So, I am wondering if anyone can assist me on choosing a good ship hull for a ship in my story. I know that the Passage of Judgment is going to be a decent, can stand alone ship, and I need it to have fighter bays. It'll have some access to Archeotech.

The fleet of the Korvallus Dynasty already has in its possession the Hammerfall (Dictator-class Cruiser; currently posted near the RT's gubernatorial space station), the Silver Raven (Conquest-class Star Galleon; original ship of the ancient Warrant, currently "absent"), and several other ships in service, as Korvallus is a very respected and successful Rogue Trader. As I didn't want to double up on ship types, I didn't just decide on another Dictator, but I am needing another class to fill the bill. Any good ideas? I have most of the RT books, so anything out there I SHOULD be able to look up. Thanks.

I am also open to, if not maybe awesomely impressed by the idea of a Hold Landing Bay, to avoid yet another Cruiser. Escort Bays might be cool, for LCs.

Your requirement for Landing Bays does somewhat limit your options, as that pretty much means Cruiser only. If you have the profit factor then there's no reason to take a Cruiser over a Light Cruiser, unless you adopt a house rule (like my group has) that Light Cruisers can make 90 degree turns unaided. Otherwise the lC only exists for people who can't afford a full cruiser at character creation. That and roleplaying reasons, which would be another good reason to take one.

There are two paths I can see you taking. First get an Orion Star Clipper with the Hold Landing Bay, and use your Archeotech to give it two Staravar Laser Macrobatteries. The ship's speed, a Keel weapon and its range mean you can attack while retreating, making it very difficult for anything without a Nova Cannon to destroy you. You're not survivable if they do get a good shot in, and combat will become much more tedious, but it's workable.

Second path is the Secutor Monitor-Cruiser. It's one of my favourite Light Cruisers because while slow it does allow you to equip a Dual Void Shield array, and since it has both Dorsal and Prow weapons it can salvo away pretty nicely on the enemy. Give it Port/Starboard Escort Bays, and then a pair of Sunsears for Macrobattery weapons. If you want to go crazy powerful, give it a Star-Flare Lance as its Prow weapon, and watch enemies just melt away under its fire. It'll be quite powerful, and decently survivable given that its Armour and Hull Integrity is the best of the Light Cruisers.

Heres one for you. It is a House design to bridge the gap between much of the missing ship designs for Rogue Traders with inventive ideas and the wealth to see them done. Hope you like.

Name: Shield Class

Class: Light Cruiser

Dimensions: 3.7km long, .35km abeam

Mass: 6.3 megatonnes

Crew: 45,000

Accel: 2.5 max gravities

The Shield class is the first in a new series of plans for an interdiction carrier designed to protect vital locations and ships during fleet operations as well as private endeavours. This design integrates double flight decks on both sides of the ship giving it a much respected capability and its 2 Dorsal ports can sport a variety of weaponry to further enhance its offensive and defensive potential. It comes in a slender shape that is deceptively small even for a light cruiser size but underestimating this ship especially when its supported by destroyers can be quite problematic for an overconfident enemy.

Speed: 5

Maneuverability: + 10

Detection: +20

Hull Integrity: 60

Armour: 19

Turret Rating: 2

Space: 60

SP: 55

Weapon Capacity: Port/Starboard 1, Dorsal 2

Heres one for you. It is a House design to bridge the gap between much of the missing ship designs for Rogue Traders with inventive ideas and the wealth to see them done. Hope you like.

Name: Shield Class

Class: Light Cruiser

Dimensions: 3.7km long, .35km abeam

Mass: 6.3 megatonnes

Crew: 45,000

Accel: 2.5 max gravities

The Shield class is the first in a new series of plans for an interdiction carrier designed to protect vital locations and ships during fleet operations as well as private endeavours. This design integrates double flight decks on both sides of the ship giving it a much respected capability and its 2 Dorsal ports can sport a variety of weaponry to further enhance its offensive and defensive potential. It comes in a slender shape that is deceptively small even for a light cruiser size but underestimating this ship especially when its supported by destroyers can be quite problematic for an overconfident enemy.

