Official Name: Novus Confederatio Helvetica (New Helvetic Confederation) Government: Federal Republic with Parliamentary System and Direct Democracy Location: New Helvetica System Capital: Planet Bern Population: 12,850,000 Currency: Gallic Franc Factions/Groups: Helvetians (Currently all-encompassing, later: Helvetic Guard) ID/IFF: Freelancer/None (Requires its own ID and IFF at some point) Tag: Fighters =NHC=Rank.Firstname.Lastname
Larger ships =NHC=HGS-Shipname
General Information
History:
The Gallia was, as far as it is known, the last Alliance sleeper ship built and the last launched. It carried an untold, but undoubtedly large, number of French colonists, and would be the bastion for French culture in the 31st century. But due to its purpose, that of carrying forsaken people away from the iron grip of the Coalition, the leaders of France opened their arms to any other survivors they could take with them. As it were, a reasonable portion of those left behind were naturalized Swiss.
Even though Switzerland tried to maintain its neutrality and safety during the Sol War, its destruction was inevitable; nuclear warfare on Earth rendered the small Alpine country covered in radioactive fallout, trapped on a half-dead planet. Any Swiss who managed to escape this fate quickly rendezvoused with their brethren dwelling in other nations, namely those of the Western Alliance. France had the largest portion of Swiss among the Alliance, and therefore was tasked with essentially taking care of a neutral, leeching population. Of course, there were many Swiss citizens who decided to fight for the Alliance, but their exploits were lost in the fires of the war: Switzerland had never been a member of the Alliance, and its now homeless citizens were not granted slots for the Sleeper Ship project. Needless to say, the surviving Swiss population of some 250,000 was present for the launching of the Gallia, and as a gesture of good faith and through the desire to rebuild the Earth of old, to say nothing of sympathy for their fellow "victims", the French sent with it a number of Swiss colonists.
The proportion of Swiss colonists aboard the Gallia was very low, but enough to maintain the memory of their heritage. For the first century or so after the Gallia landed on New Paris, the Swiss colonists coexisted with the French easily thanks in no small part to their mutual heritage and commonality of both French and International English language. But even as the populations intermingled, a large number of the Swiss descendants, in spite of their European cultural ambiguity, insisted on maintaining an image of independence, a statement making it clear that they were still "Swiss" even if the rest of the colonists around them had took on the Gallic moniker. On several occasions this would cause friction with the belligerent monarchy which was established practically from the very first day of rebuilding, but the Swiss were adamant as they had kept their past an integral part of their culture, and a large number of the Gallic citizenry were in their favor.
It was finally decided after two centuries of relative idleness that the Swiss would be granted a land of their own, guaranteed the same neutrality and rights that it had back on Earth, albeit hamstringed by the lack of contact with any other nations than Gallia. In 380 A.S. Gallic King Charles III granted the Swiss population, which had now swelled to a number of some 1,300,000, a single system in what would become the Gallic Border Worlds. The Swiss descendants, jubilant over what they felt to be their long-deserved reward, formed a loose government and renamed themselves after their traditional national figure "Helvetia". They were now Helvetians, and New Helvetica was calling.
Sadly the whole ordeal was something almost of a joke: the star system which would be christened New Helvetica would prove to be a rather harsh place to live, bereft of many resources. Even still, the Helvetians would make use of it. They chose the single planet in the system as their capital, naming it Planet Bern. Bern was hardly a paradise; its climate was nearly arctic all throughout, ranging from cold to blistering cold depending on the rotation of the world. It was not located near any significant natural resources, nor was much to be found on the planet itself. A single moon, named Dom after the highest mountain in Switzerland, had only marginal amounts of metals and was predominantly worthless, and an ice field that made up the rest of the system named Lucerne held water and not much else. Obviously the Helvetians were forced into a position where they were to be subservient to the Gallic throne, dependent on its resources and protection. But yet again the descendants of the Swiss were too stubborn to accept ignominy.
The development of Planet Bern proceeded at a brisk pace, and entire underground cities were built within decades. Considering the size of the planet as opposed to the size of the original Switzerland, there was no method of splitting the land into the same 26 political cantons, so entirely new ones were created; before long the entire planet had been mapped and divided into an appropriate layout. With great difficulty, the old Federal Republic system, complete with the Parliament and Direct Democracy, took form as the "New Helvetic Confederation". In retrospect, considering its surroundings, this form of government was an experiment in the highest degree, but after striving for independence for so long the Helvetians managed to hold the system together.
