Vessel:Anaxander
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 Ships
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Visuals
Description #1: (a quick verbal sketch of a quick freehand sketch – more later)
A tube with length:diameter ~ 6:1 very slightly squashed in the vertical dimension. Narrowed vertically somewhat at front to attach to hammerhead-style frontal region. Hammerhead has teardrop shaped cross section viewed from the side. Point of teardrop faces backwards. At the rear of the ship there are two similar projections on the sides of the 'engine'. There is no narrowing, rather the projections expand rapidly to merge into hull. Height of front teardrop ~1/2 diameter length (base to point) ~1 diameter (more or less) and rear teardrops are somewhat larger. Width of hammerhead – artist's discretion + field of fire for mounted PD + anti-small craft turrets. At bottom rear of vessel, forward slightly of exhaust region is an underslung docking bay, with an opening at the rear, facing back and slightly downwards.
There are six major projections extending radially from the ship, three rear, and three front. The three rear are in a top, bottom-left, bottom-right radial symmetry, and the front three are shifted 60 degrees to a bottom, top-right, top-left radial symmetry. The rear projections begin just after the engine region and are narrow at the back, wider at the front, have a gradual slope on the rear side, a flat top, and a very steep returning slope (something vaguely like a rose thorn that has been pruned of the pointy part). They do not return all the way to their original height level relative to the hull and instead merge into spinal gun emplacements that sit on top of the hull, each gun emplacement housing three long, large weapons. Attached to the flat top of each projection is a triple-mouthed torpedo turret. The three fore projections are longer, less stout, and have maneuvering engines through their middles. They are faced oppositely (flatter region back-facing, pointy region forward-facing) and are topped with gun turrets.
Additional gun emplacements are present on top of the engine section and on the bottom of the docking bay. The longer projections are (in height) ~30% of the ship's length, the shorter rear ones ~20%. On the exterior facing flattened sides of the hammerheads (both front and rear) are "sensor stuff". Overall ship's length estimate for scaling perspective ~ 2.1km.
Ultra-brief ship's history: The Anaxander is old, and even with retrofits is aging significantly. It was the main Aeran cruiser at the beginning of the Rlaan-Aera conflict, having already been produced in some number. As newer designs (some already in the pipeline) were phased in, the Anaxander moved to less prestigious roles. While still a vessel of noteworthy offensive potential, it now almost universally finds itself attached to task forces rather than leading them.
Description
- Manufacturing Faction: Aeran Oligarchy
- Role Summary: Cruiser
- Combat Behavior: Engages enemy sub-capital and escort capitals en-masse at long range.
- Known Major Variants: none
- Tenure of Service: Old
- Utilization: Aeran
- Role Details:
- Lacking the facilities for more modern Aeran armaments and armoring, and designed before certain combat lessons were learned, the Anaxander is fragile by current standards, and mounts few weapons that are individually devastating. However, despite these shortcomings, it is still festooned with a fair number of weaker weapons with good range, and they are put to good use when focused on the escort craft of an enemy fleet.
