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Post by jtyotjotjipaefvj on Aug 14, 2018 23:12:51 GMT
Made one that can kill a Gunship without suffering any significant damage. Losing nuke cannons is a benefit really, so the ship improves as a result of the fight! Good luck making one that uses the nuke cannon though, since the lasers instantly zap all nukes before they get anywhere close. You'd need to shoot the lasers off first, but at that point you've basically destroyed half the Gunship already so using nukes is basically worthless. The nuke cannons are housed in a separate nose cone that only holds drone ammo bin and refuelers, which should be empty by the time you enter combat anyway so nothing of value is in there. There's a second sharp nose behind that protecting the important bits, which means that no armor is lost over any vitals when the nuke cannons go off. The armor is thick enough to handle a Gunship firing on it basically indefinitely. I suffered no penetrations during the minute or so of my test run. The drones act as a nice distraction too, drawing fire from the autofire railguns and 60mm cannons that deal the actual damage. Using it is simple enough - pop out drones, burn about half the fuel, refuel drones, burn some more and enter combat with the drone fleet still attached to your Hiveship. Put drones on broadside, Hiveship on nose forward so it will stop spinning once the nuke cannons blow up. You should come in fast enough to get the 60mm cannons within firing range fairly soon. Once that happens the Gunship will be riddled with holes and you'll win. Design and combat test screenies: Design. The dv is a bit shit but you could add more droptanks if you really wanted to. This is enough to keep up with the drones anyway, so more won't be too helpful.  Post-combat damage list:  Post-combat Gunship view:  Edit: design export: Hive 2.0.txt (2.35 KB) |
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Post by gedzilla on Aug 15, 2018 5:54:56 GMT
Made one that can kill a Gunship without suffering any significant damage. Losing nuke cannons is a benefit really, so the ship improves as a result of the fight! Good luck making one that uses the nuke cannon though, since the lasers instantly zap all nukes before they get anywhere close. You'd need to shoot the lasers off first, but at that point you've basically destroyed half the Gunship already so using nukes is basically worthless. The nuke cannons are housed in a separate nose cone that only holds drone ammo bin and refuelers, which should be empty by the time you enter combat anyway so nothing of value is in there. There's a second sharp nose behind that protecting the important bits, which means that no armor is lost over any vitals when the nuke cannons go off. The armor is thick enough to handle a Gunship firing on it basically indefinitely. I suffered no penetrations during the minute or so of my test run. The drones act as a nice distraction too, drawing fire from the autofire railguns and 60mm cannons that deal the actual damage. Using it is simple enough - pop out drones, burn about half the fuel, refuel drones, burn some more and enter combat with the drone fleet still attached to your Hiveship. Put drones on broadside, Hiveship on nose forward so it will stop spinning once the nuke cannons blow up. You should come in fast enough to get the 60mm cannons within firing range fairly soon. Once that happens the Gunship will be riddled with holes and you'll win. Design and combat test screenies: Design. The dv is a bit shit but you could add more droptanks if you really wanted to. This is enough to keep up with the drones anyway, so more won't be too helpful. Post-combat damage list: Post-combat Gunship view: Edit: design export: View AttachmentHow does that nose NOT snap off the second you do any manuevring ? |
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Post by AtomHeartDragon on Aug 15, 2018 11:47:25 GMT
Ok, time for my reinterpretation of infamously broken Hiveship and also an attempt to practically employ concepts outlined here: "Basilisk" class destroyer:The main idea here is a combination of hiding modules behind armoured umbrella, hybrid nose-forward/broadside design and employing additional sideways thrust during combat. The ship is meant to be oriented more-or-less nose forward (can use broadside command thanks to >9km/s railguns on the nose)and also sweeping sideways as it approaches and passes the enemy. The leading side is almost devoid of weaponry the trailing one has all the good stuff to be fired not directly at the enemy but at the point where the enemy will be at which point the ship will have moved and revolved to keep covering its (largely spherical) vulnerable bits. In particular the nukes are meant to be lobbed without line of sight to the enemy. The lateral motor on the trailing edge is meant to help with that manoeuvring. Scattering briefly before resuming broadside orientation seems to work well most of the time, although it's not 100% reliable. Specs: Pics: |
