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    Avatar photoAotrs Commander
    Participant

    Aotrs Shipyards very proudly presents the release of the Army Of The Red Spear starfleet!

    This has been a project that has its roots twenty-five years back, worked on and off, over the decades. As this is a special release, things are going to be a bit different.

    First of all, each of the coming releases will be coming with a part of A Guide to the Army Of The Red Spear, as there is A LOT to talk about over the coming months. The starfleet will be releasing once a month, followed by the 6mm (1:300th) fighter forces and a release of the 10mm (1:144th) ground forces (currently available only at Shapeways) to the direct sales and TheShop3D webstore (updated with the modern locking turrets) to finish off, so there is a lot to come.

    This initial release is a big one, as in addition to the new releases, it is a re-release of some of the early models I did (around 2010) to Shapeways – before the Shipyards was my day-job – which have been updated, sprued and the fluff significantly expanded to bring us up to date.

    So, to co-incide with the much-anticipated (well, by ME, anyway) release of the Aotrs tabletop starship fleet, I have done a considerably amount of work (and more to come) on the write-ups. (And a huge amount of fighting with The Internet in various forms to even get it out, frag-blast it.)

    So this seems like an opportune time to continue out infrequnet series on the Aotrs, does it not?

    This will be coming in at a once a month rate (as I sort it out for the official release), with a bit of a gap for this (so as not to repeat the information on Liches with will be new elsewhere) at some point.

    So this time, we have a more in-epth overview of the Aotrs and a look at some of the elements of the fleet.

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    <p style=”text-align: center;”>Guide to the Army Of The Red Spear: Part One</p>
    Speak of the Army Of The Red Spear or the Aotrs[1] to a citizen of the galactic community and you will rarely fail to get a reaction – and few of them positive. For most, is a name that inspires dread, a name synonymous with everlasting fear and evil, a dark cloud on the horizon. To others, the most sceptical or insular, it is a myth, an unbelievable tale told by the credulous, hinging on the existence of magic (and tragically for many of those sceptics, one brought to horrifying inescapable reality when encountered). To rare others, it is a dark utopia, and place of order and power.

    But there will be few denizens of the galaxy that will not have heard of it, at least by reputation, even the most far-flung of alien nations in known space.

     

    [1]Pronounced “a” as in “hay”, “oat-ers”

     

    So, what is the Army Of The Red Spear? At its heart, it is an interstellar nation-state arisen from a paramilitary army that was uniquely composed in the majority of Liches. One might envision, from that description, a bleak totalitarian state where the living serve their Undead masters in abject slavery before their animated corpses are used for labour, but the reality is entirely different.

     

    The Aotrs state rose first from a national power to an interplanetary national power before even achieving spaceflight, and then expanded to an planetary power and beyond, to become a interstellar power small in size, but that is nonetheless one of the major powers of the galaxy.

    The Army Of The Red Spear was formed just under 2750 years ago by Lord Death Despoil. The official founding date is 391BC by the galactic standard calendar. Lord Death Despoil would have been, according to his official birthday, twenty-two at the time. How accurate these dates truly are is uncertain. Lord Death Despoil’s origins – and even his name in life – are shrouded in mystery and supposition. The truth is known only to him, if even he remembers. Not all of this is deliberate – the simple march of the better part of three millennia has taken its toll on the Aotrs’ earliest histories.

    The Aotrs takes its name from the titular Red Spear, an artefact of significant power that was at the time his chosen weapon. The weapon itself still exists, but as the march of years passed, Lord Death Despoil supplanted it with better weaponry – Deathblood, his tomb-blade among them – and his burgeoning magical power meant that his active engagement in melee combat has become vanishingly rare. In the modern era, while he may sometimes carry the Red Spear into battle, he is most likely to be using a coldbeam pistol as a sidearm, if he uses one at all. The Red Spear, then, is now of largely symbolic value – though it is still a very powerful weapon even in its own right.

    The origin of the Red Spear itself is unclear. What little has been gleaned is that it was not a weapon Lord Death Despoil himself created, but found, and its actual pedigree remains unknown.

    (The acronym incidentally, includes the typically omitted “of” and “the” as a deliberate choice – mostly for the simple reason that “ARS” would have been merely one letter away from a joke (and while Lord Death Despoil is far from lacking a sense of humour, this was not an area to be made light of); but secondly that “Aotrs” is considerably more unique.)

    At the time of founding, Lord Death Despoil is believed to have been on an HPE-L[2] world listed in official Aotrs records as “Macronis IV.” The actual location of Macronis IV is yet another mystery. Certainly it is unlikely that a pre-industrial society, even on an HPE-L world, would have used a late-age planetary designation. Where the world was truly called that, or whether it is a later appellation is unknown – it is even possible it is called by another name in modern times. Lord Death Despoil had arrived there from his unknown homeworld (believed to be a different HPE-L world) via magical means, already a Lich, having been killed and driven away from that world, only escaping at the moment of his death to the elemental plane of Fire.

