 NOVA DREADNOUGHT
Craft: Earthforce Nova Class Dreadnought
Type: Dreadnought (heavy assault ship)
Scale: Capital
Dimensions:
-Length: 1,502.1m
Skill: Capital ship piloting: Nova destroyer
Crew: 1,040
-Gunners: 86
-Troops: 80
-Skeleton: 255/+15
Crew Skill: Astrogation 4D+1, Capital ship gunnery 5D+2, Capital ship piloting 5D, Sensors 4D+1, Starship gunnery 4D+1
Passengers: 60
Cargo Capacity: 12,000 metric tons
Consumables: 1 year
Cost: Not available for sale
Hyperspace Jump Engines: Yes
Nav Computer: Yes (+1D Astrogation)
Maneuverability: 1D+2
Speed:
-Space: 5
-Atmosphere: N/A
Hull: 5D
Shields: N/A
Sensors:
-Passive: 35/1D
-Scan: 70/1D+2
-Search: 140/2D+1
-Focus: 4/3D
AUXILIARY CRAFT CAPACITY:
-4 Badger class Starfuries
-2 Work Shuttles
-2 Atmospheric Shuttles
-4 Maintenance/Docking Pods
-4 Work Pods
WEAPONS:
18 Dual Heavy Plasma Discharge Assault Cannons
Location: Mounted along hull
Fire Arc: 14 front, 4 back
Crew: 4 (18)
Skill: Capital ship gunnery
Scale: Capital
Fire Control: 2D
Range:
-Space: 2-12/24/50
-Atmosphere: 4-24/48/100km
Damage: 7D (6D individually)
Rate Of Fire: 1/2
Special:
-Fire-Link Optional: Can fire fire-linked or seperately (Damage 6D, Rate of Fire 1)
2 Fusion Mine Launchers
Location: Mounted front, Under launch bay
Fire Arc: 2 front
Crew: 4 (2)
Skill: Capital starship gunnery
Scale: Capital
Fire Control: 0D
Range:
-Space: 3/6/9
-Atmosphere: 2-3/6/9km
Speed: 9/9kmh
Damage: 12D/6D
Ammo: 4 each
Rate Of Fire: 1/4
4 40mm Pulse Cannons
Location: Mounted along hull
Fire Arc: turrets
Crew: 1 (4)
Skill: Starship gunnery
Scale: Starfighter
Fire Control: 2D
Range:
-Space: 1-3/12/25
-Atmosphere: 100-300/1.2/2.5km
Damage: 5D
Rate Of Fire: 3
2 Interceptors
Location: Mounted in forward/aft hull
Fire Arc: Turrets
Crew: 1 (2)
Skill: Starship gunnery
Scale: Starfighter
Fire Control: 4D
Range:
-Space: 1-4/16/35
-Atmosphere: 100-400/1.6/3.5km
Damage: 2D
Rate Of Fire: 4
DESCRIPTION:
The Nova class dreadnought, sometimes referred to as a battleship, is an immense Earth Alliance warship designed to bring massive firepower against any target.
This vessel is one of the older classes alongside the Hyperion-class heavy cruiser and shares a similar basic design as the much later Omega-class destroyer. This design fought in many engagements in the Earth-Minbari War but like the other capital ships of that time found itself totally outclassed by the Minbari ships, and many were destroyed during the conflict.
GAME NOTES:
-GRAVITY: This class of ship has no artificial gravity or rotating sections. The crew operate in zero-g. If they use the available straps to stay seated, they can operate with no penalties. Otherwise, they incur all the penalties for operating in zero-g.
-JUMP ENGINES: Instead of Hyperdrives, most ships in the Babylon 5 setting have Hypserspace Jump Engines. Instead of the ship instantly accelerating at faster than light speeds and be partially or fully in hyperspace in an instant, this drive opens an aperture, or "jumpgate", into Hyperspace. The ship enters Hyperspace and flies as though it were normal space, locking onto Hyperspace beacons that mark the destination to desired coordinates (though Hyperspace has conditions of its own that can cause hazards for ship travel). When a jumpgate is opened, the ship must still maneuver and fly into the aperture. This can leave an opening for the ship to be attacked before leaving the area (unlike Star Wars where a ship can leave immediately once the Hyperdrive is engaged). Instead of the ship's speed through Hyperspace being determined by the quality of the Hyperdrive, it is the ship's own flight speed that determines how fast it travels through Hyperspace. Also, Astrogation is used differently. Instead of doing calculations to plot Hyperspace coordinates, Astrogation is used to locate and lock on to Hyperspace beacons. If the signal from these beacons is ever lost, a ship could wind up lost in hyperspace forever.
Historical
Dreadnoughts have a place in history as being large capital naval ships with many large caliber weapons. The ship itself is sometimes the size of other large capital ships, sometimes larger, with weapons commonly found on these other large capital ships but more of them. Sometimes these weapons may be larger versions meant to deal more damage.
In this case, the Nova Dreadnought has a hull similar to the Omega Destroyer and much larger versions of the Plasma Pulse and Plasma Discharge cannons found on Earth made starfighters and capital ships. The Nova's hull was the largest made by Earth at the time of the Earth-Mimbari War, and the inspiration for the Omega class made after that conflict. The Nova's cannons, while state of the art and powerful for the time, had their own drawbacks. Their size alone limits the ship's maneuverability. Their power consumption also taxed the power generation systems of the Nova to the limit. Later vessels like the Omega had more refined weapons that used less power or could do more with the power they used.
Design Notes
While the Nova's firepower may seem relatively equal to the Omega Destroyer's, there is a difference in each ship's significance. Before the Omega Destroyer came to be the dominant ship in the Earethfores, the Hyperion Cruiser was the common ship, while the Nova Dreadnought, similar to the Omega, was a more rare sight, a ship built to live up to the term "dreadnought". This was especially true during the Earth-Mimbari War. After the war, humanity realized they needed to up their game in space warfare. Design elements from the Nova led to the creation of the Omega Destroyer, a ship similar to the Nova, more advanced, more refined in firepower, yet it became the common ship in Earthforce, much larger than the older Hyperion Cruisers. Even with these changes the Nova is still a strong presence in Earthforce military spacecraft and is still used heavily in space warfare, perhaps more now than before.
The key difference between the Nova and Omega. The Omega has several different kinds of weapons systems at its disposal. The Nova's main weaponry is mostly just heavy weapons. While the Omega has weapons equal to the Nova's, the Nova has more of these guns and could potentially do more damage. However, the Omega has a bit more range, and hull dice.
OTHER INFO:
Status: Active (as of 2259)
Affiliation: Earth Alliance
Class: Dreadnought
Length: 1,502.1m
Jump Capable: Yes
Gravity: No
Weapons: 18 twin cannons of unknown type
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