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Post by AtomHeartDragon on Aug 15, 2018 12:07:34 GMT
Made one that can kill a Gunship without suffering any significant damage. Losing nuke cannons is a benefit really, so the ship improves as a result of the fight! Good luck making one that uses the nuke cannon though, since the lasers instantly zap all nukes before they get anywhere close. You'd need to shoot the lasers off first, but at that point you've basically destroyed half the Gunship already so using nukes is basically worthless. The nuke cannons are housed in a separate nose cone that only holds drone ammo bin and refuelers, which should be empty by the time you enter combat anyway so nothing of value is in there. There's a second sharp nose behind that protecting the important bits, which means that no armor is lost over any vitals when the nuke cannons go off. The armor is thick enough to handle a Gunship firing on it basically indefinitely. I suffered no penetrations during the minute or so of my test run. The drones act as a nice distraction too, drawing fire from the autofire railguns and 60mm cannons that deal the actual damage. Using it is simple enough - pop out drones, burn about half the fuel, refuel drones, burn some more and enter combat with the drone fleet still attached to your Hiveship. Put drones on broadside, Hiveship on nose forward so it will stop spinning once the nuke cannons blow up. You should come in fast enough to get the 60mm cannons within firing range fairly soon. Once that happens the Gunship will be riddled with holes and you'll win. Design and combat test screenies: Design. The dv is a bit shit but you could add more droptanks if you really wanted to. This is enough to keep up with the drones anyway, so more won't be too helpful. Post-combat damage list: Post-combat Gunship view: Edit: design export: Clever, but the specs call for designs benefiting from nuke cannons, not just minimizing damage from fielding them. Also, at least 4.02km/s delta-v - maybe try wrapping drop tanks around the junction and see if you can fit in under 10.00kt? Also, Gunship is by far not the only target you could use the ship against, it's just that it's a convenient measuring stick and combat trials assume no drone cover (I know that battle carriers usually benefit immensely from going into battle with accompanying drone screen). Finally, not to nitpick, but your drones wouldn't be able to squeeze from ammo bin to the launcher. |
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Post by jtyotjotjipaefvj on Aug 15, 2018 12:41:12 GMT
Clever, but the specs call for designs benefiting from nuke cannons, not just minimizing damage from fielding them. Also, at least 4.02km/s delta-v - maybe try wrapping drop tanks around the junction and see if you can fit in under 10.00kt? Also, Gunship is by far not the only target you could use the ship against, it's just that it's a convenient measuring stick and combat trials assume no drone cover (I know that battle carriers usually benefit immensely from going into battle with accompanying drone screen). Finally, not to nitpick, but your drones wouldn't be able to squeeze from ammo bin to the launcher. Turns out turning laser ablation cap back on makes the nukes actually reach the gunship despite lasing. I also added two more fuel tanks and moved the drone launcher to the front section, although I imagine some type of drone feed tube could also have been employed to get them to the launcher. Updated design: Hive 2.0.txt (2.24 KB) More screenies: Design:  Design internal:  Nuke cannon shoots down frag missile wave:  Fast intercept, broadside and some rolling and we get two nuke cannons to work on the gunship:  First shots are hitting, doing a bit of damage. The lancer drones are also doing their best. Eg. nothing.  Nukes start landing:  More nukes, and 60mm cannons start going through the ship thanks to melted whipple shield. Although they would still go through it without the nukes. But I'm sure they helped a little.  Ded gunship:  Damage received: 0 fuken damage. No lancer drones were damaged either. The Gunship spent all its time firing on the nukes so it didn't shoot at anything useful. I guess they're nice decoys at least.  |
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Post by AtomHeartDragon on Aug 15, 2018 12:55:54 GMT
