DARKSTAR CAMPAIGN UPDATE: DUCHESS ANNABEL’S WAR IS OVER
Darkstar Warship Design: Leopold Class Heavy Cruiser
Built for heavy broadsides and named for the old Germanic kings of Prussia and Imperial Germany, the Leopold class stands perhaps as the epitome of the "classic" heavy cruiser. With its traditional "Atlantic style" layout of four double rail gun turrets, the Leopold breaks with convention only when it comes to the size of these weapons. The Leopold carries 11 gigawatt rail guns, the largest mounted on any heavy cruiser in Known Space, pushing them practically into the realm of the pocket battleship. As if this were not enough, the Leopold class also mounts a staggering twelve 6 gigawatt rail guns for secondary armament, making this far and away the biggest battery of rail guns on anything short of a full battleship. This arsenal comes at the expense of speed, however, not to mention a complete lack of other weapons like the torpedo arrays of the rival Slava class (Holy Russian Empire) or the advanced targeting suites of the Iron Dukes (United Kingdom). Some critics also point to the mass driver defenses of the Leopold, which are admittedly slightly substandard for a ship of this weight. Designers counter this claim by pointing out that the Leopold is meant to serve as the flagship of a task force (wherever the Prussian Navy can't afford to send a true dreadnought), and will always be deployed with sufficient escort to help with mass driver defense. Most notably this is the new Ostwind class escort frigate. Still, to look at a Leopold is to look at a design from another age, proof that Imperial Prussia remains committed to her long-standing "grossgeschutzen" (big gun) traditions in naval thought. ECM / Gravitic Shielding
Bow: 4
P Bow: 5
S Bow: 5
P Quarter: 5
S Quarter: 5
Stern: 5
Armament:
Turret – x2 11-gigawatt rail guns (bow)
Turret – x2 11-gigawatt rail guns (bow)
Turret – x2 11-gigawatt rail guns (stern)
Turret – x2 11-gigawatt rail guns (stern)
Turret – x2 6-gigawatt rail guns (bow)
Turret – x2 6-gigawatt rail guns (bow)
Turret – x2 6-gigawatt rail guns (p bow)
Turret – x2 6-gigawatt rail guns (s bow)
Turret – x2 6-gigawatt rail guns (p quarter)
Turret – x2 6-gigawatt rail guns (s quarter)
Turret – x4 35mm mass driver point defense array (bow)
Turret – x4 35mm mass driver point defense array (p bow)
Turret – x4 35mm mass driver point defense array (s bow)
Turret – x4 35mm mass driver point defense array (p quarter)
Turret – x4 35mm mass driver point defense array (s quarter)
Turret – x6 35mm mass driver point defense array (stern)
Ships in Class:
KS-1345 KMS Leopold
KS-1346 KMS Ferdinand II
KS-1347 KMS Freidrich Wilhelm
KS-1348 KMS Franz Josef
KS-1349 KMS Koenig Albert
KS-1350 KMS Von Der Tann
KS-1351 KMS Blücher
KS-1352 KMS Lutzow
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