    Little is known – or at least remembered or recorded – of this early history, but it set the stage for the power that the Aotrs would become. From those humble beginnings in a medieval age, the Aotrs rose through time and power, gaining in both technology and the science of magic. They are now rated in the top ten most highly-technologically advanced powers in the known galaxy. (Though the gap between the Aotrs and the very top is still much wider than between the Aotrs and the galactic standard.) As magical advancement is much harder to parse (especially given that comparatively few powers have significant access to it), there is no official standard, but the Aotrs must surely rank among the very highest.

    At the current time of writing in 2346, the Aotrs state controls fully 26 fully inhabited worlds, and numerous colonies, outposts and bases and stations throughout its territory and even beyond. (Twenty-seven officially, though this counts the HPE-L Myst, which is otherwise unoccupied by intelligent life and is thus something of a dubious assertion.) The Aotrs proper, the military arm, is composed in the majority of Liches, mostly a phylactery-less form known as Spirit-Bound. The civilian and second-line military forces are living beings in the overwhelming majority. (The number of civilian Undead is greater than in any other known power, but as that is by-and-large functionally zero in most other powers, this is not perhaps surprising.) The largest proportion of the living populations of the inhabited worlds are of elf or human stock, with various orc-kin (e.g. orcs, goblins, kobolds) making the next largest segment.

     

    [2]Harbinger Probability Engineered, Lellantisiroloth-paradigm. Named after the Royal Elven Kingdoms homeworld, an HPE-L planet is one in which the engineered probabilities retrocasually applied by the Harbingers to create a world which is terrestrial in size, atmosphere and native life, with high background magic and variety of intelligent species. Inaccurately, but illustratively, it can be considered a “fantasy planet” as is seen in traditional fictional media (which itself might be partially a product of the probability engineering). A full discussion of the Harbingers and their probability engineering is a complex topic that falls outside the scope of this document.

     

    The ultimate goals of the Aotrs remain a mystery, known only to Lord Death Despoil himself. It is not simple conquest; each world the Aotrs have conquered was not chosen at random. Given the power of the Aotrs, it would be entirely possible for them to have expanded significantly more aggressively than they historically have. The Aotrs operations, both the large and the small, are often centred on the acquisition of magical artefacts or technologies; almost, but never quite, seemingly at random.

    The Aotrs exists in a curious state of limbo, politically. It has not ever been officially recognised by many powers (such as the Royal Elven Kingdoms), who will not have dealings with an openly evil necromantic power, as a legal state entity. It thus exists in a state of de facto war with any power that is has not explicitly signed some form of alliance or trade agreement with. Yet at the same time, the Aotrs’ limited operations generally place it in a position that is below that of the much more pressing threats such as the Cybertanks. Lord Death Despoil actively promotes this status. The threat of what the Aotrs COULD do if threatened with a large enough force that it would be certainly defeated means that no powers are willing to attempt to form the sort of inter-power crusade to attempt such a feat. Even the Aotrs’ most fervent enemy, the Royal Elven Kingdoms, draws short of attempting full-scale war, given the tremendous toll it would take.

    The Aotrs state does conducts trade outside its borders, though given this status of de facto war with many powers, this is often via front companies that are nonetheless legitimate businesses who may be mostly or wholly unaware of their ultimate trade-partner is. Other relations, such as, with the Herosine Empire, are open. It is thus not impossible to visit Aotrs space, though getting in requires a considerable amount of paperwork and vetting. But provided one genuinely doesn’t have anything to hide, it is possible.

    The primary language of the Aotrs remains Galactic English, though many also speak Galactic Elven (those wacky Harbingers and their probability engineering!) The Aotrs also have their own language, Chillspeak, which is particularly notable in the military. Like much of early Aotrs history, the origin of Chillspeak is unknown, but it is at least in part an artificial language unique to (or at least spread by) the Aotrs. It is postulated it was originally a purely verbal language of some sort of undead. Spoken – perhaps more aptly, keened – Chillspeak sets off a sense of cold dread in the ears of a living listener, like the screams of the literary Nazgul. It is particularly difficult (and taxing) for most living humanoids to be able to replicate. The written script is a runic one, with a more standard 26-character format. This was definitely an invention of Lord Death Despoil; as often as not, runic Chillspeak is used as an alternate character-form for Galactic English, particularly in military applications. Quite why this is the case is one more mystery. (The two sets of crossed gold blades over the Red Spear of the Aotrs symbol are the runes for D; “DD” as in “Death Despoil.”)

    Though the Aotrs imports a surprising amount of entertainment media culture, very little of Aotrs’ own cultural works spread beyond the borders, simply due to their association with an Evil power, and more because often such works tend to be more uniquely Aotrs and don’t tend to follow what would be far more conventional narrative themes. (The “good guys” don’t always win, for one!)

    The Aotrs is egalitarian culturally. As long as one is competent and one’s job – no matter the grandeur or lack thereof of that job – sex, gender (and lack thereof), species, physical construction (organic or technological) and mortality and any changes between any of the former are considered of negligible importance. Bigotry is in fact actively purged, and can even be an executable offense.

