After the fiasco of the invasion of Akdor in the Shilassen Triumvirate, it became clear to the
leaders of Earthforce
that a new kind of ship was needed. The existing Nova battlecruisers and Omega Destroyers were
lacking in the ability to
support major troop deployments. After some deliberation it was decided that the new ship would
still be a Destroyer type,
but that it would contain many improvements concerning troop housing, fighter and shuttle
deployment, and in logistics
handling. Also its ability to provide heavy support fire for ground troops would be much better
than that of
the previous classes of Earthforce ships.
And so the design work began on what became known as "The Warlock Project"
Under president Clark the project moved ahead fast, yet at the end of 2261 the first prototype of the class was nowhere near its final construction. Much work still needed to be done before its weaponry and armor could be fitted. And special weapons and armor these promised to be. Thanks to a little known alliance with a race known only as "the Shadows" and some of their minions, the EA had gotten its hands on things like Bio-Organic armor and heavy Fusion cannons. There was even talk of a Gravitic drive, but that system failed to be delivered. With these systems the Warlocks would be almost unstoppable. As it was, these systems were not integrated into the Warlock design. Captain Sheridan of Babylon 5 had mounted a offensive against the forces loyal to President Clark, and in a last-ditch effort to stop Sheridan's fleet, the advanced systems were placed on and in a group of Omega Class destroyers, creating the infamous "Advanced" destroyer. In the final battle for the Earth Alliance all of these vessels were destroyed, and the Shadows minions (the Drahk) hastily departed Earth space, taking the last pieces of Bio-Tech with them. Or so everyone thinks....
The Warlock Class Destroyers as they finally appeared from the shipyards of Earth still look
immensely impressive:
well over 1.2 miles long, and bristling with weapons, they are still the very best that the Earth
Alliance has ever had.
The Warlocks look like throwbacks to pre-Omega times, because they lack a rotating
section, and their main body is
a single structure into which launch bays and sensors have been integrated. The entire top of this
structure is a sleek
joining of armor plates, on which weapon emplacements are located. On the sides there are more
irregularities. In the
front third of the ship there are several cargo and ordnance airlocks, which can be used to quickly
load and unload
cargo and things like troopships, although at present it is unclear exactly how much material these
spaces can hold.
Aft of these are specialized missile launchers, holding huge missiles intended for strategic
bombardment.
The normal fighter and shuttle bays have a different pattern than with the Omega. The
forward bay, located under
the nose of the ship, is used exclusively for launching fighters, and is sealed when not in use.
Fighters are recovered
through a hangar on the right aft side of the main hull, and shuttles are both launched and
recovered using this bay.
The flight deck of the Warlock actually runs the entire length of the ship, and is of a huge volume.
On the left aft
side of the hull there is a protrusion which marks the engineering and maintenance section for all
the shuttles and
fighters.
The engine section holds four upgraded Ion Fusion engines in a armored housing that gives
rather better protection
than the housing of a Omega Destroyer. A late addition to this design are two Gravimetric
engines. These are placed on
the top and the bottom of the drive section, and are of a Minbari design, which has been adapted
and build by EA engineers.
This system was obtained through the EA entering the Interstellar Alliance. It is also this system
that explains the
lack of a rotating section: the Warlock design is the first EA ship to have true artificial gravity,
although this is
only .2 or .3 G`s as opposed to the 1 G that a rotating section can supply.
Inside of the ship there are huge spaces available to house troops. The normal compliment of
Marines is five thousand.
In this configuration there is ample space onboard for training chambers, and the Marines and the
normal crew of the ship
have a lot of room. Totally different are the conditions onboard when the ship carries the
maximum amount of troops that
it can transport into a battle zone. In that scenario about thirty thousand troops are carried, and
space is at a absolute
premium, with most of the troops relegated to their bunks, coming out of them in shifts to use the
few remaining exercise
rooms, and to eat.
Even so, the Warlock design has room for a small hydroponics section, which can supply the
regular crew and Marine
compliment with a (limited) supply of fresh fruit. This space is also important for psychological
reasons, since a Warlock
has a substantial greater range than previous warships. This means that even during a trip of two
years (the maximum
duration of a Warlock) crew and Marines still have access to a garden, something to associate
with a planet.
The weapons of the Warlock are conventional in nature, although there are a lot of them. The
largest weapons on the
ship are two Particle Beam cannons. These are located under the nose of the ship, and are the
heaviest weapon ever mounted
on a Earthforce ship. Previously these weapons were only mounted in the G.O.D. satellites that
make up Earths defense.
