Difference between revisions of "Space Vehicles and Machines"

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File:Szlachcic0.png|''Polish Szlachcic Class Boarding Destroyer''
 
File:Szlachcic0.png|''Polish Szlachcic Class Boarding Destroyer''
 
File:Briktoid_Automata_Tannenbaum_Orbital_Destroyer.png|''Briktoid "Tannenbaum" class Orbital Destroyer''
 
File:Briktoid_Automata_Tannenbaum_Orbital_Destroyer.png|''Briktoid "Tannenbaum" class Orbital Destroyer''
File:Suzu3.png|''Galacian Pachenko class heavy Destroyer''
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File:Galdestroyer1.png|''Galacian Pachenko class heavy Destroyer''
 
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Revision as of 16:55, 6 August 2017

The Assyrian Warship Sonks

Starships and their kind are the penultimate in common minifig teknology. These are vehicles and machines that are capable of taking the fight to the very stars themselves. With these ships, entire empires can comb the universe for ever more powerful, strange, and mysterious power sources and weapons. They can invade other worlds and do battle on colossal space stations. They can develop and mount ever larger weaponry and revel in its destructive power. Truly, expansion into space is the stuff of minifig imagination and it allows them to glory in all that they are at heart. Infinite space in which to build...and in which to destroy.

Constant exploration into unknown space and the paradigm shifting discoveries made there, the mercurial circumstances in the social universe combined with the ever more clever development of the Factions and Forces that influence it, and the universe recycling Rekonstruktions banishing teknologies to oblivion and bringing new ones previously unheard of to the fore all contribute to the vast number of starship classifications and designations in the BrikVerse. From escape pods and star fighters to capital ships and starbases and beyond, the BrikVerse knows no creative or destructive bounds and BrikWarriors are ever more inspired (and encouraged) to take to the heavens and do great justice to the inherent nature of the BrikWar.


Space Teknologies

Space Teknologies are organized, at their broadest, into Categories which help to define a teknology's overall function. They are then grouped into general families of designs, or Classifications, for ease of reference. These Classes are not hard and fast, of course. With so many factions in the universe, some are bound to deviate from the standard somewhat. Where this is the case, their classifications will be included with their faction entry. Within some Classifications exist a breakdown of various Specifications, design specs which are divergent from the main design of the Class but which remain highly similar in theme or component. Finally, Space Teknologies are given a variety of descriptor tags called Designations which further define the capabilities and roles of the teknology.


Starships

Starships comprise the largest Category of Space Teknologies. There are a great deal of Starship Classes and Specifications, running the gamut from one man craft all the way up through and beyond city sized space craft. All Starships are space worthy and vehicular in nature, capable of movement among the stars. While some are also capable of atmospheric flight, the aforementioned traits are the primary identifiers of Starships.


Fighter Class

Fighter Starships, or Starfighters, are small, self propelled combat space craft, usually armed with an array of heavy weaponry suitable for space combat, shielded or lightly armored, and powered by high energy but short term power sources. These ships are typically designed for fast, short range space combat and are almost always found scrambling from carriers, bases, or stations. Groupings of Fighter Specifications are often given the size designation.

Interceptor

Interceptor Starfighters are the most common fighters, representing a balance of offensive and defensive abilities and self sufficiency. Interceptors are single engagement ships, built for the singular purpose of short range combat. These ships intercept other ships and so may find themselves fulfilling both offensive and defensive roles. They are the cheapest ships, usually, to build being, also usually, the smallest. Their small size combined with their high energy consumption, however, keep them fairly tethered to a fuel source, typically a larger carrier-type ship.

Strike

Strike Fighters are slightly more self sufficient than their Interceptor cousins and are typically loaded down with a heavier array of devastatingly offensive weaponry. Strike Fighters are built to be fast, heavy hitting warships capable of ranging out to a mildly distant target. They are also a good deal larger than most Starfighters, in order to compensate for the advanced weapons systems, but aren't usually better shielded or armored. They are described often as "flying guns."