In terms of industry and technological development, the Helvetians were quick to assemble their best minds into a conglomerate of teams that were competitive with the best Gallic corporations. The result was Helvetic Federal Industries, a government-subsidized company that began the Helvetians first spaceward leap with the construction of Zurich Station in Bern orbit. A massive citadel of steel, Zurich would become representative for New Helvetica as a whole, being the first stop for any visitors of any stripe and evolving into both a base of commerce and a native shipyard. At the same time, HFI began dabbling in other scientific endeavors, such as geothermal power plants on Bern, advanced mining techniques to squeeze anything worthwhile out of the Dom moon, and their latest invention: a Molecular Phase Separator designed to split molecules into component parts and reassemble them into more useful materials. This device would manifest itself in an attempt to make use of the vast ice fields in the system, splitting the water into the component parts of hydrogen and oxygen. In spite of virtual dependence on Gallic technology, the Helvetians began their own research and development projects which would occasionally manifest themselves in custom ships and weapons for defense and policing duties. Their inventions, while advanced, are obviously small in number, but carry the Helvetic banner in a way no Gallic technology ever can or will.
New Helvetica, like its Terran predecessor, desired to be a neutral, independent nation focused on international (or in this case interstellar) cooperation, complete with its original governing system. The nations policies were in direct conflict with those of an absolute monarchy like the Gallic Crown, and given the growing instability in Gallia as the years went on, New Helvetica would be put on the chopping block more than once, just barely skirting hostile takeover. Dissidents such as the Council who advocated the toppling of the Crown would look at New Helveticas democracy and pacifistic tendencies and see a vision of their Utopia, therefore the Helvetic government was hard pressed to deny Council support and disavow any involvement with them when the Crowns fleets knocked on their door. In an effort to compensate, New Helvetica attempted to mediate some of the inter-Gallic conflicts that sprung up, but with their independence came the consequence of a notable break with the Gallic people; they were no longer fellow colonists, and what business did the Helvetians have in Gallic affairs? A peace convention during the years between the First and Second Gallic Civil Wars was a humiliating disappointment, and an effort to create a neutral humanitarian organization was met with applause and then resigned sighs when their ships were stopped from intervening to save innocents caught in the line of fire during the Second War.
Indeed, New Helvetica's position was, and has remained, precarious. It is a thorn in the Crown's side that cannot be removed without sufficient reason: taking over the system and its inhabitants betrays the entire purpose behind their presence on the Gallia, therefore undermining the very vengeful ideology that the Crown pursues. At the same time, taking drastic action against the Helvetians plays into the propaganda of groups like the Council, so the use of force, the cornerstone of Gallic Royal policy, must be restrained. In the end, it was believed that because of their lack of resources and obvious weakness compared to Gallia as a whole that New Helvetica would remain pacified, happy to simply have a sovereign home even if in theory only.
But the Councils reconnection with Sirius brought about a new opportunity to play out their historical role as a moderating neutral nation amongst warring parties, something the Sirius Sector has yet to experience. However the Gallic Crown is clearly averse to the situation, since their idea of moderation involves a steamrolling battle fleet. New Helvetica is thus forced into a harrowing position: Do they cooperate with groups like the Council in order to spread their message to the rest of Sirius and infuriate the Crown, or do they lie down and stay idle, just as King Charles III intended all those years ago? Given their history, the answer is obvious, but how they will succeed in their endeavor is anyones guess.
Faction Roles:
- Acting out a relatively neutral but politically active faction with direct player leadership that can make its own diplomatic decisions and thereby have some type of effect on player-based diplomacy.
- Maintaining relations with the Gallic Crown while attempting to communicate and negotiate with the other Sirius houses and factions, encouraging plenty of roleplay with far less mandatory PVP action.
- Serving as an alternative RP element to the relatively stagnate inter-Gallic scenario, which would be made all the more static in the event the GRN invades Sirius and thus expands hostile GRN influence further away from the Gallic systems, putting them truly out of reach of those other than the Gallics.
Diplomacy:
The beauty of this area is that New Helvetica has never known anything other than Gallia, and is trying to play the same roles its ancestor did. While it professes the desire to be neutral, this is obviously an impossibility; the presence of official unlawful groups even guarantee this. Therefore New Helvetica has the unique chance to shape its own diplomacy based on in-game and forum interaction with other factions, Houses, and the like. There is zero guarantee that it can maintain neutrality, though it may die trying to. There is zero guarantee they can make peace with factions like the SCRA, the descendants of those responsible for the destruction of Switzerland so long ago. There isnt even a guarantee that they can make peace with the Houses, since theyre so closely identified with Gallia that the oncoming invasion might permanently tarnish their reputation. Therefore, all relationship levels here are limited to what is currently known by the Helvetians themselves; the rest would be made by the players themselves as time goes by.
The Council Friendly New Helveticas mere existence, while not the direct inspiration of the Gallic Liberation Movement, was nonetheless a boon to its message. The Helvetian public, much like the general Gallic public, does not see the Council as a negative factor in Gallia. The government, however, is more concerned, for it is the Council that has broken the bonds of the Crown and opened the way to Sirius. While officially they cannot afford to aid the Council in any way, rest assured that in small ways New Helvetica most certainly can and will interact with the Council in their mutual best interests.
