Return to Mars

Briefing

The character are taken to Yellowstone base after a brief respite. The characters will be lead deep into the base, and into a large conference room. The characters will be able to tell that this is where the tactics and strategies of the RDF are formed. Above are holographic displays of the Robotech Masters motherships as well as there current orbits, currently geosycronis orbit above Monument City. After a few seconds, they will be asked to stand at ease.

"Gentlemen, you are to be congratulated in your latest mission in the Indochina quadrant. Although Lt. Colonel Zaria escaped, you managed to destroy much of the sensitive material that could have fallen into the hands of the EBSIS or renegade Zentraedi. Unfortunately, as they say no rest for the weary and I am truly sorry that we had to cut your vacation short; however, we feel that Rogue squadron is needed for this latest crisis.

General Craig Evens steps forward and proceeds with the briefing

As you most likely know the forces of the Southern Cross, are nominal allies have taken the brunt of the attacks from the so called Robotech Masters. Unfortunately, the UEG has also appropriated them the majority of the funding for the defense of the Earth. As you most likely know, the RDF has been regulated to a second line defense unit. As for the creation of new mecha, there has not been any new mecha for the RDF since the creation of the orginal VF-1's, Destroids, and later the VF-4 lighting in 2014.

This current state of affairs has somewhat changed, with the help from Senator Nader form the South American Quadrant, a small stipend of funds has been allocated to the RDF for the development and testing of a new generation of veritec fighters on par with those of the Southern Cross. Over the last 18 months the RDF in association with Shinsei Industries of New Tokyo has developed several new veritec fighters. <a holographic image of the VF-11 and Raven will appear> These two fighters named the Thunderbolt and the Raven have tenitively approved and entered into the testing phase of their development.

In a seemingly unrelated event, a single Robotech Master Destroyer has left the main fleet in geosychronic orbit and it moving towards the asteroid belt. The intensions of the Robotech Masters are at this time unknown; however, in an effort to show the UEG that the RDF can still make a contribution to the defense of not just the Earth but the solar system as a whole we have reactivated the ARMD-06 Saratoga , SLDG-02 Penelope, and the SLDG-19 Cosette. As you mite are mite not know the RDF still possesses 2 decommissioned Armored Space Platforms (Saratoga and Ark Royal) as well as six Ophelia-class Missile Destroyers. Scraping together what little discretionary funds we have left and in opposition from the Southern Cross High Command, the RDF was able to recommision these ships. With these latest events we feel that a rejuvenated UN Spacy command can stop this latest Robotech Master incursion. Of course it helps that the Southern Cross Space fleet is currently in shambles after the last battle, and they are all for us expending our reasources. Thus it has been decided that we are going after this malevolent destroyer.

As you probablly surmised by now, this upcoming offensive will be a perfect opportunity to test these new veritecs. Examining your combat record Captain Olson and the recent success of the Rogue squardon, the choice of your group was obvious. Captain Olson will assign pilots to the experimental mecha; however, at least one mecha of each type must be assigned. Furthermore, staff techicians from Shinsei industries will be assigned to the Saratoga under the command of David Farr, to assist you in evaluating and repairing the new veritec fighters. Lt. Colonel Martinez will brief you on mission specifics this afternoon at 14:30. Are there any questions?"

Briefing with GMP

"Good afternoon private, I would like to inform you that you have been promoted to corporal. We realize your time is short. I am perfectly aware of your current assignment with the RDF and we could not be more pleased, not only will you be in a position of evaluating the new RDF mecha, but you will be stationed aboard the revitalized RDF fleet. In addition we have an important mission for you to perform while on board the Saratoga. <a holographic image of a ARMD space platform appears> We want you to place this cobalt limpet mine on the primary ODN junction on the starboard engine level room 7. Fortunately, the reflex engines on these older ARMD space platforms tend to be unstable, and the explosion of 20 year old reflex engine will not be too suspicious. Once the explosion occurs, the RDF will be forced to call upon the Southern Cross for emergency repairs, and at that point several of our GMP personnel will come aboard to add some surveillance and tracking equipment on the Saratoga which up until this point we have been unable to place aboard. You will receive the necessary equipment once you leave, if you have no further questions…"

Later that afternoon, the characters will be brought into a much smaller briefing room next to Folker field.

Lt. Colonel Martinez will greet the players and say the following:

"Good afternoon gentlemen, this is a preliminary meeting. I was informed that Captain Olson will decide who will be flying which mecha, but let me remind you Captain that the only requirement is that only two of your four pilots must take these new mecha. Any of the current arsenal of veritecs are available. If you need any further time, you may take it. <short pause>. For those of you taking VF-1's and VF-11's they will be prepared and ready for flight to the Saratoga; otherwise a shuttle will bring you to the carrier. Any questions?"

Arrival at the Saratoga

The characters will arrive at the Saratoga approximately 2 hours after take off from Fokker field. They will be cleared for landing. The saratoga will be surrounded by scaffling, and it will be apparent that the ship has seen some hard times. Later that afternoon Lt. Colonel Martinez, will speak to the group.

"Good afternoon, gentlemen. I am glad that you made it here safely. I would like to inform you that your quarters are ready for you on level 4 rooms 34, and 35. The mecha are stored on level 5, 5 starbord. You have the next day for your leasure, report to me here on level 2 room 3 (conference room). Report to me in two days at 13:00 hours. The Saratoga will leave today at 17:00 hours."

Mission 1 test out of the systems

Day 2 13:00

[Two days into the mission once the ARMD space platform has left its "space dock" the players will be asked to come to the briefing room

"Good afternoon, we have a brief test for the Raven and the Thunderbolt. You will take all the groups experimental vehicles approximately 100 km away from the fleet where they will be attack by, 4 ghost fighters per experimental fighter, using powered down weapons. The computer system here on the saratoga will keep track of damage and shut down areas of the mecha once they have been damaged. Any non experimental mecha your group has will guard the exercise. Any questions"

Notes on Mission:

4 ghost fighters per experimental ship

Radar goes *10 in space, careful read sensory intruments check at -60% will detect one Robotech Masters

Assault carrier out at 3,000 km will run at first sign of trouble.

Aftermath:

Players will receive +75 xp for every ghost fighter they shoot down

Player that shoots down the most will receive a bonus of +100

Detecting the Assault Carrier +100, and guarding +50

There is a 50% chance that the technicians will be able to fix any problems that occur

Mission 2 test of the defenses

Day 3 02:00

The ship will be placed on a yellow alert followed by and announcement for the Rogue squardon to report to the briefing room

"Good morning gentlemen, sorry to wake you a such an hour; however an opportunity arose that the General felt could not be passed up. 30 minutes ago a Cat's Eye detected 2 Robotech Assault shuttles flying in a trajectory that will take them to within roughly 20,000 km of our position. Apparently they are trying to test our defenses. Well the General has decided to bloody their nose and send them back home without initiating an all out engagement. He feels that this would be a good time to test the fighters in a real attack. You are to engage the enemy along with 4 other squadrons under the command of Major Tomas Finney in the Wildcat squadron. Don't press the attack, once the enemy is in retreat do not press the attack we do not want an all out engagement. Are there any questions?"

Gold Squadron

5 Super VF-1A's (4)

1 Super VF-1S (0)

Blue Squardon

5 Super VF-1A's (3 vf-1a)

1 Super VF-1J

Wildcat Squadron

6 VF-2V Vindicators (5)

Yukon Squadron

6 VAF-5C (2 vaf-5c)

Rogue Squadron

Enemy Forces :

2 Assault Cariers

Per Carrier (blue 22 biroids)

19 Blue Biroids

1 Red Biroid

Total forces (16 blue, 2 red)

Combat:

5 Blue Biroids will attack Rogue Squadron 40% chance that a assault carrier will attack the group every melee.

Every sement -

1d4 biroids will be destroyed

1d2 veritecs wll be destroyed

Once the biroids are down to 40% most likely after 30 seconds they will retreat towards the destroyer

Aftermath:

Characters will travel back to the Saratoga, to report on any deficiticies in the new experimental veritecs.

+50 xp for obeying orders

+100 xp for destroying each blue biroid

+200 xp for destroying each red biroid

+800 xp for destroying assault carrier

Mission 3 day 5 10:00

After two days of rest and relaxation, the characters will inevitablly will be ready for another mission. They will notice that the Saratoga along with her escorts is heading out towards deep space. At 10:00 the next morning Lt. Colonel Martinez will call the players to his office. "Good morning gentlemen, I hope the last couple of days has been agreeable for you. Well, let us get down to business. Eight hours ago a Cat's Eye recon detected a large ship rendezousing with the Master's destroyer we have been trailing all this time; unfortunately, this is all we know. This is what we do know, the ship is came out of the asteroid belt and is currently following the Masters' ship at a distance of 500 klic's. This new arrivial has perked our coursitiy; however we are not going to risk this ship and its crew on a fly-by. The brass feels that a small recon group, consisting of Rogue, Wildcat, and 2 cat's eye recon planes will be able to bring back more hard data for the boys up in data analysis. The plan is quite simple, your squadron will scan the master's fleet from north of the solar plane, while Major Finney's Wildcat squardon will take scans from the south. We are currently 1,000,000 kilometers from their position, and we will hold this position until after the mission is complete. You are scheduled for take off this afternoon at 14:00 hours. Are there any questions?