Reconnaissance

Recon Fighters are extremely long range ships that tend to sacrifice both offensive and defensive capabilities in favor of higher fuel capacity, stealth systems, and staggering amounts of high-end surveillance equipment.


Tactical Class

Tactical Ships fulfill a specific role within a fleet or battlegroup. They are often small to medium sized self propelled space craft armed, armored, and equipped variably to assist their assigned function. Tactical Ships are almost always self sufficient, being the backbone of most operations.

Cutter

Cutter Starships are the ultimate in practical serviceability, designed to fulfill a variety of support roles from minor escort to transport (ferrying cargo/personnel from ship to ship or base). Cutters are light and fast and, as such, serve well on patrol or in raids.

GunBoat

Sometimes also called sloops-of-war, the term GunBoat is a sort of catchall classification for all smaller warships that don't fulfill a specific function. GunBoats are far and away the single most common Tactical Class Starship in the BrikVerse. They are the filler for most fleets. Usually thick ships with solid armoring or shielding, GunBoats are also laden with a lot of big guns and tons of transport space (usually reserved for troops). They are, however, typically lumbering and slow.

Corvette

Corvette Starships are larger and heavily crewed but are also speedy and maneuverable. Corvettes serve almost exclusively as patrol craft, monitoring territorial borders and various zones in space of strategic value. Thanks to their high self sufficiency, large crew compliment, and relative speed, these vessels sometimes serve as exploration ships. These ships are highly prized by minifigs and members of a faction's space corps are always ecstatic to receive posting on one. Corvettes are almost universally equipped with boarding teknology, allowing Minifigs to take the fight to one another even in the depths of space and capture one another's vessels on their own terms.

Carrier

Carrier Starships are vessels that have been built primarily for transportation, whether of cargo or personnel. They are heavily armored and shielded but typically maintain only defensive weaponry. Carriers are often large creations, the better to hold more cargo space but also to maintain their massive engines. The most effective Carriers are also relatively fast, if not maneuverable, so that they may get into combat or away from it in time. Small Carriers are sometimes called Dropships, whereas large carriers range from Planetary Landers to Starfighter Bases.


Battle Class

Battle Starships are the big guns of a space fleet, though they are powerful enough to sometimes operate alone during small or limited engagements. They are medium to very large self propelled combat space craft, typically heavily armed and armored, equipped with a vast array of practical systems, extremely self sufficient, and usually capable of extraordinary speeds.

Frigate

Frigates are vessels that are built for speed and maneuverability, pure and simple. Offensive (as much as it can be) and defensive capabilities are an afterthought in a Frigate's main design. Frigates typically serve as command vessels for escort groups and as tactical lynchpins, outmaneuvering and outflanking enemy formations.

Destroyer

Destroyers are defensive warships, heavily armored and/or shielded and equipped with a battery of anti-everything weaponry. They are the protectors of convoys and the main command ships in a blockade. Destroyers are built to be fast and maneuverable, like their Frigate cousins with whom they share many responsibilities, but tend to sacrifice positioning power for more defensive and tactical weaponry.

Cruiser

Cruisers are some of the more common heavy hitters among Starships. They are often very large vessels which are fully outfitted to operate alone and remain self sufficient for as long as it takes to complete any given mission. Given that these duties may include long range patrol and surveillance, some Cruisers can outlast some Capital Ships. Cruisers also engage lone raids and massive transport (often serving as blockade busters). When they are paired with other ships in a fleet, it is often in an escort position.

Battleship

Battleships are the penultimate in offensive space combat ships. They are equipped with a bewildering arrangement of really very powerful and very large guns, highly specialized tactical weaponry, and (where they'll fit) broadsides of smaller defensive weapons tek. Battleships are so focused on offensive and tactical systems that they don't care much about defensive capability and only maintain enough power in the engines to get them into a fight. They're big, they're scary, and they're some of the best common ships in any given fleet.