Gallic Royal PoliceNeutral More representative of the Gallic public than the Navy, the Helvetians have a relatively neutral view of the Police. They are meant to be protectors of the peace, nothing more, and the Helvetians can respect that. Hopefully, however, they are corrupt enough to turn a blind eye to Helvetic envoys trying to leave Gallia.
Maquis/Union Corse/Gallic BrigandsUnfriendly While they are allied with the Council, the reputations of these factions prohibits the people of New Helvetica from seeing them in any positive light. Naturally they desire no conflict, but in the event they make a move on Helvetic targets or penetrate Helvetic space, they are to be removed in whatever way necessary.
Gallic Royal NavyUnfriendly The standard-bearers of the Crown, the Royal Navy is the Crowns threat to New Helvetica personified. While there is no open declaration of hostilities, it is important to remember that they are the reason for New Helveticas isolation, and that sooner or later the effort to break out could spark a conflict.
New Helvetica in of itself is essentially a miniature house, therefore it has positions across the board when it comes to matters such as rank. The following will describe some of the positions on the civil side of the coin.
Civil Ranks President of the Confederation The top political figure of the Helvetic government, this individual is more or less a vocal figurehead whos tasked with executing the will of both the Federal Council and the people of New Helvetica.
Vice President of the Federal Council A backup political figurehead, the Vice President ensures that, should anything happen to the President or should the President be unavailable, the same function of that office would still be fulfilled. In the meantime, the Vice President serves as the voice of the Federal Council to the President.
The Federal Council Made up of seven individuals, the Federal Council is the primary political, economic, and military brain. It proposes new laws, deliberates on what diplomatic action to take, and decides on political matters of great importance such as the appointment of the President, Vice President, and the Commander in-Chief of the Armed Forces. OORP, the Federal Council would be made up of individuals who have put time and effort into making the faction; at first it would involve simple seniority, but this may change as I will describe later.
Representatives A few hand-picked people noted for their skills, New Helvetica employs representatives in diplomatic envoys in order to represent the state in-person. They neither have civil or military power, but serve as the standard-bearers of the faction whenever they are used.
Citizens The Citizens of New Helvetica are, really, everybody involved with the faction in any way. Any political or military individual (player) has, inherently, the rights of a citizen. It is through this right that the faction itself actually can enact the Direct Democracy of the stated government.
Politics:
It is appropriate at this point to explain what all of these positions really do in terms of in and out of RP function.
The President This person is the go to political figure. The leaders of other factions will address this individual when it comes to matters of large-scale political importance. He will make public announcements should they be required and is permitted to travel in-game on a diplomatic mission, although this is reserved for very special occasions. The President can directly petition the Federal Council to take action on a given matter, but cannot veto their decisions. The President is also acting-faction leader during his tenure, meaning he has the responsibility to report to the Admins and take action when a member breaks rules and is in a position that requires mediation or expulsion from the faction.
Vice President This person is the secondary President. If an urgent time-sensitive matter arises that would require the Presidents attention and he is not available, the Vice President is the only other individual authorized to speak for the faction. Largely a ceremonial post, the Vice President can involve himself in talks between both the President and the Federal Council.
Federal Council Made up of (a maximum of) seven people, the Council functions exactly as its namesake indicates. These people discuss the issues confronting the faction, draw conclusions, and make the decision to take action in whatever way is seen fit. They vote on the results of propositions between each other and ultimately are the guiding force of the faction. They have the ability to vote faction members into or out of positions such as Presidency, Vice Presidency, and CinC Armed Forces, but no more; they are not allowed to vote each other out of office.
Representatives - These are diplomats, pure and simple. They are appointed for their ability to RP and act as the mouthpieces of the government in-game on diplomatic missions and the like. They are not granted permission to change any of their directives unless specifically told they are allowed to compromise within a given spectrum. While on diplomatic missions, Representatives have nominal control over where the group goes and what it does, but the escort has the authority to override these decisions based on safety concerns.
Citizens Any members of the faction, political or military, have a single vote as a citizen. The citizenry has the right of Direct Democracy; should the civil leadership undertake an action that the citizenry sees as unfit or unjustified, it is possible for them to revoke and/or change their decisions, overriding even the Federal Council. However, in order to do this, a referendum is required. An individual player with a complaint of any sort, be it desiring the expulsion of a given member or the revocation of a declared political act, they can initiate a faction-wide referendum. That person must have two other like-minded individuals on hand to present the issue to the President (acting faction head) at which point the faction-wide vote on the issue can begin. Each player has a single citizens vote, meaning a player with both a Federal Council character and a military pilot still has only a single vote to put forward. In order to maintain some stability, given the inherent instability of any democracy, a 66% majority vote is required as opposed to a 51% one. Players can abstain from the vote, however they should bear in mind that the vote most likely will have a direct impact on their experience in the faction.