    The people are generally comfortable and polite and you are likely to be as safe walking down the street at night as in almost any other advanced society. Walk through an Aotrs city and you will see the sights you might see in any other – and some breath-taking vistas that can be seen nowhere else. There are tourist spots – though they mostly cater to internal Aotrs state tourists. So if you are polite, reasonable and willing to follow the rules, an Aotrs world can be hospitable, even pleasant and affable.

    Given this, one might be forgiven for forgetting, for a moment, that the Aotrs is still ultimately an Evil power. It does not even try to pretend otherwise. This layer of civilisation only goes so deep. The people of large parts of the shattered world of Tushanos, for example, are left mostly to their own devices in their own little isolated valleys, many in pre-industrial conditions – left to fight among themselves, and occasionally be brutally reminded that they pay tribute to their masters. Punishment for wrong-doing can be extremely harsh, and execution is not even the worse fate that could befall one in a civilisation of necromancers.

     

    The Aotrs military consists of a standing army and navy of relatively small number of extremely professional soldiers. While the Aotrs does use some disposable troops as a supplementary and sometimes literal cannon-fodder (such as animated Undead or their War Droids), the bulk of their operations are performed by this elite core.

    Though the Aotrs military is composed of Liches in the majority, Lichdom is not mandatory, and there are even a few living beings (who are likely to become Liches in time).

    Behind the Aotrs proper lie second-line and garrison forces, notably the Dark Elf Troopers, Orc Stormsoldiers and the elite Kobold Commandoes. These, by vast majority, composed of livings beings. Despite their names and a broad bias towards that species, each of these is a full military organisational branch with no restrictions on the species of its members. The names stem from ancient times when from which these branches were formed. Additionally, there are the Pathfinders, a group who work as mostly-independent operatives whose remit is to explore and/or gather information in the galactic community; often under the veneer of a legitimate pioneer. Many of the personnel in Pathfinder service are livings (especially in the latter capacity, where it does not require magic to blend in). The Pathfinders are often considered something of a halfway-house between the Dark Elf Troopers and the Aotrs proper, and a good way to gain some experience.

    While many of the recruits to the Aotrs proper do come from the ranks of these second-line militaries (often including voluntary Lichdom), a good number of recruits come from individuals encountered throughout the galaxy on Aotrs operations. A not insignificant number of these secondments are post-mortem recruits.

     

    The Aotrs starfleet has a long history. The first spaceflight was accomplished by the industrial era Aotrs in 1598; it was 1707, however, before the Aotrs first-generation FTL starships entered service. It was only a scant twenty-five years after that the first Aotrs colony was founded.

    Lord Death Despoil’s speciality, outside necromancy (and perhaps even beyond that) has always been interplanetary and inter-system transportation – which had allowed the Aotrs to expand and conquer worlds without spaceflight. It was his Gate spells that were eventually adapted into Aotrs’ unique starship Gate drive. At first, this emphasis regulated the starfleet to a primarily defensive nature. As time and technology passed, the Aotrs starfleet became larger and took a more prominent role, until the modern era where it is now the principle branch of the Aotrs military.

    The Aotrs starfleet has divided into generations by the advance of technology, the delineation generally being a whole new set of hulls and technology. The time in service of each generation has averaged around 60-80 years. The ill-fated 3rd generation was the shortest, at 21 years, and the 6th the longest at 92. The current 10th generation’s first ships rolled out 2320; the oldest vessels have already had their first mid-generational upgrades.

    The 10th generation has thus far never lost a battle. Part of this is due to the careful picking of battles that mark Aotrs operations, even allowing the Aotrs to score a victory against the top-tier Shardan Marauders on one notable occasion, due to extenuating circumstances. But while Aotrs remains at de facto war with numerous other powers (most notably the Royal Elven Kingdoms), it has not engaged in a full-scale war during this period. The increased technological disparity between it and most of its enemies – and notably the stagnation until the past decade of the Royal Elven Navy – has comfortably allowed this record to ride unchallenged.

    It is, however, becoming a point of concern that while this reputation is a powerful weapon in its own right, it will eventually instil a dangerous sense of complacency, or recklessness in an attempt to avoid being the first admiral to lose a battle. The morale loss of having the record broken after so long could itself be damaging. The problem is likely to need to be addressed within the near future. It has been theorised that Lord Death Despoil himself may deliberately command a losing battle, which would likely minimise the effects of such a loss, in both terms of ships and crews and on morale – once the record is broken, it is no longer a rod for the backs of commanders, and if it was Lord Death Despoil himself that lost, it would also remove any blame or shame that another commander might suffer – lancing the boil, as it were.