The power drain of these weapons is enormous, and each cannon requires a recharge time of
fifteen seconds between firings.
On the plus side, their range is great, and they are so powerful that a unshielded opponent can be
cut in half with a
single burst. Secondary weapon systems are eight heavy Pulse Cannon turrets, equal to those on
the Nova class ships.
Five of these are mounted on the top of the ship, and another three are mounted on the bottom.
Also carried are three
heavy railgun turrets, one on the nose of the ship, and two on the bottom facing rearward.
Mounted on the top and the bottom
of the Recovery bay and on the other side on top and the bottom of the maintenance section are
four medium pulse cannons
like those mounted on the Omega class. These turret mounted weapons have a excellent firing
arc.
The ships lighter weaponry consists of nine light pulse cannons. One of these is mounted on
the forward boom.
Two are located on the rim of the top, and another two on the bottom rim of the shuttle/recovery
bay, a pattern mirrored on the other side of the ship, where the maintenance shops protrude
slightly.
For even more weapons the ship carries twenty four (!) particle beam guns. Eight turrets line
the upper part of the
ship. A further eight turrets are
located in fours around the midship cargo airlocks, and four more are mounted on the front part
of the engine section.
The last four are located on the aft part of the engine section.
Rounding this off are two missile launchers on the sides of the ship. Each launcher holds six
large missile silos and
seven smaller ones. There are no direct reloads for the large launchers, but the small launchers
each have ten reloads.
Off course more ordnance can be carried in the cargo hold of the ship, but it takes a lengthy EVA
operation to reload
the launchers: this is never done in combat. Of note should be the fact that the large missiles have
Multiple warheads
with a *nuclear* payload. The smaller missiles (still long range missiles) can be equipped with a
variety of warheads,
*including* nuclear ones!
The ships armor looks unlike that of previous EA ships. It is a Crystalline/Plasteel armor mesh, and deflects large amounts of energy away. This would seem to be a copy of the Armor on the IA Victory class Destroyers, but is less effective and is in reality a development of the EA itself. It has been made possible due to the study of Shadow Bio-armor, pieces of Minbari Crystalline armor, and the study of the armor the Dilgar used.
As has been indicated, improvements have been made in the area of drive systems. Not only
are there four Ion Fusion
engines, there are also two Gravimetric engines. The Combined use of these engines yields a
acceleration normally only
achieved by Earthforce fighters: well over ten G`s. On their own either drive system can
accelerate the ship with about
five G maximum. The advantage of the Gravimetric systems is that they actually provide artificial
gravity, and dampen
the felt acceleration inside of the ship, so that even at full thrust the crew can perform its duties in
a normal fashion.
Another advantage of the gravimetric engines is that they require no reaction mass. This is one of
the major contributions
to the extended range that the Warlock ships have. In normal operations both drive systems are
run at low power, so as not
to overwork either system. It should also be remembered that the Gravitic drive is a *new*
system. It might yet suffer
from small problems in its functioning.
Because of the improved drive systems, and a improved Hyperspace navigation system, the
Warlock design can achieve
almost twice the speed in hyperspace of previous EA designs.
The Warlock class carries forty eight fighters, all SA-26 Thunderbolt Starfuries. Furthermore it carries a standard sixteen atmospheric shuttles, and eight intra system shuttles. For assault missions there is room for three dozen assault shuttles, although all but six of these will be carried in the cargo bay or externally, and must be boarded through docking them at airlocks.
Sources have indicated that the Earth Alliance is planning to build well over a hundred of
these mighty ships.
Considering the price of these ships that might be a overly optimistic view, for each of these ships
costs as much as the
infamous "Advanced Destroyers" did, well over fifty billion credits per ship.
Contrary to popular belief there is no single Destroyer with the name "Warlock", as this was
the project name.
At least one of the commissioned ships has the name "Damocles". Other, rumored, names sound
more ominous and include
designations like "Sorcerer", "Necromancer" and "Enchantress".