Game play:

The cat's eye has a maximum range of 5,000 miles in space; however, at that range the Robotech Masters Desroyer will be able to detect the radar and will send 1 Assault Craft to destroy the attackers. However if the players are able to get within 1,000 kilometers by not using their radar and no active thrusters they will not be detected and will detect that along with the Salan scout there is a Southern Cross Assault shuttle. Maximum detection for positive confermation of the Salan scout is 5,000 kilometers.

In addition they will be issued up to 9 QF-3000 F advanced Ghost fighters.

Notes on current forces

RDF

  1. Saratoga

90 QF-3000E drone fighters

63 VAF-5C Veritec Alpha fighters

4 VF-2V's

10 VF-4 Lightings

83 VF-1 Valkyrie Veritech fighters

71 Super VF-1A's

15 Super VF-1J's

7 Super VF-1S's

6 SC-27 Star Goose space shuttles

3 ES-11D Cat's Eye recon planes

SLDG-02 Penelope

SLDG-19 Cosette

RobotechMasters

Tirolian Destroyer

Mecha Compliment

163 Blue Biroids

34 Green Biroids

16 Red Biroids

13 Assault Carriers

Salan Scout

one half the weapons destroyed, no main laser cannon

total troops

50 Tactical battle pods

10 light artillery

5 heavy artillery

3 officer pods with boosters

RPG stats


MDC by location

Right and Left Thrusters - 75 each

*Main Body - 100

Right and Left Missile bays - 50 each

* depleting the main body will destroy the mecha, furthermore the normal penalties for a shadow cloaking device apply.

Bonuses: +2 to strike, +4 to dodge, +2 on initiative, 4 h to h

Weapons:

1) Three Auto Cannons on either side of the fighter for a total of six. All three fire simultaneously.

Mega-Damage: 6d6 for a short burst, 2d6*10 for a long burst, can fire both side simutaneously but the normal -2 to strike with the second weapon applies

Rate of fire: 24 in a long burst and 12 in a short burst.

Number of attacks: Equal to the number of hand to hand attacks

Range: 4000 ft(1200 m) in atmosphere or double in space

Payload: 960 round total

  1. Long range missile launchers. Each missile bay can hold 4 long range missiles for a total of 8.


Persuit craft

PROPULSION:

Anti-gravity system (1): Zorr'lev-45-RTc; maximum acceleration 4.89

standard gravities.

Will attack the players once they are within 500 kilometers

15 Blue Biroids with sleds

2 Green Biroids with sleds

1 Red Biroid with sleds

Personnel

Sgt. John O'Keff - engineering

Major Thomas Finny - Veritec squardron Wildcat squadron

Lt. Colonel Martinez - Veritec commander of the Saratoga

Robotech Master's Destroyer

2:42:20 on tape 2

2:43:00 on tape 2

2:47:40 on tape 2 - biroid scout

2:48:20 on tape 2

42:30 on tape 3

Check list of Veritecs

Thunderbolt

Dan

-radar is fixed

-transformation

-fire in the cockpit

fixed

-radar is fixed

-fire in the cockpit

Thunderbolt

Dave's

-verner thrusters on port side went out

-eletrical fire

-sluggish responce

fixed

-transformation fixed

-thrusters fixed

Charlies

thrusters are stuck

fixed

fire in the cockpit

Jon

fire in cockpit

arm immobilized

fixed

-power loss

-fire in cockpit

-arm immobilized

ARMD-06 Saratoga

100 QF-3000E drone fighters

75 VAF-5C Veritec Alpha fighters

6 VF-2V's

12 VF-4 Lightings

108 VF-1 Valkyrie Veritech fighters

80 Super VF-1A's

20 Super VF-1J's

8 Super VF-1S's

6 SC-27 Star Goose space shuttles

3 ES-11D Cat's Eye recon planes

MDC by location:

Main Laser Cannons (5) - 300 each

Secondary Laser Cannons (2) - 200 each

Anti Warship missile launchers (2) - 400 each

Heavy missile launchers (4) - 200 each

Anti-Aircraft laser guns (48) -100

Main Communications Deck - 1200

Foredeck - 1200

Main Body - 5000

Flight Deck - 800

Weapons

1. Five Main Laser Cannons

Range: 200,000 km

Mega Damage: 2d6*1000

Rate of Fire: once every 12 melees

  1. Two Secondary Laser Cannons - mounted on the sides of the ARMD space platform

Range: 200,000 km

Mega Damage: 1d4*1000

Rate of Fire: 5 times per melee

  1. Two heavy SLBM missile launcher - mounted on the sides of the ARMD space platform

Range: 160 kps deltav

Mega Damage: 3 MT fusion warhead (each missile has 100 mdc)

Rate of fire: 4 time per melee

Payload: 40 missiles per launcher

  1. Six heavy missile launchers

Range: Varies on missile type

Mega Damage: Varies on missile type / typically reflex multiwarhead

Rate of Fire: 1,2,4,6, or all 10 takes 2 melees to reload

Payload: 10 ready to fire with an additional 30 missiles in magazie

5. 24 anti mecha laser cannons

Range: 10 miles

Mega Damage: 1d4*10 MDC

Rate of Fire: four times per melee

SLDG-02 Penelope

SLDG-19 Cosette

MDC values

Main Particle Cannons (2) - 500 each

Secondary Particle Cannons (2) - 300 each

Anti Warship missile launchers (32) - 100 each

Bridge - 600

Main Body - 6000

Engines (2) - 2000

Auxiliary Engines (2) - 500

Weapon Systems

1. Two heavy, long range particle cannons

Range: 10,000 km

Mega Damage: 4d6*1000

Rate of Fire: once per melee

  1. Two medium, long range particle cannons

Range: 10,000 km

Mega Damage: 2d6*1000

Rate of Fire: once per melee

  1. 32 laser cannons in pop-turrets on dorsal and ventral hull

Range: 10 miles

Mega Damage: 1d4*10

Rate of Fire: 4 time per melee

  1. 18 missile silos are mounted on the dorsal rear and contain long-range anti-starship missiles

Range: 150 kps

Mega Damage: Each missile as 5 multiple warhead fusion warheads of 300 kT

Rate of Fire: once per melee

Tirolian Destroyer

Mecha Compliment

200 Blue Biroids

40 Green Biroids

20 Red Biroids

15 Assault Carriers

MDC values

Forward 1/3 of ship includes Reflex Cannon - 5000 each

Main Particle Cannons (Large/Medium/Small) - 800/600/300

AAA lasers (120) - 150 each

Main Body - 10,000

Engines (4) - 2000

Auxiliary Engines (2) - 500

Weapons

  1. Reflex Cannon

Range: 300,000 km

Mega Damage: 1d6*1,000,000 MDC on full power (1.5 Megatonnes), 2d4*10,000 on low power (50 kilotonnes)

Wide dispersal: equal to the following formula

Mega-Damage(from full strength weapon)/(8*Pi*Sin(theta)*r^2)

r - range in kilometers

theta - angle of dispersal (maximum angle is 45 degrees)

damage is spread out in 50 MDC packets.

Rate of Fire: 6 times per hour

  1. Main Particle Cannons (4 large forward firing, 2 medium aftward and sides, 2 medium forward and sides, 3 small on turrets on dorsal, and 3 small on turrets on ventral\)

Range: 200,000 km

Mega Damage: Large - 1d6*1000, medium - 1d4*1000, and small - 2d6*100 MDC

Rate of Fire: 1 every other melee for large and medium, every melee for the small

  1. AAA lasers. The monitor mounts over 120 of these weapons. 10 are mounted on the bow, 10 are mounted on the stern, and 25 are divided over each of the dorsal, port, ventral and starboard hull surfaces.

Range: 20 miles

Mega Damage: 1d4*10 MDC

Rate of Fire: 6 times per melee

New Rules:

-light laser cannons only suffer 1/2 the normal size penalties of the large guns.

i.e. to hit veritecs is only -6

H to H Biroids

Blue

With Sled

4 h to h

+4 strike with single shots / +2 bursts +2

+4 roll

+4 parry

+5 dodge +10 dodge

Green (average PP 19)

4 h to h

+5 strike +2 strike (+6)

+4 roll

+7 parry

+7 dodge +12 dodge

Red (average PP 19)

5 h to h

+6 to strike +2 strike (+6)

+5 roll

+7 parry

+8 dodge +13 dodge

critical strikes on 18, 19, and 20

receives an auto dodge

Invid Fighter (average PP 19)

7 h to h

+6 strike +2 strike (+6)

+6 roll

+7 parry

+9 dodge +14 dodge

critical strikes on 18, 19, and 20

receives an auto dodge

If variable PP are used refer to the following chart

PP 16 17 18-19 20-21

strike -2 -1 +0 +1

parry -2 -1 +0 +1

dodge -2 -1 +0 +1

Of course special clones could have higher PP, however in general no clone has a PP higher than 21.