And now for the Military side of things. As suggested before, a player can have both a military character and a political character, although it is more likely that the military character will be involved in-game.
Military Ranks General The Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, this person is the absolute head of the military. His role is to administrate the military forces of the faction under the orders of the Federal Council.
Lieutenant General A second-in-command, this individual is in a position in which they are given the right to administrate a subdivision of the factions military, namely the Space or Ground Forces. However, since this faction will most likely not have the number of a player required for such a position, this rank is mostly ceremonial, and the role of Ground Forces Commander is obviously ceremonious at best.
Major General These individuals are given command of subsections of subsections, i.e. a fleet or army. Once again, the likely need for such an individual in this game is small, so it is a ceremonious title indicative only of player standing.
Brigadier General The last of the relatively ceremonious positions, this person would command a single Space Wing or Division.
Colonel This is the point where functionality begins to become more directly involved. The Colonel is given command at the Squadron level. Player pilots will be divided into squadrons; therefore this person is responsible for the administration of their conduct.
Lt. Colonel This is essentially the rank of a player pilot who has reached the level of a Colonel but lacks a squadron to command; if ranks are gradually shifted up and players retire, however, they are next in line for the Colonel slots.
Major A flight commander, the Major is the most likely pilot to be at the head of an active formation in the server. They have demonstrated combat and leadership abilities and thus have the authority over the ranks under him. Majors are given the opportunity to command more than just fighters, so their rank is the lowest point at which a non-political player can command a larger ship of non-diplomatic origin, such as a military transport or eventual gunship should they be commissioned by faction leadership.
Captain A deputy flight commander, the Captain is next in line to command on-station ships. Among the fresh members, this person has shown promise for advancement, and is thus given the opportunity to exercise more control over a situation in order to demonstrate their skills.
Lieutenant The lowest ranking military pilot, the Lieutenant is the backbone of the fighter force. This player has demonstrated the skills and sportsmanship deemed necessary to join the faction and therefore now has the right to bear its tag.
On Indies There are none. The factions functioning, purpose, and technology necessitate a no-indy tolerance. Players must demonstrate their suitability to join the faction in other ways, be it interaction with Helvetian players or involvement on the forums.
The New Helvetica system is the sole area of influence as far as the Helvetians are concerned. Granted to them by King Charles III well over four hundred years ago, the small Helvetian population has managed to grow and leave its mark on what was once nothing but a desolate star system. The only planet in the system, Bern, was chosen as the capital world. Other than a moon in Berns orbit, the system is essentially devoid of anything but ice and dust. Most of the Helvetic economy, therefore, is essentially built on water and its component parts.
Locations: Stars - Red Dwarf (Center of map)
Stellar Bodies - Bern (B/C3) A cold world with a breathable atmosphere, Bern would be virtually uninhabitable but for the underground cities the Helvetians have built from scratch. It is the home of most of the Helvetic population, and as such is heavily guarded.
Dom (B3) A small, rocky moon in Bern orbit, Dom has few appreciable resources, but nonetheless the Helvetians have endeavored to squeeze what they can out of it. Mining facilities on the surface have their goods shipped to Zurich Station for use and export.
Stations - Zurich Station (C4) A large facility in Bern orbit, Zurich is the pride of New Helvetica. The home of commerce and the local space industry, Zurich is the hub through which visitors come and go. The lower portions of the station have been reserved for military use and are highly restricted.
Constance Processing Station (F3) The work of Helvetic Federal Industries in their ongoing attempts at competing with the Gallic corporations, this station is the primary processing plant for the vast amounts of water present in the Lucerne ice fields. Built long ago, it has been continually upgraded and moved from place to place as the ice has been expended. HFIs latest endeavor, the Molecular Phase Separator, is aboard this station.
Roches Border Post (F3) A small military station flanking Constance, Roches serves as the customs checkmark for New Helvetica, and as its first line of defense.
Givrine Outpost (D7) A small checkpoint operated by the Helvetic Guard, this station monitors and guards the jump hole leading to Languedoc.
Exits New Helvetica ->Berry Jumpgate (G1) This jumpgate from New Helvetica to Berry is operated by the Gallic Royal Navy; the Helvetians do not own the gate themselves, which is naturally a matter of great concern. The gate itself marks the point where New Helvetica ends and Gallia begins, meaning that once one hits the first tradelane ring they have crossed the border.
Languedoc Jump Hole (D7) The ace in the sleeve, this jump hole from New Helvetica to Languedoc is the one alternative to the Royalist-controlled gate. Discovered deep inside the Lucerne Ice Field during one of the initial Helvetic surveys of the system, the jump hole has remained a highly-guarded secret ever since. It opens up to a point deep in the unexplored regions of the Languedoc system. So far, only the Helvetic government is aware of its presence, and has placed Givrine Outpost nearby in order to monitor it. It is likely that this exit shall prove integral to Helvetic policy in the future.