Speed: 5

Maneuverability: + 10

Detection: +20

Hull Integrity: 60

Armour: 19

Turret Rating: 2

Space: 60

SP: 55

Weapon Capacity: Port/Starboard 1, Dorsal 2

So, is that the ship has 1 Port and 1 Starboard slot, and they come filled with escort bays, so NO side slots, but two dorsal ones (very good for numerous weapons), or 2 per side, and one each is filled, leaving 1 slot on each side open, and two dorsal mounts?

The sentence "" is where it loses me for just a bit. The Passage of Judgment is usually a loner vessel, not escorted by a flotilla of craft, besides its fighters. Korvallus's good rep and legendary status keeps a number of would-be enemies from attacking his property, and a significant treasure, one Asteira Volaris, is the chief Navigator. A single ship attracts less attention that it might be carrying someone valuable than a fleet, even if the fleet is much harder to crack. Still, I could go for it. The fighter craft I have in story, for mostly character importance needs, are a combination "new design" and "lost design", so why not also have a new design ship?

You were correct the first time. The launch bays are intergrated as it said so there are NO effective slots on port/starboard sides...as this is only a light cruiser ( if it was a regular cruiser it could have 2 per side giving you an option of mounting weapons on the sides as well ) Sorry about that confusion. I hadnt even noticed the way the wording left it. Ill have to ammend that specific into the files i have as well to prevent further confusion.

I did some homework on the ships and basic design setups and looked at it from 2 different points. (A) Each ship "class" ( IE destroyer, frigate, lT cruiser, cruiser etc ) tends to have a set max number of "slots" for weapons etc ( though the location of these slots varies from each type within the class ) and (B) Imperial designs basically never make use of keel mounted weapons ( a weakness IMO ) Many of my designs take full advantage of dorsal/keel mountings since a keel mount is the same as dorsal for firing arcs ( since the keel is nothing but the bottom "spine" of the ship anyway ) So....if you take the prow mounting from a raider/destroyer class ( or the port/starboard ones ) and instead post them to the dorsal and keel ( 1 / 1 ) then you can fire ALL your weapons in the port/starboard and fore arcs ( unlike the limitations of the more traditional port/starboard and prow mounts ( this also leaves the prow free for a ram / armoured prow without losing any firepower in trade )

I have already completed the basics for all combat/fleet ships for my squats ingame including their different weapons and equipment and components ( remember the squats had direct access to 3 STC cores according to original material ) ( while they tried to remove them from offical rules...the way they did it was beyond sloppy..leaving great leeway to bring them back over the generations..since not all of them were at their homeworlds when the nids decided to stop by for lunch..Many were scattered out throughout the galaxy in service to the Imperial army with their specialist equipment.. But their regular ships etc were never really detailed so i decided to bring them back fully fleshing them out as well as their fleet designs and have found pics for some of them even and detailing most of them for descriptions of the types of duties in mind.

Looking at your requirements have you thought of a Defiant class (BFK p26)? Ok there are few Voss vessels in the Koronus Expanse or Calaxis Sector but few is not none and there's plenty of reasons why you dynasty might have gained one. Additionally the fluff seems to suggests that they are good for independent petrols as this seems to be what Victoria Horne has been making a name for herself doing in the Hawk. I've not actually checked out whether or not they work well in practice but as attack craft tend to be highly effective if used right I see no reason why not.

This little issue reminds me of a wonder; why they included the Flight Marshall, at all? This setting does a nice job of marginalizing the importance of fighter craft, and their crews (hence the main book not even including them, and various military sources downplaying their value vs expense, while attack craft more abstractly deal with torpedoes, and PCs are no where near them), and this makes me wonder why the Alternate Career even got written. One supposes a fighter jock could upscale their talents into bigger vessels, but it still sort of smacks of unnecessary.