Weapons:

  1. Weapons Drum: Ion Beam/Pulse Cannon

Range: 2000 m

Mega Damage: 1d4*10 MDC per shot, 2d4*10 per short burst

  1. Bioroid Blaser

Range: 2500 m

Mega Damage: 1d6*10 MDC per shot, 2d6*10 per short burst


Modifications to Robotech Masters Assault Carrier:

Weapon Systems

(1) Forward ion guns

2d6*10 MDC per burst

Range: 22.5 km

Rate of fire: 5 per melee

(2) Secondary laser cannons (4)

2d4*10 MDC per blast

Range: 1200 m

Rate of fire: 4 per melee

(3) Rotary Blaster Turret

4d6 per aimed blast, 1d6*10 per burst

Range: 1200m

Rate of fire: 8 aimed blasts or four bursts

H to H

6 addition attacks to dodge, while firing all guns

+3 to strike with Ion guns

+2 to strike with Blaster Turret, +0 for a burst

+1 to strike with laser cannons

+4 to dodge / +6 at Mach 5

Personnal

Sgt. John O'Keff - engineering

Major Thomas Finny - Veritec squardron Wildcat squadron

Appendix D:

Terran Naval Combat Vessels

by Pieter Thomassen

ARMD class Armored Space Platform.

(-0X series)

ARMD-01 Hermes Commissioned 05/2008, Destroyed 2009 in Earth orbit

ARMD-02 Shokaku Commissioned 05/2008, Destroyed 2009 in Earth orbit

ARMD-03 Enterprise Commissioned 10/2008, Destroyed 2009 in Earth orbit

ARMD-04 Ark Royal Commissioned 03/2009, Decommissioned 2023

ARMD-05 Akagi Commissioned 03/2009, Destroyed in Zentraedi Holocaust

ARMD-06 Saratoga Commissioned 08/2009, Decommissioned 2023

ARMD-07 Ranger Commissioned 10/2009, Destroyed in Zentraedi Holocaust

ARMD-08 Illustrious Commissioned 01/2010, Destroyed in Zentraedi Holocaust

(-1X series)

ARMD-10 Langley Commissioned 10/2008, Destroyed 2009 in Earth orbit

ARMD-11 Shinano Never Commissioned, Destroyed 2014 with SDF-2

ARMD-12 Lexington Never Commissioned, Destroyed 2014 with SDF-2

VEHICLE TYPE: Orbital mecha/drone carrier and anti-starship platform.

CREW: 3000; 160 officers and 2840 enlisted personnel.

TROOPS: Typical mecha/drone group size is 600 men.

TOTAL OF CREW AND TROOPS: 3600 men average. Life support system can service

4800 men in an emergency.

MECHA/DRONE COMPLEMENT:

ARMD-01 through ARMD-08

270 QF-3000E drone fighters

24 SF-2B Hunter space fighters

78 SF-3A Lancer II space fighters

12 VF-1 Valkyrie Veritech fighters

6 SC-27 Star Goose space shuttles

3 ES-11D Cat's Eye recon planes

ARMD-10 as commissioned, ARMD-04 and -06 as refit after 2012

270 QF-3000E drone fighters

108 VF-1 Valkyrie Veritech fighters

6 SC-27 Star Goose space shuttles

3 ES-11D Cat's Eye recon planes

PROPULSION:

Reaction-mass thruster (1): RRG FuRT-1/14 Reaction Thrusters with

protoculture energizer, capable of a sustained 0.1 g acceleration until

fuel is exhausted. 1.0 g of acceleration can be sustained for twelve

minutes. Fuel supply is enough for 7.2 kps delta-v.

Emergency Thrusters (2): RRG FuRT-2/5 Reaction Thrusters. Capable of

0.5g acceleration for twelve minutes.

Attitude Thrusters: Two maneuver blocks (RRG FuRT-3/4 Reaction thrusters)

with six nozzles each at the forward ends of the side sponsons. Two nozzles

face forward, two face to the side and one nozzle faces up and down.

Additional attitude control by vectorable thrust from main and emergency

thrusters.

Planetary Capability: The ARMD ships could not enter an atmosphere and

survive for any amount of time.

MAXIMUM RANGE: Protoculture and life support supplies for one year; Fuel

supply is enough for 7.2 kps delta-v. The ARMD class of ships were limited

to Earth and lunar orbits. Although voyages to the outlying planets were

theoretically possible, this was never done since the transition

flights would have lasted months.

LENGTH: 430 meter

HEIGHT: 47.3 meter

WIDTH : 115.8 meter central section, 171.7 meter overall

MASS : 474,000 metric tons

MAIN ENGINE: RRG Mk2 furnace, Reflex, protoculture.

WEAPON SYSTEMS:

Five heavy particle beam cannons; one on the central aft ventral, two

on the aft ventral flanks, two on the forward dorsal surface astride

the bridge section. These cannons are based on the heavy secondary

batteries of the SDF-1, can fire once per three minutes and have a

range of 200,000 km. Typically, one discharge has a power of 2.5

terajoules, equivalent to 500 tons of TNT. Unfortunately, the

ARMD's power generators were wholly inadequate for these guns, and

their rates of fire were far inferior to those mounted on the SDF-1.

Three triple barrelled laser turrets are mounted on the side of each

emergency thruster. They can fire 900 MJ of laser energy every three

seconds and have the same effective range as the heavier cannons.

One heavy SLBM launcher is mounted in every side sponson. The launcher

ejects its missiles upward, where they ignite their engines once free

of the ship. The missiles are specialized Lockheed E-9 Trident SLBM

(Space Launched Ballistic Missiles) with fusion warheads in the 3 MT

range. The delta-v capacity of the missiles is 8 kps, and the magazine

in each each sponson can store 40 missiles.

Six heavy missile launchers with 10 missiles ready to fire and another 30

missiles in the magazine are mounted on the dorsal and ventrals and the

sides of the vessel (two on the dorsal, two on the ventral and one on

each side. Each launcher fires General Dynamics and Euromissile Warhawk

missiles. Each missile is a combined multi-spectrum imager and active

radar homing Reflex missile, with a delta-v of 5 kps, and a typical

yield of 5 to 10 kT for anti-warship operations, and a high explosive

fragmentary warhead for anti-aircraft work.

Twenty-four laser cannons with a power rating of 10 MJ in pop-up turrets

on both the dorsal and the ventral plane. Specialized for close-in

defense, the cannons can fire once every two seconds.

SPECIAL EQUIPMENT: Long range radar and optical sensors, internal gravity

with limited inertial dampening field, system-range radio and laser

communications.

DESIGN NOTES:

The ARMD or Armor series orbital carriers formed the backbone of the

RDF's orbital fleet. The Armors were designed shortly after the arrival

of the SDF-1 on Macross Island, at a time when many Tirolian technologies

were not yet available. This factor has hampered the Armor craft through-

out their lives.

Because of the newness of the technology, only fusion driven reaction-

thrusters were available. The sublight engines were (still) beyond the

capability of the Terran engineers. Consequently, the Armors were limited

to Earth orbits, Lunar orbits and the La Grange points. Nevertheless, the

designers did anticipate the installation of a sublight drive later in the

lives of the craft. However, the power demands for these systems turned out

to be in excess of the Armor's generating capacity and it was not until

2009 that the necessary refits were finally designed and prepared. At the

time of the Zentraedi arrival however, four Armors were destroyed by the

Zentraedi without much trouble, and hence the effectiveness of the design

was called into question. Therefore, the refits were put on hold. The

production of new Armors was delayed, although more thanks to the misfold

of the SDF-1 and its protoculture powersources than to the proven

inefficacy of the design. The nine Armors procured up to then would

remain nine forever.

An interesting design feature was the capability of the Armor class to

dock the engine section to the 'shoulder-locks' of the SDF-1. This was

done so as to increase the combat power and versatility of the SDF-1 while

also extending the Armor's capabilities. However, the two Armors to attempt

link-up were destroyed prior to their link-up by Breetai's fleet.

The Armor series was a completely Terran design, made without any

knowledge other than the basic principles of space-warfare tactics. The

shape of the Armors therefore borrows little of any Tirolian or Zentraedi

design, in contrast to later Terran ships. The Armor was made up of

five main sections. The main control section of the Armors was located in

the small bridge section forward on the centerline. Aft of this was the

flightdeck, with hangars, elevating arms that placed mecha outside the

ship for take-off and recovered them when landing, and to the rear the

reaction mass tanks. Two large sponsons flanked the flightdeck and

extended downward from it, forming a large well between them. Inside the

sponsons were the magazines for the large SLBM missiles, the quick-release

bays for the space fighters and the conveyors to the main flight deck

hangars, and, forward of this, the maneuvering thruster clusters. Aft of the

flightdeck and the upper part of the sponsons was the engine section, with

one large central engine flanked by two auxiliary engines. It was intended

that a sublight-engine (and possibly a fold-drive, if they could deduce the

principles) would be installed as soon as the Robotech Research Groups had

developed and built them to satisfactory standards. The additional engines

would then have made up a sixth section, to be located in the well between

the sponsons.

