Persei-Aries War Resumes

I should note that this week’s warships were designed by the community during a “Warship Workshop” held on our Discord Channel last Saturday. Now the community members have made their decisions, set their priorities, and made their tradeoffs, we’re ready to try these new warships in live Darkstar games in the weeks ahead!

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The Azadistan class light fleet carriers are a new class of aerospace strike ships being built for the Arab League Navy.  They are named for breakaway Arab caliphates that waged a stunning and bloody (if brief) war against the Holy Russian Empire, Indian Republic, and United States during the Water Wars of the 2190s.  In some ways they are the “purest” carrier class yet built, little more than flying hangars (albeit with advanced engines and Darkstar FTL drives).  All they can do is carry and launch aerospace strike aircraft, and this they do very well.

Note the greatly expanded hangar and launch bays, housing a startling total of forty-four craft, easily more than any other light fleet carrier class, challenging even the aerospace strike groups of much larger fleet carriers like the American Obama and British Windsor classes.  Also note the disproportionate number of bombers, with two full squadrons of “Demkikham” (Vengeance) bombers carried along with just one reinforced squadron of “Mylekinir” (Fire Angel) fighters.  This clearly indicates the Azadistan’s true purpose as a dedicated strike platform, hurling out a wave of bombers to devastate enemy capital ships, orbital platforms, or ground targets.  There are practically no comparable ship classes that even have a hope of withstanding such a strike, statistically speaking an Azadistan commander could theoretically play “finger of God” and simply point at the enemy warship he wants erased from existence.

The problem, however, is that the Azadistan carries such a devastating weapon at the cost of some crippling weaknesses that enemy commanders may be able to exploit.  One, the ship carries no ship-to-ship weaponry, period.  Even other “pure” light fleet carriers like the Gagarin, Endeavor, Valiant, and Kagoshima classes at least carry a battery of gravitic torpedoes.  Two, the Azadistan carries ECM and shielding suites that most analysts consider mediocre at best, as well as mass driver protection.  Note these systems aren’t bad, but they aren’t great, either.  Three, even the Azadistan’s aerospace group may need protection, with such a high number of vulnerable bombers compared to escorting fighters.  Fourth, and perhaps most dangerous, the Azadistan is still a light cruiser, and can thus only launch so many aerospace craft at a time.  Estimates indicate that an Azadistan will require a full three minutes to launch their entire aerospace group, an eternity in a high-speed naval engagement.  Bombers typically need a further 60-90 seconds to reach engagement ranges to their targets, meaning that an Azadistan may require four-five minutes to actually hit with a full strike, but which time many battles are already over.   By that time enemy fighters, bombers, and warships are likely upon the Azadistan, which would now be at risk of destruction perhaps with aerospace strike craft still in the hangars.

Used correctly, however, and well-supported by other ships in a fleet action, the Azadistan has potential as a truly fearsome weapon.  They may be demanding ships to command, but properly managed and coordinated, the damage they can inflict as a raider or strike platform (perhaps as part of a planetary invasion) is truly impressive.  As the first units of this class take their place in the battle lines of select Arab League task forces, the verdict will soon be in on whether this bold new concept pays off in combat.