At any rate, the problem with the Defiant, a ship I was at first very interested in, is the usual "carriers need backup". The Passage of Judgment usually travels alone, so far as I have written it (a detail that might need revision ), and the Defiant mentions it only really performs well with another ship present. It might be wrong, and it might mean when it was a battlegroup vessel, fighting other groups of ships. A little more thought might have to go into this. Maybe Arin Trenn is a FORMER ace pilot, now relegated to steering the ship, or something. I'm whiny/leery to change parts I really like (and Star Wars makes me really like fighters), but we'll see if I might have to.

The Secutor might work, but is a bit too warmonger, and I am rather liking the Shield homebrew.

The use of the 2 dorsal weapon points gives the ship the potential for the firepower of a destroyer classed ship ( respectable to fairly evil depending on what you mount there ) coupled with the dual launch bays to add that extra bit of punch ( bomber flights ) in addition to defensive ( fighters ). When you use a flight bridge for it then you dont have to worry about testing to launch new squadrons every turn and with a munitorium you could upgun the damage on weapons you did place in dorsal slots..decent basic detection ( only better with a decent array ) , slightly average maneuverability ( easy cheap fix with augmented retro-thrusters ) , average armour value ( upgradeable with armour addition and offset by the retro-thrusters upgrade ), decent speed and hull integrity ( for a light cruiser class ). For an enterprising and well connected RT the ship could be fitted for maximum potential with minimal additional SP cost....not to mention with the right mix of dorsal weaponry...able to combat most threats without much issue.

I've made an effort to write up some ship hulls... generally below cruiser scale, but this might be interesting to you.

Swiftwind Merchant Trader

Designed to be a 'jack of all trades' trader, capable of defending itself against light attack, and more sturdy than a vagabond, faster than a carrack, but not have the extreme speed of the Orion, the Swiftwind is a solid investment for any merchant. This design dates back to M37, and it is believed that it was the basis of a custom, improved design made in M38 in the Kormishoshi shipyards. Alas, that improved design never quite made it to market, so the Swiftwind is as good as this ship type gets for most traders.

Type: Transport

Dimensions: 2.5km long, .5 km abeam approx.

Crew: 21,000 crew approx.

Speed: 6 Manoeuvrability: +15 Detection: +10

Armour: 13 Hull Integrity: 38

Turret Rating: 1 Space: 38

Weapon Capacity: Dorsal 1, Keel 1

Cargo Hauler (1)

Cargo Hauler: This vessel was designed for transport, and no amount of retrofitting can fully change this. This hull comes pre-equipped with a Main Cargo Hold. The hull's Space has already been reduced to account for this, however when constructed the ship must be able to provide 2 Power to this component.

Vaught Class Light Cruiser

Designed to be relativly quick and easy to produce, it was made to rapidly increase the size of new system fleets. The focus of this class was always for easy production, quantity over quality. Due largely to its ease of construction, upkeep, and common pattern, its not rare to be seen in the hands of a rogue trader.

Speed: 6

Man: +12

Detect: +8

Armor: 19

Hull: 55

Turret Rating: 1

Space: 55

SP: 50

Weapon Capacity: 1 Port 1 Starboard 1 Prow

Special: Simplicity, due to its simple construction, maintenance is relatively easier than expected for a ship of its class. All repair tests are at a +10 on board

Victus-class Heavy Frigate

Created with heavy escort duty in mind, the Victus-class combines heavy firepower with heavy armour to make a tough opponent for any prospective void pirates who would want to prey on the vulnerable transports under the Victus' protection.

Mass: 10 megatonnes

Crew: 26,000

3.3 km and .4 km abeam

Speed: 7

Man: +15

Detect: +10

Armour: 19

Hull: 45

Turret Rating: 2

Space: 43

SP: 40, Weapon Capacity: 1 Prow, 2 Dorsal

Name: Harvest-class Protected Freighter

Class: Transport

Dimensions: 3.4 km and .4 km abeam

Mass: 11 megatonnes

Crew: 27,000

Accel: 2.5 gravities max

Description: The Harvest class transport was designed for hazardous supply runs and for use in planetary assault with the Imperial Guard. To that end, it is heavily armored and very reliable, with redundant systems designed for easy repair in case of battle damage. Some Rogue Traders have chosen Harvest-class vessels for blockade runs and even invasions, as the sturdy vessel can shrug off enemy fire as well as many military frigates.