The armament was a mixture of traditional Terran and Tirolian

technologies. Five large particle beams of the extremely advanced design

found on the SDF-1 were mounted. These designs were several generations

more advanced than those mounted on Zentraedi Battlecruisers. The two

SLBM launchers fired their weapons through two hatches in the upper

rear of the sponsons. The weapons were expelled horizontally from the

ship and then ignited. The rate of fire was quite impressive for such a

heavy installation, at three missiles per second per launcher. Also, six

triple-barrelled laser turrets with more or less the equivalent firepower

of the standard Zentraedi laser-turret design were located around each

auxiliary engine, and six reflex missile launchers were placed around the

vessel for area defence. As a last-ditch defense, 24 laser cannons were

located in pop-up turrets on both the ventral and dorsal sides of the ship.

Unfortunately, the powerplant installed on the ARMD cruisers was woefully

insufficient, and the guns' rates of fire, especially that of the largest

weapons, suffered for it.

The strategies for which this weapon fit was conceived were based on

the expectations that RDF planners had of the Zentraedi attack capabilities

and tactics. These however were based on the examination of the SDF-1,

which was assumed to be a typical example of a large Zentraedi warcraft.

As such, it had one main cannon, a number of smaller batteries, and hangar

capacity for about 1500 mecha. The planners could not imagine anyone

building a very much larger vessel, and therefore the SDF-2, under

construction on the moon, was to be a copy of the SDF-1, and hoped to

be superior to most other ships. As such, smaller escort ships were

expected, and possibly versions of the Battlefortress, without the main

gun but with a large troop-carrying capacity for use in planetary landings.

Also, given the power of the ship, it was not expected that alien Battle

Groups would comprise more than one SDF-1 class vessel per group. These

assumptions, while logical and sensible, were utterly wrong. In defense of

the analysts it must be stated that the SDF-1 was definately not a typical

example of a Zentraedi ship-of-the-line, but a new type of monitor-class

intended to help the Tirolians keep tight reigns on Dolza. Most Zentraedi

ships were far larger than the SDF-1, carried far more mecha and operated

in fleets ranging from 12 to 10,000 individual ships. The Imperial Fleet,

which Breetai folded to Earth-space to relieve Azonia of command numbered

one million ships.

It was intended that the Armor class ships, escorted by Ophelia-

class system destroyers, would take out the single large ship in an

alien battle group. This was to be accomplished by firing the large

particle beams at long range, disabling the enemies' main cannon in the

process. Then the Armors were to close with the vessel, still firing the

particle beams, and finish the ship off with concentrated SLBM barrages.

The drones and mecha were launched with the SLBMs to take out any alien

mecha that had managed to escape the destruction of their ships.

Unfortunately, the Zentraedi vessels were larger and tougher than expected,

carried enough mecha to overwhelm the defenses of the Armors, had more

firepower than they could handle, and outnumbered them enormously to boot.

As the first few vessels neared completion, it was decided to introduce

an alternative design. The first series was known as the Armor-0 type,

the new design would be the Armor-1 type. This showed in the hull numbers,

which were either -0x or -1x, dependant on the design type. While the

original plan (series -0) had not included anything but a token complement

of VF-1 Valkyries, ARMD-10 (first of the series -1) was designed with

Valkyries in mind. Though there were no obvious external differences, the

internal arrangement of the vehicle, especially in the hangar areas, was

quite different. The ARMD-10 entered service at the same time as ARMD-3.

Two partial ARMD carriers were built as part of the SDF-2 project; these

ships, ARMD-11 and ARMD-12 had no engine section at all, and were mainly to

serve as external carriers on the SDF-2. These vessels are not included in

most records of the class history.

Because of the obvious inefficiacy of the Hunter and Lancer fighters,

the two Armor cruisers that survived the Holocaust were refitted around the

Valkyries, in the manner of ARMD-10.

HISTORY:

Nine Armor-class vessels were constructed in the L5 point by the RDF

from 2003-2010. Four of these were finished by the time of the Zentraedi

arrival, and were all destroyed during the initial assault. Though all

vessels were given names, these never took, and the ships were invariably

referred to as "Armor" followed by their call-number. Armor 2 was

destroyed in the first battle after the Zentraedi fleet arrived in Earth

orbit, while Armors 1, 3, and 10 were destroyed during an attempt to link

up with the SDF-1. There were 12 other Armors underway at the L5 factory,

but there were only sufficient powerplants available for five of them.

This, coupled with the ease with which the first Armors were destroyed,

led to the cancellation of the last seven. The other five were completed

just in time for three of them to be destroyed in the Zentraedi Holocaust.

These were Armor 5, 7, and 8. Armor 4 and 6 were at that time orbiting

the moon, filled with officers the EUG brass had decided were not like-

minded politically, with orders to support the SDF-1 in its ordered suicide

attack on Breetai's fleet after the firing of the Alaskan main cannon at it.

It was intended that these Armors would be destroyed with the SDF-1 and its

political time-bomb load of dissenters, after which the Zentraedi would

hopefully go and leave the Earth in peace, and the UEG securely in charge.

Fortunately, Breetai's peace initiative prevented its execution. This plan

later caused the courts-martial of several survivors known to have

supported it. Armor 4 and 6 survived the Holocaust, as they were unable

to participate in the battle itself due to their low speed. After the war

they served as orbital bases until they were decommissioned in 2023 with

the other orbital fleet units. ARMD-11 and ARMD-12 were constructed by

Earth as part of the SDF-2 project, and were ARMD carriers in name only.

Though they shared identical frames with the ARMD-10, they had no

engines and were permanently mated to the SDF-2's arms. As such, they are

generally not considered seperate vessels, but rather part of the SDF-2.

They were lost with the SDF-2 in January 2014.


Ophelia-class Missile Destroyer

SLDG-01 Ophelia commissioned 2005 destroyed by the Helen, 2005.

SLDG-02 Penelope commissioned 2005 decommissioned 2023.

SLDG-03 Helen commissioned 2005 destroyed by Penelope, 2005.

SLDG-04 Andromache commissioned 2005 destroyed 2015 in Earth orbit.

SLDG-05 Miranda commissioned 2005 destroyed 2009 in Earth orbit.

SLDG-06 Desdemona commissioned 2005 decommissioned 2023.

SLDG-07 Circe commissioned 2006 destroyed 2009 in Earth orbit.

SLDG-08 Titania commissioned 2006 destroyed in Zentraedi Holocaust.

SLDG-09 Cordelia commissioned 2006 destroyed 2009 in Lunar orbit.

SLDG-10 Esther commissioned 2007 destroyed 2009 in Earth orbit.

SLDG-11 Dido commissioned 2007 decommissioned 2023.

SLDG-12 Katherine commissioned 2007 destroyed in Zentraedi Holocaust.

SLDG-13 Beatrice commissioned 2007 destroyed in Zentraedi Holocaust.

SLDG-14 Deidamia commissioned 2008 decommissioned 2023.

SLDG-15 Lavinia commissioned 2008 destroyed in Zentraedi Holocaust.

SLDG-16 Hermine commissioned 2008 decommissioned 2023.

SLDG-17 Galadriel commissioned 2009 destroyed in Zentraedi Holocaust.

SLDG-18 Roxane commissioned 2009 destroyed in Zentraedi Holocaust.

SLDG-19 Cosette commissioned 2009 decommissioned 2023.

SLDG-20 Jane Eyre commissioned 2010 destroyed in Zentraedi Holocaust.

VEHICLE TYPE: In-System Space Destroyer

CREW: 24 officers, 12 bridge crew, 40 engineering crew, 12 medical staff,

12 cooks.

TROOPS: Up to 40 Marines.

TOTAL OF CREW AND TROOPS: 140, though an additional 500 passengers can

be carried in an emergency.

AIRCRAFT COMPLEMENT: Usually a single Star Goose or Rabbit Shuttle

is stationed aboard the Destroyer, for troop and personnel transfer.

PROPULSION:

Reaction-mass thrusters for combat (2): RRG FuRT-3/3 Reaction Thrusters

with protoculture energizer; capable of a sustained 0.8-g acceleration

until fuel exhaustion, and 2 g of acceleration can be sustained for 9

minutes 35 seconds. Delta-v capacity 11.5 kps.

Retro-thrusters for combat maneuvering and braking maneuvers (6): RRG

FuRT-4/3 Reaction Thuster with protoculture energizer; capable of a

sustained 1.2 g burn (all six thrusters operational) until fuel

exhaustion.

Emergency thrusters (2): RRG FuRT-5/1 Reaction Thrusters with

protoculture energizer; capable of propelling the ship with 0.5 g of

acceleration for 12 minutes.