Capital Class

While lesser ships may fight skirmishes for bits and pieces of territory, Capital Ships are the starship monstrosities that vie for whole regions of space and struggle valiantly for control of the most valuable resources the BrikVerse has to offer. Capital Class vessels, typically, can do everything. They're equipped to the gills with everything a faction could possibly need. Vast fuel stores, huge cargo bays, impressive crew and civilian complements, an absurd amount of weaponry, and more mass than many small moons. Capital Ships coordinate Fleet actions and serve as a true measure of a faction's real power in open space. When a Capital Ship appears on the field of battle, the enemy knows that things have gone from whatever they were before to much, much worse and in a hurry.

Dreadnought

Dreadnoughts are the biggest, heaviest, nastiest non-unique ships in any given fleet. They cost an astronomical fortune to make and maintain but the serve as tactical lynchpins in securing entire regions of space. They tend to boast more guns and heavier armors and shielding than most other ships that might comprise a fleet and their crews are often handpicked elites who wield the ship's overpowered systems with practiced ease. Dreadnought crews are some of the most loyal and fanatic in the BrikVerse and with the sheer power they can bring to bear, they have very little to fear.

See the Microspace Dreadnought Index for a comprehensive list.

Planet Buster

Also called Planet Killers, these ships are literally just an unthinkably massive gun with an engine strapped to it that is big enough to push it around at a reasonable speed. They are, as the name implies, capable of destroying entire planets and are even sometimes armored or shielded enough to survive the devastation they wreak. Planet Busters are behemoths which are incapable of maneuvering and defending themselves. They require an escort in the face of an enemy strong enough and fast enough to pick it apart before it reaches its "stationary" target.

Colony

Colony Ships are usually civilian in nature but they are regularly crewed by paramilitary personnel and often accompanied by a military convoy. These vast ships undergo the long and arduous process of traveling the stars, looking for new planets to inhabit and expand the borders of their respective factions. There are some older, discarded models that have been taken over and occupied by non-allied forces and civilian groups. These repurposed vessels are often without much in the way of operating costs, fuel, and sometimes even whole propulsion systems entirely. They're called Drifter Colonies and they are a pretty frequent sight throughout the BrikVerse. As for the faction oriented vessels, Colony Ships are rarely built to serve in space for an overlong period of time. Instead, they are designed to break apart during colonization procedure on a suitable planet and, once landed, be converted into a viable city structure.


Epik Class

Epik Starships are singularly the most badass ships a fleet generally has to offer. Massive constructions that dwarf all other ships, Epik Ships often serve as mobile headquarters for faction leaders or other important personages. When outfitted for war, which is almost always the case, Epik Ships carry the biggest, most ridiculous guns and are equipped with some serious Epitek. When non-militarily outfitted, Epik Ships might serve as city sized pleasure cruises and the like (keeping in mind that a minifig's idea of pleasure is, well, war). Epik Starships of a particular Specification come in ones, so exorbitant is their cost and their resource demands, especially during operation.

Flagship

Flagships are the single best ships a faction has to offer. These ships represent the concerted effort of years of work, sometimes involving Human intervention, a truly colossal economic expenditure, and the most bleeding edge tek the group can get their hands on. Flagships are meant to put the fear of god into enemies. There is no such thing as excess where they are concerned. Often, but not always, Flagships will serve as transport for the faction's leaders and they will coordinate governing from there. Flagships always, however, whenever they are deployed, serve as the command ship for a fleet or battle group.

Star Juggernaut

These ships are the ultimate in minifig spaceship teknology, capable of destroying stars through exotic Epitek. Only a few of the most advanced factions in the brikverse possess them, and even then serve in very limited numbers and lead the entire navies of these nations. To have one is the mark of a top-tier star empire.

Mythik Class

These MythiTek Human creations transcend minifig understanding. They are the massive storage units that Humans use to transport everything from the smallest stud or minifig to the largest Capital Ship anywhere among the MultiVerses.

BOX

BOXES are typically cardboard constructions, flimsy and weak but just sturdy enough to do the job of transporting the pieces. They are not highly effective at protecting the components within.

BIN

BINS are typically plastic constructions, solid and strong and more than capable of transporting elements while protecting them from outside forces. Their main disadvantage, however, lies in the inability to protect shifting pieces inside the storage space from damaging themselves.