Clever, but the specs call for designs benefiting from nuke cannons, not just minimizing damage from fielding them. Also, at least 4.02km/s delta-v - maybe try wrapping drop tanks around the junction and see if you can fit in under 10.00kt? Also, Gunship is by far not the only target you could use the ship against, it's just that it's a convenient measuring stick and combat trials assume no drone cover (I know that battle carriers usually benefit immensely from going into battle with accompanying drone screen). Finally, not to nitpick, but your drones wouldn't be able to squeeze from ammo bin to the launcher. Turns out turning laser ablation cap back on makes the nukes actually reach the gunship despite lasing. I also added two more fuel tanks and moved the drone launcher to the front section, although I imagine some type of drone feed tube could also have been employed to get them to the launcher. Updated design: More screenies: Design: Design internal: Nuke cannon shoots down frag missile wave: Fast intercept, broadside and some rolling and we get two nuke cannons to work on the gunship: First shots are hitting, doing a bit of damage. The lancer drones are also doing their best. Eg. nothing. Nukes start landing: More nukes, and 60mm cannons start going through the ship thanks to melted whipple shield. Although they would still go through it without the nukes. But I'm sure they helped a little. Ded gunship: Damage received: 0 fuken damage. No lancer drones were damaged either. The Gunship spent all its time firing on the nukes so it didn't shoot at anything useful. I guess they're nice decoys at least. Neat, although you still have non-stock tankage somewhere.
You might consider moving droptanks to the narrowed down part - should help with turnabout and partially shield them if still on at the beginning of combat, not to mention it will look better.
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Post by jtyotjotjipaefvj on Aug 19, 2018 14:08:08 GMT
I reworked my previous design since nuke cannons don't really work with a nose armor design. Switching to a full broadside setup and removing any extra frills while focusing on nuke cannons makes a far better design. The result is a simpler and more aesthetically pleasing ship that also has a lot more nukes. And I'm sure there won't be any question whether the nukes are useful to the design this time round. The auto railgun is on the ship only to make the combat starting heading correct - without it, broadside order would result in only two of the four cannons being able to fire. Test video against a gunship: Ship export: Hive But Not Shit.txt (2.09 KB) Design screenies spoilered: External view:  Internals:  Angled cannons to enable broadsiding with the narrow arc:  |
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Post by AtomHeartDragon on Aug 19, 2018 16:08:08 GMT
I have improved module packing, armour scheme, hull shape (less restrictive for the cannons), combat manoeuvre characteristics and delta-v of Basilisk. Also added previously overlooked auxiliary RTGs (decoy-friendly low-emission mode and backup power). Updated version pushed to workshop. I reworked my previous design since nuke cannons don't really work with a nose armor design. Switching to a full broadside setup and removing any extra frills while focusing on nuke cannons makes a far better design. The result is a simpler and more aesthetically pleasing ship that also has a lot more nukes. And I'm sure there won't be any question whether the nukes are useful to the design this time round. The auto railgun is on the ship only to make the combat starting heading correct - without it, broadside order would result in only two of the four cannons being able to fire. Test video against a gunship: Ship export: Design screenies spoilered: External view: Internals: Angled cannons to enable broadsiding with the narrow arc: That's something more down my alley! (although I probably wouldn't like 4x nuke cannons sitting flush with my crew compartment).
Edit: Actually, the rear crew compartment seems to stand a good chance of surviving all 4 nuke cannons blowing up. That's some seriously nice design, although I would probably still add a pointy nose to improve versatility.
Edit2: The ship's somewhat prone to bisection. The rear section remains viable but with broken off nose it tends to not be for very long.
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Post by Dhan on Oct 18, 2018 5:19:46 GMT
The hardest part of this whole thing was keeping the nuke cannon alive long enough to be useful. In my engagement I used the nuke cannon to finish the gunship off after my main guns (and drones...maybe?) had shot it to shit. The only way to keep the nuke cannon alive with my design is through active piloting and using the drones as a laser screen. Otherwise, it's a liability. Here's the ship: And the result: |
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