Listed is the formula to allow player and game masters to calculate the Destroyers velocity and distance traveled:
Model: Earthforce Warlock Class Destroyer
Class: Battleship / Assault Carrier
Crew: 1,200 (60 Officers and 1,140 Enlisted)
Troops: Standard; 5,000, Maximum; 30,000
Vehicle Compliment:
48 | SA-26 Thunderbolt Star Fighters | |
16 | Standard Atmospheric Shuttles | |
8 | Intrasystem Shuttles |
M.D.C. by Location:
Heavy Particle Beam Cannons (2, forward ): | 4,000 each | |
Heavy Pulse Cannons (16, 10 on top, 6 on bottom in double turrets): | 1,300 each | |
Heavy Railguns (6, two on top, four on bottom in double turrets): | 1,100 each | |
Double Turrets (11, 6 on top, 5 on bottom): | 2,600 each | |
Medium Pulse Cannons (4, aft): | 900 each | |
Light Pulse Cannons (9): | 750 each | |
Particle Guns (24): | 250 each | |
Missile Launchers (2): | 3,000 each | |
Launch Bay (1, front): | 10,000 | |
Recovery Bay (1, right side): | 10,000 | |
[1] Bridge: | 25,000 | |
[1] Auxiliary Bridge: | 25,000 | |
[2] Main Sensor cluster (1, front): | 9,000 | |
[3] Main Body: | 160,000 | |
[4] Engineering Section: | 46,000 | |
[5] Ion Fusion Engines (4): | 14,000 each | |
[5] Gravitic Engines (2): | 11,000 each | |
[6] Interceptor Grids (6): | 5,000 a side |
Notes:
[1] In reality this is how much damage needs to be done for a weapon to hit the bridge
through the ships armor. This
ship also has an auxiliary bridge. Even if both bridges are taken out, the ship can still be piloted
from engineering but
ship is -3 to dodge and all weapon systems will be at local control. Weapon hits near the bridge
that do not penetrate
the ships integrity can injure crew members on or near the bridge.
[2] The Main sensor cluster is located below the Launch Bay. Destroying it means that the
ship loses all sensor
bonuses vs. ECM. The ship will have -30% to read sensory rolls, all sensor ranges are half ranged,
and all long range
weapons have a -1 to strike. Hyperspace speed will be reduced to 15 LY/Hour maximum.
[3] Depleting the MDC of the main body will put the Destroyer out of commission. All
internal systems will shut down,
including life support, but *excluding* artificial gravity. The ship will be a unsalvageable wreck.
The hull of the ship
has the ability to repair itself (sadly its internal systems do not) The hull regenerates damage at
2D4 x 100 MDC per
minute. The hull cannot regenerate more than a third of its total MDC.
[4] Destroying the engineering section means that ship FTL propulsion systems are
destroyed and maximum sublight
acceleration is reduced to ten percent of normal (using navigational thrusters).
[5] The Destruction of one Ion engine reduces the ships maximum acceleration by one
eight. The destruction of two
Ion Engines reduces the ships maximum acceleration by one quarter. Destroying three Ion
Engines will reduce the ships
maximum acceleration by three eights. Destroying all four Ion Engines means that the maximum
sublight acceleration is
reduced to half. Destroying one Gravitic engine means that sublight acceleration is reduced by a
quarter. Destroying both
Gravitic engines reduces maximum sublight acceleration by half, and destroys the ships artificial
gravity system.
Destroying all engines means that the ship can accelerate at five percent of normal (using
navigational thrusters).
[6] The Interceptor Grid gives only partial defense against energy weapons and as the
system absorbs more damage
this percentage of damage will be reduced. The system will absorb up to 5,000 MDC per side.
Initially, the system will
absorb 80% of damage from plasma weapons and pulse cannons (Actually another style of plasma
cannon - does not work at
this higher efficiency on other weapon systems that fire in pulses). This is because it is much easier
to disperse plasma
than an actual energy beam. The system does not absorb damage from rail guns, other projectile
weapons, and from
missiles. Initially, the ships will also absorb 40% of other styles of energy weapons as well (This
includes non plasma
style pulse weapons as well). For every 500 MDC that the system absorbs, the system will be
reduced in effectiveness
by 10% for subsequent strikes (Example:If an Interceptor Grid absorbs 1000 MDC, the
Interceptor Grid will only
absorb 60% of plasma damage and 20% of the damage for any other energy weapon when struck
next.) The defense grid
recovers at the rate of 150 MDC per minute. The missile decoy portion of the system is described
separately below.
SPECIAL: The ships armor is a copy of the new Earth/Minbari armor used on the Victory class destroyer and deflects 40% of all incoming energy away, not counting purely kinetic energy weapons. Subtract 40% of all damage done to the ships hit locations by energy weapons and explosions! Kinetic energy weapons do full damage.