POCKET

POCKETS are highly flexible constructions, typically made from cloth of denim, and are very often much, much smaller than BOXES or BINS. They are typically capable of carrying a handful of minifigs or briks at one time. Rarely, they are luxurious accommodations for minifigs, soft and clean. Far more often, they are nightmare transports that give minifigs scurvy thanks to all the Cheatos Dust in the air. The conditions are often linty, hot, moist from Human sweat, and cramped thanks to the Human fat which presses tightly against the outer hull of the transport and serves as the conveyance's primary (if usually slow) means of propulsion.

Starship Designations

A designation can be applied to any individual space teknology of any Class. These designations might refer to Epitek upgrades that any space vehicle or machine could be retrofitted to receive or to specific and significant functions any space teknology could be outfitted to perform. Whatever players can imagine applying, as a template, to any space tek (no matter how silly) can serve as a designation. The following are some common examples of Starship Designations.

  • Aquatic: Aquatic Starships are capable of movement and maneuverability underwater.
  • Atmospheric: This designation denotes a ship that is capable of atmospheric entry and flight.
  • Defensive Capability: This designation calls out the types of armor, force fields, or other protective abilities and teknologies the ship possesses.
  • Escort: Escort is a designation that can be attached to any vessel, indicating its status as part of a convoy, namely in a protective detail.
  • Hybrid: This designation represents the merging of any two or more Space Teknologies into one unit. As Teknology in the BrikVerse advances, this is becoming a more commonplace engineering tactic.
  • Infiltrator: An infiltration vessel is a ship equipped with some kind of stealth teknology and is designed to operate behind enemy lines.
  • Merchant Vessel: Also called a civilian or private vessel, this designation denotes a Starship that is not prepared for battle, instead serving as a cargo or other such civilian ship only.
  • Movement Capability: Fast, slow, interstellar, intergalactic, multi-dimensional, orbital, maneuverable, lumbering, or any number of other such descriptors can be applied to any Space Teknology to determine how it moves.
  • Offensive Capability: This designation calls out the weapons the ship carries as well as any other destructive abilities.
  • Patrol: Patrol boats are ships designed to engage border patrol or similarly defensive duties. They are often equipped with reserve fuel and supplies and usually try to maintain a balance between armor and speed.
  • Raider: A Raider vessel is a ship designed for guerrilla warfare tactics, close quarters combat, and boarding actions. Raider vessels are usually light and fast, sacrificing defensive capabilities for armament and speed.
  • Scout: Scout ships are ships designed for exploration and surveillance. They are often equipped with extra fuel reserves, survival supplies, and reconnaissance equipment.
  • Size: SuperLight, Light, Heavy, SuperHeavy or any other such descriptors can be applied to any Starship, representing the described variance from the norm listed for that Class, Specification, or similar grouping of that item. Size designations might blur the lines between accepted size categories for ship classifications.
  • Warship: A warship designates a Starship as prepared for battle. Civilian vessels that have been converted for war also receive this designation. Almost every ship in the BrikVerse is a warship, however, so this designation is rarely used and almost always assumed.


SpaceStations

SpaceStations are a somewhat smaller Category of Space Teknologies, even as they are typically larger in individual scale. There are a handful of various Station Classifications and Specifications. All SpaceStations are built to operate in the vacuum of space and are meant to house personnel and equipment to various purposes. They are typically immobile or exist in a helpless orbit.

WayStation Class

WayStations, sometimes called Outposts, are usually small SpaceStations placed at the outskirts of a territory before some vast expanse or at regular intervals across some otherwise empty distance. They are often restocking locations, carrying reserves of fuel and supplies for Starships and their crews. Sometimes, however, they will serve as early warning invasion detectors or as the first line of defense against such an invasion force.

Reserve

Reserve WayStations are inventory nervecenters for weary and worn down travellers, like GasStations in space. They carry reserves of various types of fuel, food stuffs for crews and a small handful of entertainment supplies and weaponry (often obtained through barter). Most Reserves are small, but certain factions maintain very large supply centers. Some Reserves are private businesses, catering to the galactic public, but many are military affairs. Very much like their ground based cousins, however, all of them make for spectacular explosions under a heavy amount of directed gunfire.