    Starship Generations

    Generation Timeline Year of Introduction (Duration)
    1st Generation: 1707 (62 years)
    2nd Generation: 1769 (63 years)
    3rd Generation: 1825 (21 years)
    4th Generation: 1846 (64 years)
    5th Generation: 1910 (83 years)
    6th Generation: 1993 (92 years)
    7th Generation: 2085 (86 years)
    8th Generation: 2171 (73 years)
    9th Generation: 2244 (76 years)
    10th Generation: 2320 (Estimated 70-80 years)
    11th Generation: Estimated 2390-2400 (Estimated 70-80 years)

     

    The Aotrs ground forces, meanwhile, have had significantly less fortune. The disparity of technology is much less magnified in ground combat than in open space, and so the Aotrs ground forces have taken considerable attritional losses, most notable on the backwater planet of Muisis, which was armed only with aging human power exports. This issue has been exacerbated due to the incredible demands on the Aotrs’ finite manufacturing facilities during the era of the supercruisers in the past century. The demands of those massive vessels meant that fighters and ground vehicles and even many eighth and ninth generation starship hulls were imported and refitted, rather than built internally. It has taken until the late 2330s for the ground forces to finally return to pre-23rd century manufacturing levels. In the past decade, there has been a proliferation of new vehicles and an upgrade for the older vehicles that places the Aotrs ground forces in a much better place than they were priorly.

     

    All that the Aotrs has achieved is remarkable for a power of its size. The secret to this success comes from the Aotrs’ greatest asset – the leveraging of their immortality. The greatest reason for the Aotrs’ continued success is that they have no haemorrhaging of their skill-base. A mortal race will lose experience to old age. It is often noted that the old veterans of any job, the experienced “old boys (sic)” network, who know how the job is done – and not always what is said on paper. But these experts retire or die and there is only a finite amount of time for a mortal to pursue a career or calling. A Lich, however, can continue to do their job for decades into centuries into millennia. An immortal race, such as many Elves or even a very long-lived one, loses these skills at a much lesser rate; but even they will lose to accidents or violence and life-restoring magic remains for the vanishing few; and even much of that cannot help old age.

    Spirit-Binding a soul into a Spirit-Bound Lich suffers none of these problems – it does not even (certainly in modern times) require the body of the deceased. So the Aotrs can – albeit slowly – recover even Liches destroyed in combat or accident. The binding of a spirit into a new body often comes at the cost of some personal power. Still, especially for those lost in space, it can be a long time before they can be retrieved to be raised. So the Aotrs Liches are no more keen to die than a living being, despite this fail-safe. Those souls placed in positions where they cannot be summoned back are few enough between that those who would keep such a soul are likely to invite an Aotrs rescue attempt. Even the soul being in the realms of the divine or the fiendish is no barrier to Aotrs Gates.

    But it is by this method that the Aotrs retains all its skill base. With a culture of professionalism instilled in it from the top down for nearly three millennia, it has created what is arguably the single greatest assemblage of talent of any power. The Liches know their jobs – and it is the jobs that are not simple combat duties that are among the most important in retaining this edge. Personnel management and assessment, backed by centuries of experience, is one of the most critical aspects. None more so than those Liches who vet potential new recruits to the Aotrs military proper.

    While skill is prised, it is the right mind-set that is what the Aotrs particularly look for in recruits. It is a balance of skill and initiative, matched with responsibility and obedience (never blind) and tempered ambition that is sought. The talented “loose-cannon mavericks that don’t play by the rules” are always discarded (sometimes, at best, retained for a brief period while they are used and then terminated). Those whose ambitions would lead them to betrayal or corruption or just to power for their own hedonism are weeded out and quietly disposed of. This, of course, comes after millennia where mistakes were made. Coups were attempted (though not many, and most very early on), corruption occurred, misjudgements occurred – and even Lord Death Despoil was never infallible.

    But it is the retained knowledge and experience of centuries of practise, the remembrance of these mistakes, these misjudgements and errors and having learned from them, that allows the Liches who now oversee this process in the modern times to ensure they get the recruits of the their desired standard. The Aotrs can afford winnow through to take a steady plodder with potential and spend decades training them up to a high standard. Or to take those from primitive worlds who have to be educated all the way up to modern technology.

    It is this careful psychological parsing, in particular, that ensures the Aotrs functions with a minimum of internal strife. One of the marked cultural oddities of the Aotrs is that unlike most military forces, interservice animosity – such as between ground troops and space forces, or fighter pilots and ship crews – is highly frowned upon on and a considerable social faux pas on a level akin to sexism or racism and is liable to disciplinary action. While this is often strictly officially true for most other militaries, in the Aotrs, making such a comment is liable to engender a cold silence from all involved.

    As a result of this modus operandii, the majority of the Aotrs proper’s military personnel tend to be a few decades old and experienced before they enter the ranks – though it is far from unknown to find a bright young rising star of the right sort of temperament inducted early.

    The Aotrs is arguably a true meritocracy – the skilled and professional rise to their level of skill. Lord Death Despoil’s centuries at the top have instilled a cultural professionalism in not simply the Aotrs military, but the state as well. Corruption is ruthlessly eliminated – though the simple fact of the assessment of personal suitability means that the corrupt virtually never get into a position of power. This has trickled down to the civilian populace – for a power that is ostensibly (and unashamedly) capital-E Evil, the Aotrs civilian crime rate is surprisingly low.

    As a result of this meritocratic outlook, incompetence is punished very harshly at all levels of society and is an executable offense. As a result, even at the civilian level managers tend to be either good at their jobs or only in their position for a very short time.

