DARKSTAR CAMPAIGN UPDATE: DUCHESS ANNABEL’S WAR IS OVER

The Taihō (“Great Phoenix”) class of light cruiser is one of the most modern warships of its size presently being produced by any navy.  The are sleek, fast for a cruiser, and beautiful.  Furthermore, they bristle with state of the art ECM emitters, shielding, and some of the most advanced target acquisition sensors in Known Space.  Although originally fitted with rail guns, the Taihō has since dispensed with such tradition in favor of a lighter, longer-ranged array of 8 MgKv laser emitters, backed up by powerful 60 eHz syglex emitters for carving off a target’s armor or damaging the larger components of bigger ships.  Even a medium-ranged broadside from a Taihō can easily burn through the hide of a comparable-sized ship, shaving down protection with her x-ray guns before punching into reactors, engines, and magazines with heavy lasers and of course the dreaded Ki-45 “Toryu” (Dragon Slayer) torpedoes.

These updates to the Taihō also saw new thinking in regards to the shielding and mass driver defenses.  Original ships of this class suffered heavily from Chinese, Prussian, and American torpedo strikes to their engines and gravity rudders, and so defenses in the aft quarters has been greatly increased.  However, a ship natually can’t be invulnerable everywhere, so forward protection is actually somewhat weak.  Lastly, the Taihō cruisers were upgraded to the newest “Seiku” (Clear Sky) targeting and fire control system, enough to partially suppress the ECM of even the most heavily-shielded of targets.  Yet for all this technology, the Taihō  remains a relative lightweight in sheer hitting power and resilience when stacked up against the cruisers of other navies.  Such advanced equipment also raises questions of supply and maintenance, especially given the rather cramped cargo capacity.  Only time will tell if the new tech crammed into the sleek hulls of the Taihō class will stand the rigors of colonial naval combat.

Metrics:

Mass: 78,867 tons
Crew: 417 Officers and Men
Marines: 42
Passengers: 15
Cargo: 300 tons

Aerospace:
2 scouts at 300 tons
1 launch at 2,000 tons
1 yacht at 4,000 tons

ECM / Gravitic Shielding
Bow: 4
P Bow: 5
S Bow: 5
P Quarter: 5
S Quarter: 5
Stern: 5

Armament:
Turret – x2 8-mgkv lasers (bow)
Turret – x2 8-mgkv lasers (stern)
Turret – x1 75-eHz syglex emitter (bow)
Turret – x3 class V Ki-45 torpedo tubes (port bow)
Turret – x3 class V Ki-45 torpedo tubes (starboard bow)
Turret – x6 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 – x6 35mm mass driver point defense array (p quarter)
Turret – x6 35mm mass driver point defense array (s quarter)
Turret – x6 35mm mass driver point defense array (stern)

Ships in Class
CE 37    IJN Taiho   —  2506, New Kyoto Shipyards, Earth
CE 38    IJN Nagara  — 2508, Akagi Prime, Gamma Leporis
CE 39   IJN Chitose  —  2509, New Kyoto Shipyards, Earth
CE 40   IJN Oyodo  —  2510, Shogun Station, Callisto
CE 41    IJN Sendai  —  2511, Shogun Station, Callisto
CE 42    IJN Tone  —  2512, Akagi Prime, Gamma Leporis
CE 43    IJN Kitakami  —  2513, New Kyoto Shipyards, Earth
CE 44    IJN Takase  —  2514, Akagi Prime, Gamma Leporis
CE 45    IJN Shogawa  —  2515, Shogun Station, Callisto
CE 46    IJN Kozuryu  —  2516, Shogun Station, Callisto