Speed: 5

Maneuverability: +0

Detection: +10

Hull Integrity: 45

Armour: 16

Turret Rating: 1

Space: 41

SP: 30

Weapon Capacity: 1 Prow, 2 Dorsal

Cargo Hauler: This vessel was designed for transport, and no amount of retrofitting can fully change this. This hull comes pre-equipped with a Main Cargo Hold. The hull's Space has already been reduced to account for this, however when constructed the ship must be able to provide 2 Power to this component.

Troop Transport: Part of the core hull of this vessel is set aside for transporting troops and their equipment, and this cannot be completely changed. This hull comes equipped with a Barracks Component. The hull's space has already been reduced to account for this, however, when the ship is constructed it must provide 2 Power to this component.

Anvil-class Repair ship

Hull: Transport

Speed: 5 Maneuverability: +0

Detection: +5 Hull Integrity: 52

Armour: 15 Turret Rating: 1

Space: 44 SP: 32

Weapon Mounts: 2 Dorsal

Crew: 30,000

<Mass , Crew, etc.: Light Cruiser>

Surrogate Power Source: Anvil-classes are routinely called upon to provide power to damaged vessels and are equipped with additional generators; add +10 Power to the ship's drive output.

Service Vessel: This vessel was designed to repair and service navy warships and no amount of retrofitting can change that. This hull comes pre-equipped with one Manufactorum and one Spacedock Piers. This has already been factored into the amount of hull space available but 9 Power must be provided for them. Unlike normal ships which have Spacedock Piers, this ship will often be smaller than the ships it is servicing. While it can service four smaller vessels as normal at a time (ships smaller than a light cruiser in size; use hull integrity as a rule of thumb for 'smaller'. Appreciably smaller ships tend to have a hull integrity equal to or lower than 40.) like normal, it can also service larger ships -- but doing that means it can only service one such ship at a time, and requires the Anvil to make a Challenging (+0) Pilot (Space Craft)+Manoeuvrability Test; failure means the ship waives off or, at high degrees of failure, collides!

The Anvil-class is the current standard mobile repair vessel of the Calixis and Koronus Battlefleets. The Anvil is designed to tend to the needs of a task force on the move. It has powerfully augmented engines for tug duty which, when unburdened, are capable of matching cruisers at speed and they are armed and armoured enough to take care of itself. It is fully equipped to perform any repair that does not require a full spacedock. Rogue trader dynasties will often try to acquire one of these vessels to service their explorer/trade fleets.

I had the files for all those ships for well over a year now ( before dark reign site went offline ) from the files there. One of my players has aquired one of the superfreighters ( think size of a battleship ) and refit it to service as a mobile fleet repair ship ( similar to the anvil but MUCH MUCH bigger ). Only he uses it to travel with the Imperial Naval fleets under contract to provide repair/support ( for a nice trade value in assistance for his fleet as needed as well as contacts and peers in the navy and some side PF also ) His scheeming knows few limits..lol Hes currently gaining enough PF and contact strength to aquire another superfreighter for the same purposes and has stated his intentions for his dynasty are to provide many such ships to the Imperial navy for assistance in trade for lucrative contracts and salvage rights to any/all ships etc from Imperial conflicts that arent chaos or otherwise forbidden xenos origins ( and a few of those as well on the side from his own fleet battles ) Needless to say hes getting ships at a reduced rate courtesy of the Imperial Naval fleet admirals within his sector and adjacent ones ( mostly mothballed ones from naval service and any regular system ships he wants with little to no questions asked ) As well as easier access to otherwise restricted naval weaponry and equipment for them ( though at a higher PF cost ).

I do like the basic idea for the rules for the Anvils repair ability however.

I edited the versions from the Dark Reign site, though. Those aren't exactly as they appear from Dark Reign.

And you can still find dark reign stuff, they came back online

http://mmsprofiler.com/PDF/

http://darkreign.org/taxonomy/term/53#overlay-context=taxonomy/term/1