Fields Lucerne Ice Field The New Helvetica system can essentially be described with two words: Bern and Ice. The Lucerne Ice Field is a massive chain of ice and dust nearly spanning the entire system. Composed of 96% water and only 4% dust and other particles, Lucerne stands as one of the purest sources of water in known space; Helvetic water is a highly competitive brand in neighboring Gallia, but whether or not its crisp taste is the result of natural phenomena is a point of conjecture. However, due to the Helvetians' desire to expand and compete as a nation, Lucerne has suffered the effects of rapid industrialization: 35% of the field has been almost completely stripped of water, leaving a massive gap comprised of a few stray dust particles. This portion, dubbed North Lucerne, shows the obvious progression of events as the water was taken further and further away from the planet. The remainder, South Lucerne, is still composed of the same elements in the same proportions, and there has been recent talk of preserving what remains of the field as a natural wonder. However, given the political climate and the fact that currently there is no major industrial alternative, the extraction of water from Lucerne will probably continue as it always has.
Being a faction with its own origins, Helvetic-specific technology is to be expected. In total, I can imagine only a few ship/equipment additions to the mod, since New Helvetica isnt terribly large, nor does it have the capacity to produce much in the way of original technology. That being said, there are only three main classes of ships and each one has a single faction-specific weapon available to it. In the effort to prevent misuse of certain ships and equipment here, all Helvetic ships and weapons are faction-specific by rule, and are never to be mounted on anything else, nor flown by anyone else. Of course, for the duration that the faction is not official there are alternatives. Both are provided as follows:
Without Official Status: Helvetic PC-100 Shrike Light Fighter: A licensed-built Gallic Navy Caracal Light Fighter, the Shrike has been the mainstay of the Helvetic Guard for the past decade. While an advanced design, the fighter is still considered expendable by its Gallic users, and the Crown decided to hamstring the Helvetians even more by revoking access to military-grade weapons; as such it is equipped with Gallic Civilian weapons (laser/deb).
Helvetic PC-200 Lark: A cheap alternative to producing an original line of ships, the Lark is a licensed-built Aurochs Freighter. The Helvetians have taken great liberty in modifying the internal components of these ships to serve as tankers, freighters, and even diplomatic armored transports. They are built to the standards of the original Aurochs, and as such mount civilian weapons.
With Official Status: (new ships/weapons)
Helvetic PC-300 "Herald" Diplomatic Transport:
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Class - Transport
Guns/Turrets - 0/4
Opt. Weapon Class - 8
Max Weapon Class - 8
Additional Equipment - 2xCM
Hull Strength - 180,000
Max Shield Class - Gunboat (Class 8)
Cargo Space - 800
Nanobotts/Batteries - 425/425
Max Impulse Speed - 100 m/s
Max Thruster Speed - 160 m/s
Power Output - 250,000 u
Power Recharge - 20,000 u
Turn Rate - Medium Transport
Helvetic Gunboat Turret: (Class 8) *Use on this ship Only*
Hdmg - 1,200
Sdmg - 900
Refire - 3.0
Range - 850m
Speed - 1,200 m/s
Energy - 6,500 u
Hdps - 3,600
Sdps - 2,700
Eused/s - 19,500 u
Used on Shuttle - 4.3 seconds of sustained firing w/All four guns, 13 shots
Description:
- The Herald is the premier diplomatic vessel employed by New Helvetica. Equipped with powerful engines and surprising defensive capabilities while still bearing a kind of innate elegance, this ship is at the forefront of Helvetic diplomacy. It is, in essence, a luxury yacht equipped with living quarters, meeting rooms, and even a landing bay for small shuttles, all the while with bulkheads as strong as the best gunboats in space and rigged with a highly effective ECM suite.
- The ships look is essentially undecided; Im not sure how much influence Gallic designs would have on this one, especially since it is not a fighting vehicle. It should be of reasonable size, between a Democritus yacht and a large transport, having two or three engines, and most importantly having some kind of noticeable landing bay for a shuttle, around the size of, say, a Rhino freighter. Most likely the ship would be almost pure white, dazzling in fact, as the whole purpose is to make an impression. Windows, while braced like most others in the game, would cover large portions of conference rooms, both above and to the side.
- The gunboat turrets mounted here follow the same principles as all other Helvetic weapons: a compromise of more shield damage for slightly less hull damage and a huge power drain in an attempt to remove the need for secondary shield-busters. As the numbers suggest, even these four Gunboat-type guns would prove to be nothing more than a deterrent, firing potent, but brief, bursts in order to dissuade attackers (also this results in having a weapon ready in the event a gunship or patrol boat is decided on later, but not for the time being). Its a diplomatic transport, so first and foremost its meant to run if the going gets rough, therefore it has two CM hardpoints just as the Democritus does in order to maximize the chance of escape. Because it is purpose specific, Ive even decided on a set cargo manifest, which also serves to point out the fact that it only has 800 units worth of cargo available; this is not a super-trader of any sort, and as with all of the Helvetic ships, it is faction-specific and not for others' use.