    With this advanced personnel management expertise, the Aotrs can reliable assure that people are not promoted above their level of experience or rather, they are not promoted to their level of incompetence. It is general practise that any one officer is likely capable of competently executing the job of one, two or even three ranks higher, and excelling at the rank they are. The cultural emphasis is placed on doing the job to the absolute best of one’s ability over the accumulation of authority. That comes with time – which Liches have an unlimited supply of – and usually as the Aotrs slowly expands.

    The emphasis one day-to-day operations is particularly on working smarter, not harder. Aotrs personnel are allotted a generous amount of personal, leave and leisure time, and as Liches have less physical requirements – usually only meditation to recharge their magic – the Liches have disproportionally time more than many other power’s soldiers to play with. Outside of a crisis or operation, the atmosphere is often relaxed and comparatively informal. One of the keys of this is that the trained veterans know how and when to switch that off when a crisis arrives.

    In addition, the option for re-assignment to a completely different branch is always open to those that become tired, bored or not stimulated enough by their position. With functionally unlimited training time, the Aotrs is quite prepared to support this level of dramatic change. In one celebrated case, a highly-decorated admiral of some centuries’ service transferred down to become an infantry soldier, starting very near the bottom. (Not quite at the bottom, as his combat and leadership skills were already considerable, due to his previous centuries of service.)

    This level of personnel management, on such a wide and enduring scale, is perhaps the Aotrs’ single greatest achievement, more than all their technological or magical advancements.

    Taken from Irodinath’s Idiot’s Galaxy Guide, 3rd edition, circa 2346

    #143045
    Avatar photoAotrs Commander
    Participant

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    (Note: measurements are taken from bounding box extremities.)

    Ships of the Aotrs Fleet, Part One
    Liche’s Wrath Superdreadnought

    Length: 865.0m
    Width: 647.2m
    Height: 647.2m

    The Liche’s Wrath has become the symbol of the 10th generation Aotrs navy, and one of its most prised vessels. None have ever been lost in battle to date, and every battle they have participated in has been an Undead victory. They are popular with crews and assignment to a Liche’s Wrath is highly sought after.

    Part of the vessel’s success is its mobility – not many vessels of its size have such powerful engines. Moreover, it has heavy defences. The superdreadnought has very heavy shielding and extra-light ablative armour in large quantities. This allows it to take much more of a pounding than similar ships of its size, while still carrying a very heavy weapons load.

    The Liche’s Wrath was initially designed to become a new secondary command ship, more mobile and less of a target than the Chillbone, Lord Death Despoil’s unique supercruiser. The distinctive four wings and four forward jutting pylons of the Liche’s Wrath all form part of a runic ritual array, like the first such devices seen in the Chillbone’s massive wings.

    These runic cores, channelled by the Chillbone’s massive wing geometry, fundamentally turned the supercruiser into one giant magic “circle” for projecting powerful magic rituals. The precise nature of the rituals that would require such an enormous focus are classified, but must be formidable indeed, on a scale, perhaps, to that which cleansed the planet of G’Nayel into the Aotrs capital world, Fearmore. At a more practical level, the ritual matrix can also be used as a focussing aid to assist calling back the spirits of destroyed Undead to be restored to unlife, especially those in starship combat or ways that would otherwise be irretrievable.

    The runic cores in the Liche’s Wrath as considerably more efficient and smaller, retaining proportionally more power despite the reduction of an order of magnitude in size.

    The Liche’s Wrath is armed with eight fixed coldbeam cannons, two on each wingtip, and eight plasma-pulse cannons, a pair either side of each forward pylon. Numerous smaller coldbeam blisters contain anti-starship and anti-fighter coldbeams, providing a significant amount of all-around fire.

    Two enormous railcannons are mounted either side of the hull. The latest advancements in Aotrs railgun technology are culminated in these weapons. On firing, the weapons impart a similar relativistic field to that of sublight engines. Without the need to deal with crew or delicate components, the massive, solid slug can be exposed to much more relativistic distortion, allowing the railgun slug to be fired at FTL speeds. The field imparted only lasts for a scant few tens of milliseconds, and is disrupted by any sort of impact. It cannot, then, actually increase the damage of the slug, but it does increase the flight speed to between two and three times lightspeed, greatly improving accuracy. The target will have moved less far in the flight time, and only computer systems advanced enough to be able to detect FTL collisions can have any hope of even starting evasive protocols. At extreme ranges, it is possible for the weapon to strike before the light of the muzzle flash reaches the target, though this is more or less impossible to witness on nondigital reaction times. The conditions of this event to occur are typically outside the railguns accuracy envelope, meaning that to even be possible, it has to be a shot against a static target. After the initial FTL burst, if the slug doesn’t strike a target, the field dissipates, slowing the slug down to “normal” relativistic sublight speeds.

    The Liche’s Wrath was the first vessel in the 10th generation to be fitted with a brand-new ECM system, fully 50% more effective than the 9th generation systems it replaced. The system can provide protection for any escort vessels that are escorting the superdreadnought.

    The Liche’s Wrath’s final armament is a pair of small warhead launchers on the port side.