Gravitic Displacement Drive for sublight travel (1): RRG mk1

(SLD-01 through -08), RRG mk2 (SLD-09 and -12) or mk3 (SLD-13 through

-20). Local, monopolar-induced gravitic space-time distortion, powered

by main protoculture reactor, accelerates vessel at 200-300 g, but the

vessel's maneuverability is reduced to such a degree that only minor

course corrections are possible. Typical cruising speed is .001 c.

Planetary Capability: The Ophelia class ships can not enter the

atmosphere, and have a minimum altitude of 120 kilometers.

MAXIMUM RANGE: Generator endurance between 15 and 25 years (dependant upon

design type, previous protoculture use etc.). Delta-v capacity for the

reaction thrusters of 11.5 kps maximum, theoretical range several

lightyears with unlimited use of sublight drive. However, life support

limit of 10 months with standard crew confines the ships to the Solar

System.

LENGTH: 390m

HEIGHT: 64m

WIDTH : 173m

MASS : 394,000 metric tons

MAIN ENGINE: RRG Mk3 (SLD-01 through -14) or mk4 (others) furnace,

protoculture.

GRAVITY CONTROL SYSTEM: Internal, including an Inertial Dampening Field.

WEAPON SYSTEMS: (All are RRG designed and built unless stated otherwise)

Side-Mounted Forward-Firing Particle Cannons: (2) heavy, long-range

cannons. The weapons are in a fixed-forward position. Fires salvos

of 6500 MJ of particle energy every fifteen seconds.

Top-Mounted Forward-Firing Particle Cannons: (2) medium, long-range

cannons. The weapons are in a fixed-forward position. Fires salvos

of 3500 MJ of particle energy every fifteen seconds.

Sixteen laser cannons with a power rating of 10 MJ in pop-up turrets

on both the dorsal and the ventral hull. Specialized for close-in

defense, the cannons can fire once every two seconds. Total of

32 cannons.

Eighteen missile silos are mounted on the dorsal rear and contain

long-range anti-starship missiles. This is the vessel's primary weapon

system. Each silo ejects its missile upward, where it ignites its

engines once free of the ship. The missiles are specialized Lockheed F-4

Trident SLBM (Space Launched Ballistic Missiles) with multiple (5) fusion

warheads in the 300 kT range. The delta-v capacity of the missile is

7.5 kps.

SPECIAL EQUIPMENT OF NOTE: communications network, including laser, radio

and video telecast capabilities, as well as a limited hyperspace radio

for in-system transmissions.

Sensors: Radar (300 mile range); heat, motion, radiation and light, and

gravimetric detection.

DESIGN NOTES:

The Ophelia-class of System Missile Destroyers was the first Earth

design for a space warship, and was during the first years of the 21th

century the prime vessel for the further exploration, examination,

exploitation and transport of, for and between the planets of the solar

system. As the first design and with only partially understood technologies,

it had its flaws, but it served faithfully before, during and after the

First Robotech War.

Like the Armor-class Space Carriers, the Ophelia-class was designed to

fight the Zentraedi fleets as they were hypothesized from the wreckage

of the SDF-1: one large mothership of the SDF-1 type, and a number of

smaller escort ships, which might or might not have fold-capability. As

such, the Zentraedi Tou Redir came reasonably close to the escort

ships of the military theorists' pipe dreams, but even these smaller ships

were far more powerful than had been anticipated, and the Ophelia-class,

designed to fight these ships, was usually overmatched against even these

types.

Deck one contains an observation deck and the Captain's briefing room.

Deck two contains the radio and sensor room, navigational computers, and

the Captain's sea cabin. Deck three is divided into three disconnected

sections, all of which are accessible from deck four. In the forward

section of deck three is located the main bridge and fire control. In

the midship region is located access to the gun machinery for the topside

particle beam cannons. In the aft section of deck three is service access

to the triple ballistic missile launchers. Deck four is the main deck; here

is located the sick-bay, officers' and crew quarters, and the mess area.

Deck five is the main engineering deck. Here are located the main computers,

the environmental support systems, the side gun machinery, machine shops,

and at aft, main engineering. Deck six, which has no gravity, is the

shuttle bay and service deck.

The vessel is manned by 24 officers and 76 enlisted personnel. Of

these, 43 men and women serve as the engineering crew, 12 as medical

personnel, 12 as internal support, and over 30 crewmen staff operations.

There is often a Marine platoon of 36 men stationed aboard these

vessels for landing actions (such as the incident on Mars Base Sera

before the Zentraedi arrived) as well as the boarding of derelict

craft. Four technical specialists are typically attached to the Marines.

These specialists pilot and service the shuttle, among other tasks. In

addition, almost 500 personnel could be carried on board for short periods,

and this capacity was used for the embarkation of scientists, and for when

the vessels were used as transport vessels between the various planets of

the solar system.

The Ophelia-class is well-armed for its size and design era, with 4

powerful forward firing particle guns, multiple point-defense lasers, and

18 deadly anti-warship missiles. Nevertheless, it is still easily

outmatched by the most comperable Zentraedi vessel, the Tou Redir scout,

which is more heavilly armed, armored, and faster with both the sublight and

the reaction engines. An Ophelia-class ship can prevail against the

smallest and most numerous of Zentraedi vessels only if it utilizes its

maneuverability to avoid the scout's guns.

HISTORY:

Designed to patrol Earth's solar system and to escort the far more

vulnerable A.R.M.D. carrier platforms, this vehicle entered service

in 2005, four years before the launching of the SDF-1. Though most

were destroyed by the Zentraedi immediately after they entered Earth orbit

and when the SDF-1 attempted to link up with Armor 1 and Armor 2,

or later when they were recalled to Earth just before the Zentraedi

Holocaust, many survived and continued to patrol the solar system until the

remainder were decommissioned just before the SDF-3 departed for Tirol.

This vessel was fairly spacious, and was popular with its crews before

the Zentraedi arrived, but proved to be woefully underarmed to deal with the

far larger and deadlier Zentraedi vessels. They also served to evacuate the

personnel from of Mars Base Sara because of the threat made by anti-

unificationist terrorists that caused the abandonment of the base. The

Helen was captured by these terrorists, who used it to destroy the Ophelia,

which was carrying part of the base's complement and was unprepared to

resist; all hands were killed. The Penelope was then dispatched after

the Helen, which had entered a Lunar orbit and was making propaganda

broadcasts aimed at the Earth. Shortly before entering Lunar orbit herself,

the Penelope ejected several of her Trident missiles. The ship then

proceded in a high orbit and on a standard attack course towards the Helen.

This ship's hijackers, fully expecting the Penelope to make a head-on

attack (the only attack they thought possible in space) prepared for this.

They were thus caught competely of guard when the undetected, previously

ejected missiles used their occultation by the moon to ignite their engines,

and then made a parabolic orbit with a periapsis at a mere 1500 meters

above the moon's surface, coming up behind the Helen at high speed and

using the moon as radar background. Helen's crew never even saw them

coming. This case was later hailed by Spacy officers as an excellent

example of using the particulars of celestial bodies (in this case, the

Moon's lack of atmosphere which made the very close fly-by possible) in

space tactics.

Later on, the Ophelia-class vessels served admirably in their patrol

role after the destruction of the SDF-1, and were instrumental in rooting

out and destroying several Zentraedi destroyers and pickets that had

escaped the Zentraedi Holocaust. However, they were only assigned these

duties as the hunted vessels were damaged and underpowered already, and

because allied Zentraedi vessels were standing by to help them out if

necessary.


Tirolian Destroyer

VEHICLE TYPE: Limited fold-capable general-purpose warship.

CREW:

Command Triumvirates: 30;

Ship's Complement : circa 200;

Clone Warriors : circa 600;

Total : 850;

Permanent life support capability: 5000 humanoids;

Emergency life support capability: 10000 humanoids.

MECHA COMPLEMENT:

Typical complements are given. If needed, these numbers can be increased.

Bioroids: 200 to 250 units.

ADDITIONAL CRAFT:

Typically about 25 shuttles, recon drones and others.

PROPULSION:

Gravitic Maneuvering Drives: The standard reaction engines installed

in all Zentraedi and Earth ships have been omitted in favor of

three gravitic maneuvering drives. These drives are smaller versions

of the main sub-light drives and are mounted on the three axis of the

ship. The use of these drives in unison will create the required

thrust into any direction, thus eliminating the maneuvering problems

present in the larger drive. These smaller drives are rated for a

maximum acceleration of 1.8g. Also, the drives do not use reaction

mass and can thus be operated indefinitely.

Gravitic Displacement Drive for sublight travel: Local, monopolar-

induced gravitic space-time distortion, powered by main protoculture

reactors, accelerates vessel at 400-500 g, but the vessel's

maneuverability is reduced to such a degree that only minor course

corrections are possible. Typical cruising speed is .001 C, though

higher speeds can be achieved.