Staging

Staging Outposts are one of the most common types of SpaceStations, serving as forward bases for either defense or attack forces to stage combat maneuvers. They are stocked to the gills with weaponry, are usually either heavily armored or built in scores, and are well populated with warriors of the appropriate stripes. Staging Outposts, due to the very chaotic nature of combat, are rarely permanent affairs lasting only as long as the overall engagement for which they were commissioned.

Surveillance

Surveillance Outposts, also called Listening Posts, are stations that have been placed at the edge of a territory or in deep space to keep watch over an area, sometimes for research and exploration purposes but most often to uncover enemy activity. Listening posts are low on supplies and personnel and very often do their best to mask their presence in the area.

SpaceBase Class

SpaceBases, in stark contrast to WayStations, are more central and permanent stations. They are often significantly larger, usually far less mobile, and often serve as a hub of activity within an empire or the network of some other kind of organization. SpaceBases are also typically inhabited, usually constantly, by workers, troops, or even citizenry. They tend to serve as key points of strategic interest and are often viewed with a similar tactical or astrological significance to habitable planets, moons, and important stellar phenomena.

HeadQuarters

HQs are often the most strategically placed and sought after SpaceBases. Armed and Armored to the teeth, HeadQuarters serve as a centralized base of location for everything from System based military divisions to resource inventory processors to lofty seats of government. These Bases are where leaders, managers, and administrators reside and do the important work of running and guiding their respective organizations.

Colonies

Colonies hold that most simultaneously precious and thoroughly expendable of resources: minifigs themselves. Colonies take all sorts of shapes and forms. Military colonies serve as space based barracks and training centers for troops held in reserve. Residential colonies serve as habitats for citizenry invested in some, usually singular, work like agriculture, industrial construction, data processing and analysis, or exploration. While the majority of space aboard a Colony Base is devoted to living quarters for its inhabitants, they are usually fairly well outfitted with tools and supplies that suit the colony's purpose.

StarDocks

StarDocks, also known as ShipYards, are massive, sprawling space based structures devoted entirely to the building, repairing, and supplying of Space Vehicles and Machines. The smallest StarDocks usually have space for a handful of ships in need of their services while the largest span a network of uncountable structures responsible for the creation and maintenance of any given Space Empire's fleet. If Reserve WayStations are the GasStations of space, StarDocks are the manufacturing plants. Most ShipYards are built with efficiency in mind. The accommodations for its workers are bare and spartan and the most valuable resources they tend to have on hand at any given time are the ships docked there in various stages of repair.

SpaceStation Designations

A designation can be applied to any individual space teknology of any Class. These designations might refer to Epitek upgrades that any space vehicle or machine could be retrofitted to receive or to specific and significant functions any space teknology could be outfitted to perform. Whatever players can imagine applying, as a template, to any space tek (no matter how silly) can serve as a designation. The following are some common examples of SpaceStation Designations.

  • Atmospheric: This designation denotes a Station that is capable of atmospheric entry and flight. This is exceedingly rare, as most stations are built in space and remain immobile or orbital where they are built. Some factions, particularly large magikal ones, have the ability to move their stations about. Naturally, a station must have the "Mobile" Designation in order to have the Atmospheric Designation.
  • Defensive Capability: This designation calls out the types of armor, force fields, or other protective abilities and teknologies the station possesses.
  • Hybrid: This designation represents the merging of any two or more Space Teknologies into one unit. As Teknology in the BrikVerse advances, this is becoming a more commonplace engineering tactic.
  • Mobile: Fast, slow, interstellar, intergalactic, multi-dimensional, orbital, maneuverable, lumbering, or any number of other such descriptors can be applied to any Space Teknology to determine how it moves.
  • Offensive Capability: This designation calls out the weapons the station carries as well as any other destructive abilities.
  • Size: SuperLight, Light, Heavy, SuperHeavy or any other such descriptors can be applied to any SpaceStation, representing the described variance from the norm listed for that Class, Specification, or similar grouping of that item. Size designations might blur the lines between accepted size categories for station classifications.