    One last trick remains up the Liche’s Wrath’s sleeve. The specific position of the weapons on the wing and pylon tips allows a Howling Void to comfortably sit nearly engine-to-skull nestled between the superdreadnought’s forward pylons. The clearance allows both vessels’ weapons to fire unrestricted, only preventing the Liche’s Wrath warhead launcher from firing any unguided warheads. This formation is of little advantage in a normal starship battle – but it places the Howling Void in exactly the right position to synchronise with the Liche’s Wrath’s runic matrices, allowing further ritual magic to be applied to the Howling Void’s thaumic lightning cannon. This is termed the “god-slayer” formation, as an upgrade to the Howling Void’s normal “god-killer.” It is not known if this formation has ever been used in anger, if so, all instances have been classified.

    As with the Howling Void, a few instances of the Liche’s Wrath have replaced the plasma-pulse cannons with light railguns.

    Starting in 2345, the Liche’s Wrath began to receive the twenty-five year upgrade. Recent advances in generator technology allowed the Liche’s Wrath’s power core to be upgraded. The improvement to power and reinforcement and optimisation of the engines allowed, for under a 5% increase in mass, to increase the vessel’s already considerable for its size engine output by a full third. In addition, the point-defence systems were overhauled. With the introduction of the Spiritwrack and Spectral Glow dedicated PDM ships, the necessity of the Liche’s Wrath to carry longer-ranged light coldbeam turrets was reduced, and they were all replaced with short-range versions; this also helped keep the mass increase from the generator and drive upgrade down. Finally, the plasma-pulse cannons were slaved together as on the Howling Void, greatly increasing their range.

    Howling Void Battlecruiser

    Length: 567.0m
    Width: 408.3m
    Height: 389.3m

    The Howling Void was the first ship of 10th generation of Aotrs starships. The 10th generation brought a swathe of new improvements, not least the reduction of sublight drive mass by nearly half. The Howling Void sports improved generator technology, and with the quantum leap in shielding technology, allows it to carry twice the shielding of a similarly-sized 9th generation vessel. The Howling Void has twice the speed and agility and almost double the total protection of its immediate predecessors, but at the same time, retains the same offensive power.

    The Howling Void’s most notable features are the three scythe-like blades projecting from its forward superstructure. These form the generating core of the Howling Void’s thaumic lightning cannon. Introduced in the late 9th generation, the thaumic lightning cannon – often referred to inaccurately as an “electroblaster” after the groundside lightning-shooting infantry weapon – is only dedicated magical starship weapon in the Aotrs arsenal. While warheads and occasionally other weapon systems can be enchanted to be magical, the thaumic lightning cannon is the only weapon to be inherently magical in effect. When activated, the internal runic cores channel magical lightning down the three scythes from the tip and into the hull, concentrating the power at the maw of the skull and discharging it as a single spectacular blast. (Which can be quite disconcerting to nonmagical opponents under the impression lightning is an atmosphere-only effect.)

    The enchantments are much more complicated than merely allowing lightning to function in a vacuum or even be magically charged. Like a highly-enchanted magical blade, the lightning cannon’s discharge carries all manner of debilitating magical rider effects. These could have been placed on almost any elemental energy type, but the optimal efficiency and carrying form for the specific combination of enchantments favoured electricity. The magical optimisation allowed the thaumic lightning cannon to function as a normal starship weapon at all other times. Most of the enchantments are of limited effect against a starship, rendering it overall no more effective than a normal starship weapon against such a target, but make attacks on specialist vessels – or large living entities – considerably more deadly. The efficacy of the weapon is also considerably improved when fired into atmosphere (and extraplanar space with atmosphere), where the lightning doesn’t have energy lost to propagating in space. The weapon is informally labelled a “god-killer” and indeed such extra-planar magical creatures are one of the weapon’s potential targets.

    The Howling Void’s other weapons are more mundane. The rear shield-pylons each house a short-range plasma-pulse cannon. A trio of warhead launchers nestled in the hull fire through the gaps in the lightning pylons, and numerous light coldbeam turrets provide point-defence.

    Following the success of the Frostbeam A refit, Aotrs engineers attempted a similar procedure with the plasma-pulse cannons in 2345, as part of the twenty-five year design overhaul. While not quite as successful in slaving all four together, they manage to slave them into pairs and the range was likewise increased. The initial tests managed to get three working as a single weapon system, but the remaining weapon suffered. Work is underway to improve the technology further, and it is likely that before the end of the 10th generation, the Howling Void will have a second upgrade. All current Howling Voids have been updated to the new standard.

    A handful of individual Howling Voids replace the plasma-pulse cannons with light railguns, trading their short-range higher-damage weapons for a longer range.

    Sorrow Skean Cruiser

    Length: 430.5m
    Width: 210.6m
    Height: 210.6m

    The Sorrow Skean is a new fast attack cruiser. It was first fielded during 2337 with the 10th generation’s second wave, alongside vessels like the Keening Abyss. It has the typical heavy shields and armour that characterise the Aotrs fleet, but its main protection is its enormous agility and speed, which eclipses most escort vessels. Only the Keening Abyss and Subterfuge can keep up with it at full speed.

