Falchion II-class Frigate

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Poll ended at Fri Jul 07, 2017 3:40 pm

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Total votes: 3

Storywriter J. Allen
Posts: 1322
Joined: Sat Jun 11, 2016 11:04 am

Falchion II-class Frigate

Postby Storywriter J. Allen » Sat Jun 17, 2017 3:40 pm

Code: Select all

Type: Falchion II-class Frigate
Chassis: Naval Vessel (Large, Template B)
Tonnage: 2400 tons
Rating: E/X-X-E

Equipment                                              Mass
Chassis/Control                                       612
Engine/Trans                Fusion                626.5
  Cruise MP:                      5
  Maximum MP:                 8
Heat Sinks                        32                     32
Fuel                                    -                       0
Turrets (2)                                                  6
Armor (BAR 10)               206                    13
  Fore                     32                    25
  Fore R/L               32                    25
  Aft R/L                 32                    25
  Aft                        32                    21
  Turrets (2)           32                    30
Weapons and Ammo                         Loc   Mass
Arrow IV Missile, 2 Autocannon/2      T1      27
2 LRM-15, 2 Autocannon/2                T2      26
LRT-10                                                 F        5
Large Laser, LRM-5                             FR       7
Large Laser, LRM-5                             FL        7
Large Laser, LRM-5                             AR       7
Large Laser, LRM-5                             AL       7
LRT-10                                                 A       5
Ammo (Arrow IV) 50                           Bo     10
Ammo (AC/2) 900                               Bo     20
Ammo (LRM-15) 64                             Bo      8
Ammo (LRM-5) 120                             Bo      5
Ammo (LRT-10) 120                           Bo      10
CASE                                                   Bo      0.5

Crew: 14 officers, 39 enlisted/nonrated, 32 gunners, 10 bay personnel
Cargo:
   259 tons standard  2 doors (aft right/aft left)
   100 tons 2 light vehicle bays 1 door (rear)

Notes: Features Tech Rating D armored chassis, engine and armor, advanced fire control (9.5 tons), communication
equipment (7 tons), field kitchen (3 tons), helipad (500 tons), 3 jump infantry bays (18 tons), 17 lifeboats (maritime, 17 tons), MASH with 3 extra theaters (6.5 tons), 4 second-class quarters (28 tons).

Battle Value: 4969
Cost: 14,093,504


Background
The Rapier Patrol Destroyer is highly regarded as a great success by the traditional wet navy of the AFFS. Able to be transported aboard a Mammoth-class Dropship, the Rapier could be employed in an offensive role with an invasion force. This made it one of the few large blue-water naval vessels with that kind of transportability.

By 3085 the AFFS had decided to procure a smaller, cheaper and easier to transport vessel that could fill many of the same roles. With Mammoth-class dropships expensive and in short supply, the AFFS sought a blue-water naval vessel that could be transported using the considerably more common Mule-class dropship.

The Falchion II-class Frigate was the final product of those efforts. An earlier Falchion frigate weighing 4,500 tons made it to the prototyping phase but was eventually deemed too heavy and only two test hulls were built before production was fully turned to the more compact Falchion II.


Capabilities

The Falchion II-class Frigate is designed for deep water and near-shore operations. Its long-range weaponry, centered around two turrets on the forward deck allows it to engage surface, submersible and air targets with relative ease. Some of the design’s critics point to a lack of sheer knock-down firepower like that found aboard the Rapier. The design’s supporters note that the tactical preference for the Falchion is to be able to fire first, outside of an opponent’s effective firing range. This is particularly evident in the anti-aircraft and beach supporting fire roles. At sea many of a Falchion’s opponents are lighter and more fragile vessels and vehicles that are prone to sinking if disabled or breached.

Mimicking the larger Rapier, the Falchion II can transport a full jump infantry company and has an aft helideck and light vehicle hangar for two VTOLs. The frigate can launch small airborne operations. When multiple Falchion IIs travel together, entire battalions of air mobile jump infantry can appear from the sea, a direction many military forces tend to ignore.

The frigate itself can be carried in the lower deck of a Mule-class dropship inside a rolling track-mobile drydock with a crane system that can load and unload the vessel. From its rolling drydock the Falchion II can be submerged in a body of water and then launched in as little as five hours after landing. When a Mule is carrying the Falchion II, it loses approximately 5,000 tons of its cargo space. The frigate takes up the entire lower deck and some upper desk space is lost through other modifications needed to hold the vessel and all of its loading equipment. The frigate’s crew and jump infantry marines must be transported aboard a separate vessel.