Space Fold: A hyperspace system that catapults the vessel through

space-time. The spacefold system is used for travelling from one

system to another quickly. The strapped-down system used onboard

the Destroyers was of the conformal type and limited to distances

of about 100 parsecs (326 ly) per hyperspace fold-jump.

Planetary Capability: The Destroyers can operate in an atmosphere,

but are due to their size constrained to sub-sonic speeds.

Planetfall is also possible, given a sufficiently large flat area

with a bedrock underground or a body of water.

MAXIMUM RANGE: Effectively limitless through fold and sublight drive

systems. Protoculture reactors will function for 50-65 years, depending

on the individual system's design age and the level of use it gets.

LENGTH: 348 meters (main hull), 386 meters (over all).

WIDTH : 56 meters (main hull), 101 meters (over all).

HEIGHT: 103 meters (main hull), 148 meters (over all).

MASS : 395,000 tons.

MAIN ENGINE: Reflex Furnaces, protoculture (exclusive)

GRAVITY CONTROL SYSTEM: Internal, with inertial dampers.

WEAPON AND DEFENSE SYSTEMS:

Absorbative & ablative hull: The hull of each Destroyer is constructed

with a mix of high-density metals, ceramics and other, classified

materials. While not as effective as the more advanced Tirolian shield

technologies, which the Destroyer is too small to carry, this armor

does limit the destructive impact of energy and solids weapon systems

to a certain extend.

Reflex Cannon: An incredibly destructive particle beam with a range of

over 300,000 km, mounted in the front of the vessel. The model used by

the Destroyers utilizes the same technology as the mini-Reflex cannons

mounted on the Tirolian gunships, and fires through the two lower cannon

appendages, rather than requiring the ship to open up.

The effects of this weapon against planets are equal to the heat and

blast effects of the detonation of a fusion weapon of 1.5 megatons, if

fired at full power. Note that at the time the Second Robotech War the

energy levels in the Tirolian ships were so low that the cannon could no

longer be fired by most ships, and in the ships that still could fire

the cannon, the blast effect seldom exceeded 50 kilotons.

If utilized against starships, the largest vessels can be destroyed

with one salvo. The weapon can also be set to a wider dispersal. While

not nearly as effective as a tight beam against warships, it is capable

of clearing a wide area of fighters and other mecha.

Main Particle Beams: These are the main anti-ship weapons, as the

reflex cannon cannot be fired fast enough in fleet actions. There are

four of these large cannons mounted in appendages on the bow, all

firing in a forward arc. Another two are located aftwards to the sides,

two slightly smaller ones are mounted in movable turrets to the front

sides, and three of the smallest variant are mounted on the dorsal

and ventral surfaces. Rate of fire for the largest cannons is two

salvos per minute, and the smaller ones can fire a sustained salvo of

ten seconds three times per minute. Range is a respectable 200,000 km.

Typically, one discharge of one frontal cannon has a power of 1.5

terajoules, for a total forward (four cannons firing) salvo of 6.0

terajoules, the equivalent to 1.2 kilotons of TNT. The intermediate

cannons can fire salvos of 0.75 terajoules (0.15 kilotons) and the

smallest are limited to 0.3 terajoules (0.06 kilotons).

AAA Lasers: All Destroyers mount over 120 of these weapons. They are

designed to suppress attacking mecha, constructed with the Invid's

suicidal ramming tactics in mind. 10 of these cannons are mounted on the

bow, another ten are mounted on the stern, and 25 are divided over each

of the dorsal, port, ventral and starboard hull surfaces. They can

deliver 10 MJ of laser energy each and can fire every 1.5 seconds.

SPECIAL EQUIPMENT OF NOTE: Hyperspace communications, long-range laser and

satellite relay communications, long-range radar. Radar and communication

dampeners, electronic warfare devices.

DESIGN NOTES:

The Tirolian Destroyer was conceived to be a fast, heavily-armed

vessel for fleet escort, patrol, and assault duties. Bristling with the

most armament for her size of any ship ever built, this vessel was the

core of the reduced fleets operated by Tirol after she downsized her own

military after the creation of the Zentraedi.

In general hull shape, the Destroyers were shaped not unlike a

snub-nosed version of the later REF's Katana-class destroyer, without the

hangar, gun turret, or engines. To the outboard edges of these ships'

flat ventral surfaces, two sponson-like bulges were visible, running

about a third of the vessel's length.

Four large sensor domes dominated the bow. Three of these were mounted

in a vertical row in the bow, while the larger fourth dome was mounted on

the edge of the upper deck and the prow. Flanking these sensors were the

four booms of the main armament, sticking out from the ships much like the

very early german air-to-air radars did in the Second World War. A fifth

and sixth cannon appendage was mounted to the rear, while two smaller

cannons were mounted in movable turrets between the bow and the sponsons.

The AAA armament was usually hidden from view behind movable bulkheads.

Designed for naval engagements, the ships also carried a fair number of

Bioroids and their sleds in five internal hangars; one near the upper deck

and the other four near the lower hull.

There were no command towers on this design, the CIC and bridge being

located near the core of the vessel, for maximum protection. Four large

sensor booms, for local hyperspace sensors, were mounted at the rear, in

a cruciform arrangement, rotated forty-five degrees from the ship's

gravity-well attitude.

HISTORY:

As the Tirolians began to expans into space, they brought a military

presence with them. To defend the early colony ships and to patrol the

Interstellar Republic, the Tirolians developed a number of military vessel

designs; the only two that stood the test of time were the Battleship and

Destroyer. With the introduction of the Zentraedi, these designs were

largely abandoned. However, centuries later, as the Empire began to

collapse, several of the basic designs were revived, updated with the

newest technologies, and sent to the shipyards for construction. Among

them was the Destroyer.

The craft was a dedicated starship-killer spacecraft in a very small

hull; in fact, the vessel was smaller than its closest Earth equivalent,

the Tristar-class Light Cruiser. Each Mothership was assigned three

battlegroups of nine Destroyers each, and several independent groups were

built as well. In total, over 1100 of these ships were built by the

Tirolian overlords. The design showed its mettle during the latter days of

the Empire, when system after system fell to the Invid. Its best known

battles, however, are those that took place in the solar system during

the Second Robotech War. Over 160 Destroyers were transported with the

large Tirolian Motherships to Earth, where they exacted a terrible toll

on the Southern Cross and the relief expeditions sent by the REF. All of

these ships were either destroyed during the war, or lost all power in the

months after the its end. A few survivors of the class were found intact in

the former Tirolian Empire, and ongoing research programs are trying to

duplicate the design, or at least certain key technologies, for use in a

new standard REF frigate, and the successors to the both the Tristar and

Katana classes.

Appendix E:

Robotech Mecha - Tirolian Designs

(Pieter Thomassen w/ P. Walker)

Assault Carrier

VEHICLE TYPE: Armed transatmospheric assault transport.

CREW: Three pilots.

MECHA COMPLEMENT:

Cargo space for 36 Bioroids of all types with Skysleds.

Usual load is 18 Bioroids with sleds.

PROPULSION:

Anti-gravity system (1): Zorr'lev-45-RTc; maximum acceleration 4.89

standard gravities.

Reaction-mass thrusters (2): Two Zorr'lev-34-LrTcr; capable of

sustained 1.22 standard g acceleration until fuel exhaustion. A 2.45

g acceleration can be sustained for over four minutes, and emergency

5.5 g is available for twenty seconds before auto-engine shutdown. Not

suited for fractional light speed travel

Assorted secondary and maneuvering thrusters.

PERFORMANCE: Sustained speed at 37km : 8000 kph.

Minimum speed (all altitudes): 0 kph (hover).

MAXIMUM RANGE: Within gravity wells limited only by protoculture supplies.

Outside gravity wells 12 minutes at 1.22 standard gravities.

LENGTH: 121.9 meters

HEIGHT: 23.1 meters (over landing claws);

18.2 meters (main hull only).

WIDTH : 36.5 meters

MASS : 2250 metric ton (unloaded).

MAIN ENGINE: 2 Zorr'lev-213-DQi protoculture generators.

WEAPON SYSTEMS (Standard Package):

Two Ion Pulse cannons in the nose. Cannons fire bursts of annihilation

discs at 4500 m/s to a maximum effective range of 22.5 km. Both cannons

fire synchronously. Maximum rate of fire is one one-second burst every

three seconds. Energy in each burst is equal to 60 MJ.

(or two mini-Reflex Cannons. See text)

Four secondary 25 MJ laser cannon are mounted in the sides. All four

cannon can fire once every four seconds, or keep up sustained 2 MW

fire for up to 4 minutes. Independently targetable, but usually fire in

concert.

One four barrel rotary laser turret is mounted on the bottom. Main

purpose is as a defensive, close-in weapon system. The turret typically

fires 6 MJ laser pulses on its target, and can select and engage

targets almost indefinitely. If truly continuous fire is employed, the

turret will overheat after 5 minutes.

DESIGN NOTES:

The Assault Carrier is a streamlined, rocket and anti-gravity propelled

transorbital atmosphere/space combat vehicle.