    The Sorrow Skean’s primary armament is provided by four heavy railguns allowing it to work at both long and close ranges. It can kite an opponent from range, firing a salvo and then manoeuvring to open the range with its superior agility, or charge swiftly to close range.

    At the close ranges, the railguns are supplemented by a spinal mount plasma-pulse cannon, which provides some extra punch and can be devastating against a target that has lost shields and had its armour penetrated.

    A point-ECM system and numerous anti-fighter/anti-missile defences enable Sorrow Skeans to operate as a roving pack more-or-less independently of the main fleet.

    Spiritwrack Escort Cruiser

    Length: 648.5m
    Width: 231.5m
    Height: 178.0m

    Bringing a fresh approach at fleet point-defence capability, the Spiritwrack was the first of the second wave of 10th generation ships, entering service in 2336. The Spiritwrack and the later Spectral Glow shifted the onus of area-defence away from other vessels, which in term allowed the Aotrs to replace such systems with more or better weapons on their other ships.

    The Spiritwrack’s principle means of achieving this objective is by the use of point-defence missiles. A pair of twin missile launchers can provide a salvo of forty point-defence missiles to intercept an enemy salvo. For closer range work, it boasts a wide array of long-range light coldbeam turrets. A series of capital-scale coldbeams (including a trio of turreted heavy cannons) provide it with some anti-capital ship offense as well. Against a lighter vessel, it can be devastating – the main coldbeams take out shields and armour and the point-defence weapons can do their grisly work on the unprotected hull.

    While initially conceived as purely an escort cruiser, in practise, about 15% of the Spiritwrack’s typical missile load consists of regular warheads, allowing it a few salvos of anti-capital ship fire. Due to the inherently flexible nature of Aotrs missile technology, changing the Spiritwrack’s mission profile is as simple as changing the reloads, allowing it to potentially fill other roles as well.

    Defensively, the Spiritwrack has good speed and manoeuvrability, and excellent shields and armour for a medium cruiser. It also carries a point-ECM system to further protect it from the enemy missile fire it itself is likely to attract.

    Fettered Star Medium Cruiser

    Length: 611.9m
    Width: 217.5m
    Height: 178.0m

    The Fettered Star is a general purpose medium cruiser, typically serving as escort to other vessels (though it is not a dedicated escort vessel.) It is armed with a mix of weapons.

    It carries mid-range anti-starship coldbeam turrets, and a mix of short and long-range light coldbeam turrets for point and area defence. For longer ranges, it carries a pair of warhead launcher either side of the armour bow. A point-electronic counter measures system supplements its active defences.

    Finally, it carries a pair of energy beam turrets,

    The energy beam weapon system used by the Aotrs fire a coherent beam of pure energy (discharging white in visible light). They have a very high energy output, but require charging when fired at maximum power. They also decohere quite quickly compared to a coldbeam of the same mass, but tend to be built as much larger weapon systems. A powerful energy beam – such as found on the Midnight dreadnought – is capable of slicing an enemy ship in half, though their effectiveness is reduced significantly by shielding or heavy armour.

    The turrets on the Fettered Star are much smaller than those of the Midnight, a third of the size. Though the Fettered Star can use them to slash enemy ships at close ranges, the Fettered Star’s small arrays are used for a second purpose. An energy beam array’s enormous power output can be harnessed to fire a much longer sustained beam by firing at about one-third the power output. Though it has the same decohering issues over range, in the effective range, this makes the weapon considerably more accurate because of the longer firing time. In this mode, light energy beam arrays have often been used for precision attack work, picking off individual systems from an enemy ship. (Small energy beam arrays are sometimes called as “needle beams” when used in this fashion.) While the larger arrays as just as capable, for this sort of work involved, multiple smaller arrays typically allow more chance of hitting the target. So the Fettered Star, rather than carry a single heavier beam, carries a pair in turrets either side of the hull.

    With appropriate munitions and support, the Fettered Star can make quite a capable capture-assist vessel with its energy beam arrays, though their small size means it has to get close. The Fettered Star’s diverse armament makes it a jack-of-all-trades but master of none.

    Overwhelmer Light Cruiser

    Length: 238.0m
    Width: 220.0m
    Height: 133.0m

    The Overwhelmer serves as medium-close range attack vessel. Its function is to accompany smaller attack vessels and assist in shield stripping. The Overwhelmer is an early 10th generation vessel, and its 10th generation engine and shield technology give it high speed and manoeuvrability for a vessel of its size.

    The Overwhelmer carries a pair of heavy coldbeam cannons fixed-forward. This long-range firepower is supplemented at short to medium range by the lower six-barrelled plasma-pulse cannons.