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Helvetic PC-210 Skylark Freighter:
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Class - Freighter
Guns/Turrets - 0/5
Opt. Weapon Class - 5
Max Weapon Class - 5
Additional Equipment 1xCM, 1xM
Hull Strength 18,000
Max Shield Class Freighter (Class 6)
Cargo Space - 600
Nanobotts/Batteries 100/100
Max Impulse Speed - 80 m/s
Max Thruster Speed - 199 m/s
Power Output 40,000 u
Power Recharge 1,300 u/s
Turn Rate Slow Freighter
Helvetic Turret: SG-715 Tachyon Cannon Turret (Class 5) *Use on this ship Only*
Hdmg - 525
Sdmg - 450
Refire - 4.0
Range - 700m
Speed - 700 m/s
Energy - 300 u
Hdps - 2,100
Sdps - 1,800
Eused/s - 1200 u/s
Used on Fighter 8.5 seconds of sustained firing w/All five guns, 34 shots
- The Skylark is the band-aid solution to commerce: take an existing design and modify it to your standards. The Skylark is the natural progression of the PC-200 Lark, therefore being an Aurochs freighter using Helvetic technology. The Helvetians have worked hard to develop a freighter with increased cargo load and defensive capabilities within the same frame, and the fruits of their labor does not disappoint.
- In appearance, this ship is virtually the same as the Aurochs, with the obvious differences being in color scheme and insignia. A few other additions/subtractions could be made, but for the most part it is the same ship using Helvetic weapons and bearing Helvetic insignia. This ship would serve the cargo-specific duties in the faction, be it trade convoys or serving as armory ships.
- The gun turret follows the same principles as the gun its based off of, being virtually identical except for a slightly increased range. Most freighters, including the Aurochs, seem to be able to fire their weapons almost indefinitely, but since these weapons are rather powerful the energy tax seen on the original gun has stayed in place, removing this ability. As for equipment, this ship sacrifices the two forward guns and the CD slot that were present on the Aurochs and make up for it in increased hull strength and hold size.
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(Now, I've saved the primary fighter for last, since what's involved here is even more of a trip than this entire faction is. I've attempted to explain myself in the giant monologue that is to follow, so please read that before criticizing this portion, please.)
Helvetic PC-110 Kite Multirole Fighter:
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Class - Multirole Fighter
Guns/Turrets - 0/4
Opt. Weapon Class - 9
Max Weapon Class - 9
Additional Equipment - 1xCM, 1xCD, 1xM, 1xBT
Hull Strength - 8,500
Max Shield Class - Heavy Fighter (Class 9)
Cargo Space - 70
Nanobotts/Batteries - 60/60
Max Impulse Speed - 80 m/s
Max Thruster Speed - 199 m/s
Power Output - 30,000 u
Power Recharge - 1,000 u/s
Turn Rate - Medium VHF
Helvetic Fighter Gun: SG-710 Tachyon Cannon (Class 9) *Use on this ship Only*
Hdmg - 525
Sdmg - 450
Refire - 4.0
Range - 650m
Speed - 700 m/s
Energy - 297 u
Hdps - 2,100
Sdps - 1,800
Eused/s - 1188 u/s
Used on Fighter - 6.3 seconds of sustained firing w/All four guns, 25 shots
Description:
- The Kite is the fruits of years of research and development by the best minds of New Helvetica. Built upon design elements of the latest Gallic fighters, the Kite is an attempt to glean the most function out of the least amount of materials as possible. It is a multi-role fighter that can undertake virtually any mission it is assigned, albeit far less effectively than mission-specific spacecraft. As such, its weapons systems, defensive capabilities and maneuverability suffer, but coordination with other units can surmount these deficiencies to make for a very deadly force.
- While the Helvetians would make something original, they lack the infrastructure and technical expertise, therefore the final design would most likely look like a heavily-modified Gallic Navy fighter, with different wings and whatnot. The color scheme will vary in that the black areas would turn lighter while the white takes on more of a brighter, metallic hue. The ship will be twin engined, with mounting points for four guns, a cruise disruptor, mines, countermeasures, a thruster, and a single bomber torpedo (more on that, see below). A vertical stabilizer is mandatory, as it would be the area in which a standard red-striped cross band insignia would be drawn. That, along with roundels on the wings, would be the final indicator that these are not Gallic fighters.
And now for the big debate
- This fighter, being multi-role, is the logical solution for a small pseudo-house trying to cover its butt. New Helvetica wouldnt have the capacity to build an entire line of fighters and bombers, let alone cruisers and battleships, so I believe that they would follow in the footsteps of modern military aviation, and even the aviation in Starlancer (the Jackhammer, for instance, is practically a torpedo). Now, the current Discovery setup has a few heavy weapons on its fighters, but as we all know, the fighter torpedoes are a joke when it comes to taking on anything larger than another fighter. Therein steps the problem: what would a multi-role fighter need to have some capability against something larger than a gunship without an intermediate weapon between fighter and bomber torpedoes available?