The rear part of the body is vaguely rectangular shaped, with the

smallest dimensions in the vertical, narrowing to the front, forming a

prow. Mounted here are the twin forward Ion Cannon and the forward landing

claw. The secondary Laser cannons are mounted on the narrowing part of the

main hull, two on each side located above one another. The underbelly

mounts, in the center of the craft, the rotary laser turret, and to the

sides the two main landing claws. On top of the main hull is a blister

containing the cockpit and many of the sensory instruments. Two mecha

release doors are mounted in the sides of the craft. In some ships, an

additional laser cannon is mounted to the rear of the two standard cannons,

but this configuration is not common.

The interior of the craft has four separate deck levels. The topmost

level is the flight deck on top of the craft, as described. Immediately

under the top of the main hull is a floor with medical facilities, crew rest

rooms and other mission related rooms. Below this is the main mecha hangar,

with enough room, if needed, for 36 Bioroids. Underneath this hangar is a

floor with access to the engines and several storage rooms. The Skysleds are

usually stored here, as are some additional Bioroid weapons.

HISTORY:

To quickly transport their Bioroid clone-warriors the Robotech Masters

needed to have a fast, transorbital transport. The first idea was to use

adapted versions of the Zentraedi Re-entry Pod, but this was rejected

fairly early in the design effort. The Masters' personal army would not, it

turned out, be equipped with specialized aerial war mecha. To provide for

the armed might to slash holes in air and ground defenses, the assault

transport would carry armament as well as Bioroid troops. This was a

completely different doctrine than was created for the Zentraedi, who were

equipped with air combat mecha and unarmed transports. This rather

revolutionary decision was made after computer modeling showed that a

large, armed troop transport would be more than capable of defeating aerial

mecha, while remaining fully operational itself. Hence, the transport would

need to be sufficiently well armed and armored to defeat any threat before

that threat could inflict significant damage.

The Masters then took the idea one step further. If the transport were

to be equipped with enough firepower to enable it to overwhelm small

spaceships (with Rudel-tactics if need be) then the entire army could be

made up from just two main designs: the Bioroid and the Assault Carrier.

This would significantly ease manufacturing and maintenance. This

approach was chosen, and the Tirolian Assault Carrier was designed to

fit this role. This it did magnificently. The Assault Carrier exceeded

all the expectations its designers had of it, and set new standards

for transports in the Robotech militaries.

During the Second Robotech war the Southern Cross forces often

encountered this vehicle, either in space or on the planet itself. Always it

proved to be more maneuverable, powerful and heavily armored than the aerial

SC combat mecha and planes. The AC has a legitimate claim to more kills of

mecha and spacecraft than any other vehicle in the Second Robotech war,

since it was used for every role the Bioroids were too small for, from ground

strafing runs (the largest flying vehicle ever to do this) to orbital

combat.

Two versions of the AC in use during that war. The most common by

far was the standard version (detailed in this file), with heavy energy

armament forward and a large number of troops inside, coupled with

effective defensive armament and agility. The other version was externally

identical to the standard AC, but had most of its mecha bay replaced with

command centers and generators for a miniature Reflex cannon. This version

served as command ship for fleets of ACs, and provided the heavy firepower

the ACs lacked, and, late in the war, served to unload an armored infantry

company in a desperate attempt to make the most of their dwindling

resources. The sudden appearance of a working Reflex Cannon on such a

small craft surprised the SC, who were used to the twin-boom design of

the SDF-1 and Zentraedi flagships and monitors, and were dismayed to

discover that the Masters had managed to create these powerful weapons

without using more than the standard weapon barrels. The one disadvantage

was the power drainage of the Reflex cannon, which was so high that the

firing rate was 4 salvos per hour. Even so, several North American cities

were hit by just such a blast in the closing days of the war.


Bioroids.

I. Dimensions:

(all)

Length: 2.2 meter.

Width : 3.0 meter.

Height: 7.0 meter.

Weight: 11.1 metric tons (Blue)

12.0 metric tons (Green, Red)

12.5 metric tons (Invid Fighter)

II. Type:

(all) one person all weather/environments ground combat mecha.

III. Propulsion:

1 x Zorr'lev-12-DCr protoculture generator.

IV. Performance:

Level speed : 95 kph (running).

Maximum wading depth: 150 meter (no fighting capability).

Generator Endurance : 7 years in fully charged condition.

V. Sensory Systems:

One spherical phased array radar with surveillance modes, effective

range over 45 km.

Telescopic optics, a multi-band digital spherical camera system for

medium range all attitude infra-red imaging, optical and ultra-violet

band detection and tracking,

Multi-frequency laser ranger and designator,

Active/passive sensor jammers.

VI. Armament:

1 x Weapon Drum: Ion Beam/Pulse Cannon, fires ion discs at 4000 m/s,

impact energy is 11 mJ. Alternatively, the weapon drum can fire this

ion salvo as a particle beam. It can fire for up to 56 seconds in

automatic mode, after that limited to one burst/3 seconds, unless

sub-maximum rate of fire allows replenishment of the ready ion supply.

or:

1 x Bioroid Blaster (advanced derivative of weapon drum): One Ion

Beam/Pulse Cannon, fires ion discs at 4000 m/s, impact energy 15 mJ.

Alternatively, the weapon drum can fire this ion salvo as a particle

beam. It can fire for up to 73 seconds in automatic mode, after that

limited to one burst/3 seconds, unless sub-maximum rate of fire

allows replenishment of the ready ion supply.

VII. Armor:

NOTE: The Bioroids' advanced design made them exceedingly capable of

coping with battle damage, and the total protection afforded by the

Bioroid was hence more than the armor data would suggest.

(Blue): Full nuclear, biological and chemical protection, immunity from

hand fired solids and energy beams, shrapnel and other fragments.

Limited protection from heavier weaponry.

(Green): Full protection against chemical and biological warfare,

radiation shielded. Armor will stop all grenade/shell/mortar fragments,

energy beams and solids originating in hand-held weaponry. Reasonable

resistance against heavier weaponry.

(Red, Invid Fighter): Armor equal to that on the REF Gladiator. Armor

will stop all grenade/shell/mortar fragments, energy beams and solids

originating in hand-held weaponry. Excellent resistance against heavier,

combat-mecha mounted weapons. Full NBC protection.

VIII. Development:

The Bioroid mecha series is the most technologically advanced mecha

line to date. The series was developed as a general purpose mecha for the

Tirolian warrior clones, who formed the combat and guard troops directly

under the Robotech Masters themselves. The requirements for this mecha were

different than those for the Zentraedi mecha, for where the Zentraedi were

created to conquer or to destroy, the Bioroids were as much meant to police

and to protect, as to engage in military engagements.

The Scientist triumvirates then developed an anthropomorphic mecha,

which could carry armaments if needed in gun pods, and be equipped with an

anti-gravity Skysled if mobility was necessary. This gave the Bioroids a

very flexible configuration. In addition, the mecha was given the most

advanced control and other technologies available. The cockpit was built as

a sphere in which the pilot sat in a sort of yoga-attitude. Neural

interfaces were built into the material of the cockpit, and were capable of

rerouting the pilots motor controls to the Bioroid. Thus, the Bioroid was

'worn' as if it were the pilot's own body, greatly increasing reaction time.

All internal systems were made multiply redundant, to such a degree that

some SC officers have been known to say that only a direct hit to a vital

spot like the pilot or generator could stop a Bioroid. Any other hit would,

at most, slow it down. Needless to say, the Bioroid's sensor suite was

state of the art, while a long history of research had enabled the Masters

to equip their warriors with a rudimentary artificial sense, and with

projective telepathy.

There were four different series of Bioroids. Most common was the

standard combat Bioroid, always painted blue. This Bioroid had a reasonable

armor protection, but it was not the best available. The blue's armor was,

however, far cheaper to create than the armor on the other Bioroids, and

since the Masters were about as indifferent to their clone soldiers as to

their Zentraedi soldiers, the blue Bioroid was produced in great numbers at

relatively low expense. Because of the greater value of the clone officers

to the Masters, it was decided that these should be issued more durable

Bioroids than the standard blue. Thus the leader Bioroid was created, known

after its paint job as the green Bioroid. This Bioroid was one ton heavier

due to the improved armor protection, and thus also featured an enhanced

generator to keep the same level of performance. Production of this series

was rather limited, for quite soon after their introduction, the Scientists

developed an even better armor type, that was as light and thick as the

armor on the green Bioroid, but marginally cheaper to produce and better in

performance than the green's armor. Shortly afterwards, the well known

Bioroid Leader (painted red) was walking off the assembly lines. The green

leaders were kept in service, but were inferior in combat capacity to the

red Bioroids, and thus only used for secondary tasks (like guarding the

Masters' ships when the most red and blue Bioroids were not on board, or

guarding the less likely avenues of attack). The last Bioroid deserving

attention is the Invid Fighter. This Bioroid was based on the red Bioroid,

but equipped with half a ton of additional psionic relays. This enabled the

Bioroid pilot to remain in constant telepathic contact with his triumvirate

brothers, and made them act in concert with each other, greatly increasing

their combat effectiveness. This made them better suited to fight the large

numbers of Invid that were threatening to wipe out the Masters. The Invid

Fighters had one disadvantage, however: the remodeled head, with its extra

electronics, was more vulnerable to attack than the heads of the other

Bioroids, and destruction of the head meant destruction of the psionic link

between the clone-brothers, and often even of the entire Bioroid because of

a power surge from the remains of the head into the powerplant. Some

prototypes of what would become the Invid Fighter, sans the triumvirate-link

upgrades, were left on Tirol at the date of the Masters' departure for

Earth, and these saw service in the brief and unsuccessful defense of Tirol

by its citizens. However, the full Invid Fighter was a product of the

Second Robotech War, and mainly saw action against the Southern Cross, not

the Invid.

