"Old" Solomani Ships?

[AlHazred]

Man, I wish there was some way to search the wiki for starships using criteria, like, say, "TL-12" and "300 tons". The wiki always needs work, but still.

Doubtful.

[SNIP]

I personally would consider the J2+2 "option" to be the most likely one, since such a fuel fraction is the best for "raiding" without being dependent on resupply after every jump.

Sure, but this is supposed to be one of the "best [and] newest" of the ships available. Usually (not always, I'll grant) that equates to higher maneuver and/or better jump.

 

[AlHazred]

Personally, I'm now wondering if it's feasible he could have had a J3+3 ship as his command vessel. Canonically, Denisov's forces were defeated at Mertactor (Spinward Marches 1537), and then finally at Bowman (Spinward Marches 1132). The Mongoose scenario Skandersvik has additional activity in Nirton (Spinward Marches 1332). Looking at the jump map, there are some good routes for J3+3 in that vicinity, going between Bowman and Mertactor.

 

[AlHazred]

Also, I can't canonically find Grossadmiral (Grand Admiral) Denisov's first name anywhere. I'm considering calling him Dominikus Hareksson Denisov, just because it's strange enough that "Denisov" could be the common shorthand.

 

[Spinward Flow]

Personally, I'm now wondering if it's feasible he could have had a J3+3 ship as his command vessel.

HIGHLY UNLIKELY.

If you're working with a LBB5.80 paradigm, J3 is already TL=12 minimum ... which isn't "impossible" for the Sword Worlds, but you're at the limit of what they could construct. The real problem though is the "payload fraction" (effectively, the weapon systems and crew for a military ship) for anything pulling J3+3 @ TL=12.

Let's take the most "obvious" possibility and assume we're talking about a J3/6G starship @ TL=12.

• J3 = 4%
• 6G = 17%
• PP6 = 18% @ TL=12
• J3+3 Fuel = 60%
• PP Fuel = 6%
• Bridge = 2%

4+17+18+60+6+2 = 107% of hull displacement ... and I haven't even added any computer, weapons, crew, troops, etc. into the spreadsheet yet.

There's a reason why "most" fleets top out at a 4 parsec range for mobility.
It's just TOO EXPENSIVE in terms of "working fraction" in a military oriented starship design to reach for 5 parsecs of range in jump fuel.

J4 or J2+2 ... that's doable in a military combatant.
J6 or J3+3 ... that's basically a fleet courier and it will have trouble fitting weapons+crew inside the hull.

 

[Rupert]

I consider J3 the most likely - it's the best you can do at TL12, and a clear advantage over J2 and often over J2+2 (and at TL12 that extra 10% fuel for J2+2 is expensive in terms of payload). J2+2 would need to be used as J2+1 or J2+2 a lot to get around, as he was active as a pirate for a while before being caught, and plain J2 is fairly easy to catch in that volume of space due to the way the 'fuel-less' systems are laid out - plain J2 just isn't flexible enough. I think J2+2 (or J2+1) is too slow as well. TL-12 J3 just seems more likely to me for the 'newest and best' SW ships of that time.

 

[AlHazred]

I consider J3 the most likely - it's the best you can do at TL12, and a clear advantage over J2 and often over J2+2 (and at TL12 that extra 10% fuel for J2+2 is expensive in terms of payload).

I kind of agree. The thing is, J2+2 is the better commerce raider, no question. But if this was a Sword Worlds ship meant for fleet action, it wouldn't necessarily be designed for that. The subsectors the SW fleet typically engage during the Frontier Wars are Vilis, Lanth, Lunion, District 268 -- all with many worlds on the Spinward Main. The need for J2+2 capability isn't there from that standpoint; these ships are meant to operate as a group, to enact the War Plans. You need the extra jump when operating without adequate intelligence or backup.

Now, the theoretical ship Denisov escaped in might not have been one of his original detectors, in which case he might have chosen a commerce raider as a flagship; since he is renegade from the Naval High Command, he no longer gets the reliable intelligence assets he would need to operate "safely."

 

[Rupert]

While moving through the centre of Vilis and Lanth rewards J4 (or better yet, J5), J3 is good enough. For Darrian, Sword Worlds, Lunion, District 268, and Glisten J3 is plenty (and J2 will do nicely for commercial use, but this isn't commercial), unless you want to move freely coreward-rimward, and for that you really need J5+. So he'd need something better than J2 for certain, or he'd have been caught much sooner.

Also, I don't consider a calibration point between Narsil and Enos likely, because Enos isn't part of the SW until well after the 4th FW. The that the SW suffer no loss of territory in the 2nd FW and the battle was at Narsil, that Imperial fleet was almost certainly based out of the Darrian Confederation, so I doubt Denisov would run through there. As he was a renegade for not surrendering, running back down the SW chain might seem unlikely, but would be possible in a fast group (i.e. J3) that could keep ahead of the news of the loss: Excalibur-Biter-Steel (all have GGs) and then out to Rimward and gone. Alternatively, jump to Flammarion (non-aligned at the time), buy or extort fuel, and then jump to Bowman - I assume he chose Bowman because he or one of his staff knew it had good conditions for hiding a base.

I think that, as he was brought to bay at Mertactor, he was probably raiding Imperial shipping between the main body and the Imperial enclave in Five Sisters that would run along the coreward edge of District 268, and from Glisten through Mertactor (already Imperial from the end of the 1st FW). It's the main area of Imperial expansion, and preventing that would be a motivator for a 'patriotic' SW raider (and there's be plenty of shipping carrying useful supplies, rather than luxury goods, etc.).

 

[Spinward Flow]

Given that Denisov's Last Stand took place shortly after the Second Frontier War in 621.

We need historical maps.

CT M03 The Spinward Campaign, p14

Caladbolg/Sword Worlds was already Imperial controlled space, but Flammarion/Sword Worlds was not.
Enos/Sword Worlds was not a part of the confederation (yet).

In fact, according to the map on CT M03 The Spinward Campaign, p15 ... Flammarion wasn't even Imperial territory as of the end of the 4th Frontier War (1084), so by 1105 it would have to be a VERY RECENT acquisition (less than 20 years).



Upon further reflection, a J2+2 transit through Enos does not make sense.
Even in 1105, Enos has a type E starport (no fuel) and is a Desert planet (hydrographics: 0) and there is no gas giant in the star system(!).

This would make Enos an especially poor choice of a "wilderness refueling pit stop" on route to Bowman.