Some of the Falchion II’s advocates cite its cost as one of its primary advantages. With a price tag comparable to some BattleMechs, the Falchion II can be procured in large numbers. With the potential to deploy a larger number of Falchion II’s, the vessel’s ability to truly dominate the oceans becomes clear.


Deployment

The first Falchion II-class frigates were launched in 3088 and the AFFS began deploying full flotillas of them, often pairing them with one or two Rapier Patrol Destroyers for the additional firepower. Although most of the hulls were sent to primarily defensive assignments alongside March Militias, a few naval squadrons of Rapiers and Falchion IIs have been created and assigned permanent dropship support. These squadrons are intended to accompany the first wave of invasion forces against worlds with any appreciable ocean defenses.

The AFFS has also begun to export the vessels. The Lyran Alliance is negotiating the terms of a large bulk contract, while the Free Worlds League already received over a dozen hulls just before the Federated Suns found itself at war with that nation. However as tensions rose over the League’s support of ULTRA, the Federated Suns has halted military exports to that realm. Many of the ship’s original designers were pleasantly surprised to discover a robust market among mercenary units. Several mercenary leaders saw the Falchion II as their first realistic chance to possess a blue water navy that can be transported on the back of a jumpship and at an affordable price. This has given several mercenary units a capability previously thought unfeasible.

In the most shocking twist of the Falchion II’s development, the frigate is appearing on Draconis Combine worlds. The Ministry of Intelligence has since been unable to locate one of the project’s design engineers, giving rise to a popular public theory that he defected. But whatever the source of the leak, the Combine appears to have the frigate design and is producing hulls that are appearing on worlds throughout the Draconis Combine.


Design Credit
Credit for the Falchion II-class Frigate’s name and TRO specifications go to DarthMetool, a member of the classicbattletech.com’s forum community. I created the accompanying information.
Staff Position
Storyline Writer Jon Allen

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Captain Niobe Bey
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The Great White Fleet MU

Storywriter J. Allen
Posts: 1322
Joined: Sat Jun 11, 2016 11:04 am

Re: Falchion II-class Frigate

Postby Storywriter J. Allen » Sat Jun 17, 2017 3:42 pm

A couple caveats: This is actually a repost of a design submitted on our last forum. The staff wasn't resolving submitted designs at the time and so it went nowhere, though the player feedback was fairly good.

Also, even though I am posting this via my Loremaster account, I hope everyone recognizes that the Loremaster hat is off and in this respect I am just another player.
Staff Position
Storyline Writer Jon Allen

MUCO Character
Captain Niobe Bey
Commanding Officer
The Great White Fleet MU

Dulio12385
Posts: 369
Joined: Mon Jul 04, 2016 12:49 am
affiliations: Black Stars Mercenary Collective

Re: Falchion II-class Frigate

Postby Dulio12385 » Sun Jun 18, 2017 9:19 am

Its a fair design but the profusion of several types of weaponry is somewhat off putting since many of them are pee shooters and require several different types of ammunition.

I'd have suggested removing the Large Lasers, AC/2s and LRM-5s in favor of a single standard secondary armament to maximize your ammunition count like more LRM-15s, LBX/5s or paired LAC/5s since your nominal foes at closer quarters will be Light Vees and Aircraft and the ACs have the range, accuracy or specialized ammo to TAC or Crit those types of enemies into the drink. I'd have also used the weight saved for a second Arrow IV in turret 1, which should purely be the artillery turret, and a single PPC or ER PPC in Turret 2, which would be your 360 degree gun turret to supplement your secondary armament of autocannons.

A turret mounted mech mortar would've been the best anti-submarine weapon since it comes closest to the depth charge launcher in RL but I have yet to see rules for that.
Major Clint "Tex" Dyson
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Email, Facebook, Skype or YM: dulio12385@yahoo.com

Storywriter J. Allen
Posts: 1322
Joined: Sat Jun 11, 2016 11:04 am

Re: Falchion II-class Frigate

Postby Storywriter J. Allen » Sun Jun 18, 2017 2:38 pm

I didn't design it, so not gonna change the specs. I'm not sure if DarthMetool would want to do any revision work (we worked on this ages ago). If it gets approved I'll try to contact him to let him know. I know he'd appreciate that. But this is kind of an up-or-down vote situation.

In any case, the idea with those weapon systems was max range, low cost, and the possibility of making use of specialty ammo. Which is more fun from a roleplaying standpoint.
Staff Position
Storyline Writer Jon Allen

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Captain Niobe Bey
Commanding Officer
The Great White Fleet MU


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