Addendum: Anti-gravity Skysled.

I. Dimensions:

length: 9.4 meter.

width : 4.1 meter.

weight: 8.4 metric ton.

II. Type:

one mecha transport sled.

III. Propulsion:

45 standard protoculture cells.

One anti-gravity system.

Two plasma turbines, max. output estimated at 0.9 MW.

IV. Performance:

max. atmospheric speed : 413 kph.

max. delta-v (space) : 1.5 kps with Bioroid.

max. cell endurance : 500 hours continuous use.

V. Sensory Systems:

One spherical phased array radar, effective range over 245 km.

A multi-band digital spherical camera system for medium range all

attitude infra-red imaging, optical and ultra-violet band detection and

tracking.

Active/passive broadband sensor jammers.

VI. Armament:

Two ion pulse cannons fire ion discs at 4000 m/s, impact energy equal to

20 MJ total (both firing together). Can fire for up to 120 seconds in

automatic mode, after that limited to one burst/3 seconds, unless sub-

maximum rate of fire allows replenishment of the ion supply.

VII. Armor:

Armor will stop all grenade/shell/mortar fragments, energy beams and

solids originating in hand-held weaponry. Reasonable resistance against

heavier weaponry.

VIII. Development:

The Bioroid mecha were fast, tough and hard-hitting, but they were

still basically a relatively immobile land-only mecha. The Scientist

Triumvirates briefly considered a strap-on booster much like the Zentraedi

Armored Vehicle, or the REF Beta fighter, but decided instead on the

skysled. The sled was far slower than the proposed booster, but since

aerial combat was covered by the Troop Carriers, this was considered

superfluous.

Each sled was equipped with powerful ion cannon, with, combined, enough

firepower to deal with any known mecha or small ship. In addition, the open

design would allow the Bioroid to fire its hand weapon at will, as well as

dramatically decreasing boarding/disembarking times. Other standard

equipment was a remote control circuit which allowed the Bioroid pilot to

send the sled to a safer place when he engaged in ground combat. He could

also use this system to summon his sled from the storage area on board a

Troop Carrier.

The skysled fulfilled all the expectations of its designers, and never

showed any significant design flaws.

QF-3000 E Ghost

A trans-atmosphere, unmanned, fighter jet called the "Ghost" because it has no pilot. This all condition fighter utilizes reflex weaponry and power systems like the Space Lancer II. Consequently, it is a robot fighter that can identify, pursue, evade and attack enemy aircraft and missiles. Being trans-atmosphere means that it can operate equally well in space or atmosphere. It can take-off from the ground and, with the aid of special booster jets, achieve low orbit at about 100 miles above the planet (1.0 g standard). Likewise, it can be launched from space and pursue an enemy into the Planet's atmosphere without burning up upon reentry.

The QF-3000 Ghost drone series was designed to act as a supplement to the Valkyrie series Veritech and other fighters of the RDF. As such, it was equipped with a fusion turbine for long range atmospheric flight, and two hybrid ramjet/reaction engines as boosters for orbital insertion and extra bouts of speed. The drone did not have any wings, but instead relied on body lift to stay airborne. However, the craft was handicapped in its armament, as it only carried autocannons, and no missiles. This was done by design, as the drone technology was untested enough that most pilots did not want a powerful drone behind them, where it could fire missiles almost with no warning. The software designers had to admit that the drone's flight computer would fire missiles when it had a confirmed tracking solution, which could put non-discriminating missiles in airspace that might conceivably also be occupied by friendly planes. In such a situation, human pilots may or may not launch a missile, decided purely by instinct and experience in predicting friendly plane movements. The Ghost would fire always, or if this option was removed, not fire at all, but it would not discriminate the way a flesh and blood pilot would. This problem would not occur if the Ghost had only a cannon armament, which is what it eventually received. The short range to the hostile craft would make 'blue on blue' kills unlikely. However, the cannon armament was exceptionally powerful, using the same ammunition as the famous GU-11 gun pod mounted on the Valkyrie Veritech, so any gun duels would be quickly decided.

The Ghost was based on air bases, including the one on Macross Island, on the Armor series orbital platforms and on the SDF-1 itself. However, combat experience showed that the tactical usefulness of these craft was doubtful, due to Zentraedi tactics and technology, and they were only used in the first battles of the war, in patrol roles during the SDF-1's return to Earth from the outer solar system, and in the Zentraedi Holocaust, when all available fighters were sent out. However, any Ghost drone not yet destroyed by Dolza's fleet was blown up in the detonation of Dolza's headquarters. Later on, surviving drones were based on the Armor ships that had escaped the Holocaust, but all were replaced by VAF-4s and decommissioned by the time the REF folded for Tirol. This being said, the Ghost was still popular with some pilots, who felt that the drones provided excellent fire support in target-rich environments, as well as being good decoys when the piloted planes were vastly outnumbered.

Before entering the battle the manned unit must decide which tactic the ghost fighter will pursue:

1. Standoff - remain outside the conflict zone

2. Attack my target - ghost fighter will attack players target

4. Break and attack - ghost fighters will break formation and attack targets randomly

5. Any combination of these - however orders must be given to each individual or groups of units

During combat it takes one full module to change the orders to each individual or groups of units.

e.g. Before entering combat P.C breaks ghost fighters into two groups : gold and silver. He orders gold to attack my target and silver attack everything. In the middle of combat he decides to order gold, and silver to break and attack. This action costs to modules - one for gold and one for silver.

Ghost

Total length : 16.0 meter

Total height : 6.3 meter

Total width : 7.2 meter

Total dry weight: 12 metric tons

Propulsion.

QF-3000x:

1 x FF-2001-4 Fusion turbine in tail section.

2 x Rocketdyne DRaE-3 ramjet/reaction engine in tail section.

8 x protoculture cell for power generation.

Performance.

QF-3000E Ghost:

maximum speed (atmosphere): 5272 kph @ high altitude.

: 1200 kph @ sea level.

maximum climb rate : >33,000 meter/minute.

range (space) : delta-v limit of 75 kps.

powercell endurance : full function for 100 hours.

design-g limits : 20 g.

Electronics Suite:

Piloting Control System: 2 x Robotech Research Group mk3 Reflex (AI)

neural net system (Ghost only).

Radar System (all): Hughes APG-99 X-band pulse-doppler phased array,

providing spherical long-range detection and tracking of targets.

Optical tracking:

(Ghost): Thompson DOS-1900 multi-band digital camera

system, for medium range spherical UV, infra-red imaging and optical

band detection and tracking; Thompson LT-3 multi-frequency laser

ranger and designator. Zeiss TS-1D long range telescopic array for

visible/IR spectrum.

QF-3000X Ghost:

6 x GU-9 55mm single barrel autocannon; cannon fires APSSDS (Armor

Piercing Spin-Stabilized Discarding Sabot) and HESH-I (High Explosive

Squash Head-Incendiary) rounds at 250 rounds/minute. Each cannon has

an ammunition supply of 160 rounds. All cannons are side mounted,

three to each side.

Two missile bays with hatches mounted on the left and right side of the main fuselage.

Each bay can hold four long range missiles.

VII. Armor.

QF-3000X Ghost: Full nuclear and chemical protection, immunity from

hand fired solids and energy beams, shrapnel and other fragments.

Limited protection from heavier weaponry, adequate up to 30mm

autocannon shells or equivalent.

RPG stats


MDC by location

Right and Left Thrusters - 75 each

*Main Body - 100

Right and Left Missile bays - 50 each

* depleting the main body will destroy the mecha, furthermore the normal penalties for a shadow cloaking device apply.

Bonuses: +1 to strike, +2 to dodge, 4 h to h

Weapons:

1) Three Auto Cannons on either side of the fighter for a total of six. All three fire simultaneously.

Mega-Damage: 6d6 for a short burst, 2d6*10 for a long burst, can fire both side simutaneously but the normal -2 to strike with the second weapon applies

Rate of fire: 24 in a long burst and 12 in a short burst.

Number of attacks: Equal to the number of hand to hand attacks

Range: 4000 ft(1200 m) in atmosphere or double in space

Payload: 960 round total

2) Long range missile launchers. Each missile bay can hold 4 long range missiles for a total of 8.