As far as Im concerned, theres only one solution, and it ties in with the nature of a multi-role fighter: Give it a SNAC.
Now I have a lot of explaining to do, as Im aware of the rather nasty history of earlier versions of Discovery in which SNAC-comparable weapons were on fighter platforms. Such a weapon capable of sniping fighters out of the sky on a maneuverable platform would be Hell, not that people have had much trouble doing the same on bombers. The concept of the bomber was to sacrifice maneuverability and anti-fighter weapons for a large core capable of firing that big gun; supposedly this balanced out the fighter SNAC equation, although evidently it hasnt. So I asked myself, what could I possibly do to nerf a fighter with a SNAC? To maintain some semblance of the balance Discovery has established? The answer lies in the nature of multi-role fighters: the ability to do everything, but nothing well.
Some people have told me that Super Heavy Fighters are multirole, but thats outrageous; their maneuverability is horrendous, and their armor does little if anything to protect them. In fact, seeing them in action, Id equate them to bombers with nerfed weapons. If they cannot maneuver to fight, they cant fight, since in this game there are no other variables such as speed and altitude, just maneuverability. A SNAC multi-role fighter needs to have maneuverability. But then what? You have a fast-moving SNAC machine?
No, theres more to it than that, a lot more. Its worth noting that the SNAC requires a large core, no? 29,740 u for a shot to be exact. I made the core of this fighter 30,000 u flat, meaning one shot and its drained, very similar to SHFs, but look at the recharge rate of 1,000 u/s, less than that of most VHFs. This means that for every SNAC shot, the pilot has to wait thirty seconds in order to fire it again, all the while possibly having to fire his main guns and thus delaying the shot further. Unless the most exacting circumstances were met, no 1v1 with this fighter could ever end in the feared SNAC in the face instant death shot as it would be unable to drop the targets shields in time before it had a full charge to fire the SNAC at all. Youd require another ship keeping its shields down.
To do so would require teamwork.
On top of that, by the same token, the delay in firing would prevent the fighter from SNAC-spamming capital ships; consider the math. A single shot every thirty seconds on the mark would cause 132,000 hull and 66,000 shield damage. Thats every thirty seconds. Compare that to a bomber, in my example a Bergelmir: in 30 seconds the bomber can, theoretically speaking by firing shots perfectly one after the other when available, cause 448,800 hull damage and 224,400 shield damage. Clearly this uber fighter is no equal to a bomber, since itd take more than one ship to deal the same damage.
To do so would require teamwork. Noticing a trend? To use these ships anywhere near the scary level hypothesized by doomsayers would require multiple ships with extremely good fighting coordination, a skill that goes beyond the ability to use the single SNAC-death shot.
Now in my effort to further balance things out, I nerfed a lot on this fighter, as looking at the numbers may indicate. The fighter has the maneuverability of a mid-line VHF, therefore it can dogfight, but it has the armor of a HF and is limited to a Class 9 Shield, meaning the Mini-Razor would be much more effective in killing it. Compare that to a slow-firing SNAC every thirty seconds at it even puts this uber fighter at a disadvantage (without teamwork).
[Please note that the extra CD slot is a CD-only slot for policing purposes; no fighter torpedoes.]
Even on top of that, in the effort to nail down the power core, I even nailed down another element that nerfs the ship: Even with just four high-powered guns the ship only has enough power for some 6.3 seconds worth of sustained fire. Now, as you can see, in order to balance this a bit more I decided that the Helvetic gun would have more capability in the shield-damage department so that it wouldnt be necessary to sacrifice any of the meager four guns for Debilitators. But at the same time, the large power core for the SNAC would make the guns fire for something like twice as long as other fighters, so I shoved the energy use per-gun way up to compensate and get that 6.3 seconds worth.
The icing on the cake? Make this ship closed-faction specific (like the SCRA/Phantoms/etc) and mount only the given gun. Make it a rule. Then there will be no abuse of this ship's power core to make it an uber-fighter. Other servers would be advised to make the same restrictions, and as for offline Open-SP play, would that really matter?
The end result, in my opinion, is the best multi-role fighter possible in the Discovery Freelancer setting. It has acceptable dogfighting maneuverability, but sacrifices protection, leaving it vulnerable to Razors and the like. It has a SNAC, but the power demands sap it dry and even affect the basic gun setup: the guns are advanced enough to cause plenty of both shield and hull damage, but theres only four, and cannot be fired for long. The dreaded SNAC is essentially worthless unless theres other fighters backing you up, and even when there are, you suffer the penalty that is the birthmark of a multi-role fighter. While its possible to restrict the fighter to, perhaps, Nova Torpedoes only, bear in mind that torpedoes and missiles in this game, and most especially on the server, are fickle at best, and I believe are not suitable for most bomber missions regardless.