Speed:
Driving on the Ground: Not Possible.
Space Propulsion: The starship does not have an effective top speed but is limited
by acceleration.
The Warlock Destroyer can reach a top acceleration of 10 G but due to high fuel consumption
and extra strain
on the engines, the ship will normally travel at 1 G for any extended trips. Top acceleration is only
meant
for emergencies and combat maneuvers.
Because the Warlock Destroyer IS shielded from the effects of radiation and hypervelocity
atomic particles ,
the destroyer can be operated at speeds of up to 40 percent of light.
Atmospheric Propulsion: The Warlock destroyer cannot operate within an
atmosphere. If the ship enters an
atmosphere, it will crash.
Stardrive: Uses 4 "Lockheed Mitchell Corp." HSI-10C Vortex generators to enter
hyperspace, they allow the
ship to reach a maximum of 25 light-years per hour. This means that the Earth Destroyer can
cover the three galaxies in
roughly 6 months (will NOT need to refuel periodically). The ship enters hyperspace by means of
a jumpgate.
This ship can use a already made jumpgate or can form its own jumpgate.
The Warlock has enough power to open a jumpgate every ten minutes (40 rounds). The gate
then takes one round to open,
two rounds to traverse, and another to close.
Maximum Range: Conditionally unlimited, while the fusion reactors give power
for over a decade of service,
the ships Ion Engines are limited by the ships reaction mass. It is not recommended to fly the ship
on Gravitic drives
alone, because they are a new system and might prove unstable over longer periods of time.
Therefore it is recommended
to always refuel the ship when possible. The ship can be refueled at ground based facilities, space
stations, and other
star ships as long as they have the special facilities. The ship can also be refueled by fuel shuttles.
The Destroyer carries seven months of reaction mass for travel at 0.5 G of acceleration
using only Ion engines.
Double the consumption of fuel for 1.0 G of acceleration and double the consumption again for
every 1.0 G of acceleration
beyond 1 G. This means the ship will burn the fuel 32 times faster at maximum acceleration than
at 0.5 G of acceleration,
using only Ion Engines! There is no fuel consumption for the Gravimetric engines, other than the
fact that they drain
large amounts of power. The ships fusion reactors can cope with that easily though. The ship will
often accelerate
for a period of time and then shut down the engine and travel using the ships velocity. Should the
ship use more than half
of its reaction mass when accelerating, the ship will be unable to decelerate fully using only Ion
engines. Therefore the
ship will normally only use a third or less of its fuel on accelerating so it does not run into a
problem. If the ship
runs out of fuel then it can be refueled by another vehicle traveling faster than it, or it must
decelerate using
gravitic drives only, which is currently discouraged for safety reasons. If the ship has a large
amount of flight
operations, the ship is limited to about five months endurance at cruising speed from the fighters
using the ships
reaction mass.
Statistical Data
Height: 1,700 feet (550 meters)
Length: 6643.4 feet (1,993 meters)
Width: 1131.1 feet (344.5 meters)
Weight: 66.8 million tons (60.6 million metric tons)
Power System: 4 Tokamak Corp. 650 Fusion Reactors (12 year duration). 2
Tokamak Corp. Ultima 2000 ADV
gravimetric Fusion Reactors (15 year duration) However, it is recommended that the drive and
power system have routine
maintenance every 5 years. Also, the ship only carries about a seven month supply of reaction
mass for the ion engines.
(Note: the Gravitic drives don`t need any!)
Cargo: 500,000 tons
Cost: 50 billion credits to construct . Any race in the three galaxies would pay
several times that amount
for a fully functional Warlock due to the Shadow technology that is incorporated into it.
Weapon Systems
Special Equipment:
[ Phase World TM, Kreeghor TM, and CAF TM are
trademarks owned by Kevin Siembieda and Palladium Books Inc. ]
[ Rifts® is a registered trademark owned by Kevin Siembieda and
Palladium Books Inc.]
[ Babylon 5 is copyright © Warner Brothers Television. ]
Technical Information from Babylon5 Technical
Manual and The Warlock Project !
CGI of Ship courtesy of one of the developers of the B5 combat sim. Lets hope it gets
finished one day.
Design of Warlock by Tim Earls.
By Mischa (E-Mail Mischa) and by Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune).
Rifts Conversion Copyright © 1999 & 2000, Mischa & Kitsune. All rights reserved.