keep it up

[Nuke]

Amazons are virtual craft though, along with all ships encountered in Training Simulator Modules.

 

not really, in fs1 they were real, for some reason they didnt invent simulators yet and did live training instead.

anyway i think the only reason i put the fighter bay in the rumrunner was to test submodel animation. but i like the idea that a whole pirate clan can operate out of a single small ship. i plan to make it a little bit bigger, adding 2 or 4 launch tubes for chimeras as well as external docks for larger fighters and bombers. essentially i want one to be able to carry at least 12 fighters and/or bombers. it would operate under a sneak attack mentality, because running into anything more than a single corvette or a couple criusers would be almost certain death.

[BengalTiger]

Any updates/changes to the ship?

[Colonol Dekker]

@Nuke.......


I agree about the one-clan, one-ship priciple, very cool, I like the B5 raider battlewagon for the same reason

[Roanoke]

Any updates/changes to the ship?

no/yes

that's all you're getting for now. 

[S-99]

Looks like a great way to add extra support for those long missions deep space missions. Reminds me of the fs1 missions where a wing or two were sortied with the new fighter jump drives to conduct long range missions without support. This idea would provide extra support in the form of a cruiser with a wing of fighters. It might even be cheaper because you wouldn't need those special fighter jump drives either. It looks like a great idea.

[BengalTiger]

Any new screens?

[Roanoke]

No. The UK is enjoing a heatwave and it's too hot to spend hours infront of a pc, thanks very much. 

[Snail]

No. The UK is enjoing a heatwave and it's too hot to spend hours infront of a pc, thanks very much. 

It's only too hot to spend hours in front of a PC if there's a possibility of it melting.

[Getter Robo G]

Roanoke, I like it (it just needs a lot of refinement).

Uses: Really long range recon (but in cases where a cap ship won't be spared).

Think of the mothership as a really big gunship that acts as resupply.

In fact a few of the craft form C&C 3 would fit pretty well in that role.

The only problem would be the pilots would have to be in the cockpits all the time (unless they take a spacewalk) so deployment routes or mission time will be carefully calculated in unknown territory or even in known areas.

Now a diff model of a civillian bulk freighter would be cool if it specialized in carrying many fighters from the manufacturer to the military bases would be cool right? (and a very tempting target for pirates...) I could see something like that needing some sort of escort...

HEY why not the "Advanced Support Ship?"  (my suggested name) "Arrdvark"? 

Whaddya think Roanoke?

[BengalTiger]

The only problem would be the pilots would have to be in the cockpits all the time (unless they take a spacewalk) so deployment routes or mission time will be carefully calculated in unknown territory or even in known areas.

What the ship would use is some domes (or large pipes with a ladder inside or similar) around the ships' cockpits that would allow to change crews while the fighters/bombers are docked.