Hopefully this has addressed the issues concerned with the SNAC being on a fighter. If theres anything I missed that would jeopardize the purpose and balance of this ship, feel free to elaborate, but bear in mind I refuse to remove the SNAC on this fighter by principle only; Im not afraid to twist traditional things around here if they can still be reasonably worked with.
Finally, that's about it. I had a few other things in mind, like the roundels and identifying marks on the ships, the light types and positioning, and other tiny bits and pieces like that, but I believe those are unnecessary for the moment, especially given the sore lack of definite models.
I don't expect many of you to agree with what's been said here. The concept of a mini-House, and more importantly the Multirole Fighter, are definitely hard to swallow; I understand that. But as I said in the beginning, even if this falls through the floor, I'm still glad I had the perseverance to put it all together. Feel free to comment.
I read the whole concept and I like it, but I still don't see many players playing in Gallia, may be this will change in 4.86, I hope that till then the script gurus will find a way to extend the 200 limit.
(10-09-2013, 10:51 AM)Knjaz Wrote: Official faction players that are often accused of elitism, never deploy them and have those weird, immersion killing "fair fight/dueling" suicidal hobbies. (yes, i've seen enough of those lolduels, where house military with overwhelming force on the field willingly loses a pilot in a duel. ffs.)
I understand that you want to have your own ship line based on the royal ships so this will take some time.
After that, you need 2 systems, weapons, stations, Jump Gates (would be great if you put the new gallic JG), trade lanes... Lots of work...
And most of all. This is a major faction (a mini house... maybe more) so Igiss and Co. must agree with this.
Did I mention that I like the idea?:P
*Goes away thinking to make a new faction - New Vallahia*
' Wrote:Not sure about existance of Republic within Empire, though.:)
Yeah, it's a bit of a contradiction, no? But you have to bear in mind the situation here: the Swiss were essentially "independent upstarts" for the first 300 some odd years when Gallia started to be built because, unlike virtually every other House here, the Swiss tried to mimic their former way of life to the letter T. That in of itself would be a threat to the Crown because they were intertwined in the populace and economy. But they were sent along with the blessings of the original French government, and the people didn't mind them all that much, so outright removing them or forcing their assimilation was out of the question. Therefore, by giving them a relatively stagnate and worthless plot of space, King Charles III essentially shoved them into a corner and left them to their own devices; the Crown no longer had to deal with the Swiss as potential rebels or instigators on Gallic worlds, so supposedly the threat was removed. But this was only a band-aid solution; the absolute monarchy by its own accord brewed dissent and when the rebels finally started to take shape the Swiss government was right there to look like a democratic alternative. The Swiss were essentially given a false independence, just as much as Switzerland had in WW2 when it was completely surrounded by the Axis nations. But now that things are beginning to branch out into Sirius, there's "more room to maneuver" so to speak, so New Switzerland has a chance to slip out from under the Crown's heel. Whether or not it does and how it does is to be decided by what actually occurs with the faction.
' Wrote:That needs to exist. It just does.
Thank you.
' Wrote:I read the whole concept and I like it, but I still don't see many players playing in Gallia, may be this will change in 4.86, I hope that till then the script gurus will find a way to extend the 200 limit.
Hopefully it will change in 4.86. And even still, if things worked out, you'd be seeing Swiss diplomatic missions as far afield as Rheinland, so the function of this group isn't limited to just Gallia like the native factions have up to this point.
' Wrote:Nice but still needs lots of work.
I understand that you want to have your own ship line based on the royal ships so this will take some time.
After that, you need 2 systems, weapons, stations, Jump Gates (would be great if you put the new gallic JG), trade lanes... Lots of work...
And most of all. This is a major faction (a mini house... maybe more) so Igiss and Co. must agree with this.
- Yes, I would like an original shipline, but between it being partially based on existing models and it also comprising a bare '3 ships' compared to, say, 5 for the SCRA, it wouldn't take quite as much effort. I see the challenge there as irrelevant compared to the rest, really.
- Not so much two systems, just one; I'm banking on at least some Gallic core world or another being included come the next version, since we already have a list of names on the Wiki. The question is just which one would fit; I'd prefer it to be virtually in the same position I have on the fake map so that NS can link to Languedoc but naturally it'd all depend.
- Weapons, stations, gates, all that good stuff, aye, it would, but we're looking at three weapons, three types of stations, and gates/lanes that come straight from Gallia so whatever Gallia uses this would too. As for the map, it's less complex than most, and again this is a kind of basic issue compared to the challenge of making this faction at all.
- Igiss and Co.? Absolutely, although I don't quite know how to coax him/them into reading and considering this idea.