    Plasma-pulse weapons are a relatively new weapon, dating back to the 7th generation, though it was only the 9th generation before they became significantly more powerful. These weapons use railgun technology to hurl tear-drop-shaped bolts of white plasma energy at their targets. The plasma-bolt is built up inside the weapon, and the accelerator, a moving cylinder containing a power magnetic field throws the bolt out of the weapon. They can have their rate of fire as either single shot or fully automatic. A single shot takes more time to build up the plasma bolt, and throws it harder; fully-automatic fire spends less time charging the bolt, and the accelerator moves back and forth faster, and so also cannot pack as much power into each bolt, thus range and power are degraded at the expense of rate of fire. 10th-generation plasma-pulse weaponry typically does not have a mechanical accelerator as found on some earlier versions, relying on more typical magnetic linear accelerator technology; a plasma bolt requires less energy to hurl than a solid slug. While some more advanced races have refined the technology so that an additional accelerator located at the weapon’s tip mechanically accelerates the bolt as well as static electromagnetic acceleration, this requires a level of friction reduction technology that the Aotrs current tech cannot equal.

    The Overwhelmer’s arsenal is completed by numerous coldbeam turrets for point-defence.

    The plasma-pulse cannons are themselves capable of dealing significant damage to a vessel stripped of shields and armour. Overwhelmers are thus frequently seen operating with Shadowfang Frigates and medium and short ranges (where they deal the killing blow), or supporting Subterfuge scoutships at close ranges (where they aim to strip the shields and armour).

    Shadowfang Frigate

    Length: 294.6m
    Width: 169.0m
    Height: 64.9m

    The Shadowfang Frigate is a solid mainstay of the Aotrs fleet. One of the first wave of 10th generation ships, it is second only to the Subterfuge in numbers. Manoeuvrable, well-protected and carrying a good offensive load, the Shadowfang performs well all-round. It has delivered consistent – if unremarkable service in the past quarter-century, and continues in limited production even with the introduction of its larger descendant.

    It is armed with four fixed-forward coldbeam cannons, and several various coldbeam point-defence weapons.

    The Aotrs coldbeam is a unique piece of technology that started as a ground-based magictech weapon that has transitioned to a purely technological one and eventually reached the starship-level, supplanting lasers and lazers during the 8th generation. These weapons fire a beam of proto-elemental cold (that is, not merely the absence of heat, but its privative). This usually causes the target to shatter as the matter in it contracts due to extremely high rates of enthalpy change, even in the near absolute-zero temperature of space.

    Coldbeams discharge a pale blue beam, which creates a kkkeeyyyoooooou sound in atmosphere (and internal sonic environmental awareness systems). There is no real recoil, and combined with the advanced focusing systems give it low dispersion, and hence high accuracy and good range – rivalling that of lazer weapons. Coldbeams can also be configured to discharge a series of short blasts or a continuous beam, though as with other energy weapons, the requisite reinforcement for continuous discharge requires some sacrifice of power.

    Early model coldbeams, while they were still confined to a ground-based infantry weapon, required special cartridges to function. These contained a source of elemental cold and discharged via magnetic acceleration; indeed, forces on primitive tech worlds still use this technique. More advanced weapons use technology to directly create the cold energy, giving higher rates of fire and more reliable equipment.

    The Shadowfang’s biggest limitation is that its anti-capital ship weapons can only engage targets to the bow, but its superior speed and agility compensate for this significantly.

    Shadowfang Mk II Frigate

    Length: 294.6m
    Width: 169.0m
    Height: 70.2m

    The Shadowfang was one of the earliest ships of the current 10th generation, and after fifteen years of advancement, there were many improvements that could be made. In 2337, the first Shadowfang Mk II Frigates entered the prototype stage. Unlike the Frostbeam A, which was a refit applied to all existing models, fine-tuning the weapon systems, the Shadowfang Mk II is a new model, adding in new technology, but not making changes severe enough to warrant a new class. The Mk II hull is 20% more massive (though its overall size has changed little), but it maintains the same mission profile. Most of this extra mass is due to the enlargement of the coldbeam cannons, which have been increased in power and range by 33%, giving the Mk II even better firepower. Numerous additional point-defence systems have also been added, which enmasse somewhat compensate for the main cannon’s poor firearcs. Shadowfang Mk IIs are now a common sight Aotrs fleets, supplementing their older brethren.

    Hoarfrost Frigate

    Length: 209.9m
    Width: 207.0m
    Height: 79.1m

    Introduced in 2337, the Hoarfrost Frigate’s primary role is to supplement the Spectral Glow and Spirit Wrack in their role as fleet defence. The Hoarfrost provides mid-range point-defence for squadrons. Larger and much sturdier than the Spectral Glow, it is armed with a battery of long-range point-defence coldbeam batteries, but no anti-starship weapons.

    The Hoarfrost A is modified for close range point-defence. By modifying the long-range point-defence systems for continuous discharge, it gains considerable more stopping power but only half the range. It was initially hoped that the weapon systems would be configurable to either mode, but unfortunately this was still beyond practical Aotrs technology. However, both sets of weapons share 95% of the components and the remainder were made modular, so refitting from one variant to the other can be done comparatively quickly, in just a few hours. The Hoarfrost A has become the most common configuration in use, leaving the majority of the long-range interdiction to its missile-bearing cousins.

    Keening Abyss Corvette

    Length: 232.6m
    Width: 205.5m
    Height: 180.2m

    The Keening Abyss, operational in 2337, is designed on the same principles as the older and successful Howling Void Battlecruiser. The Keening Abyss, however, is designed for close-range attack, taking over the role that the Frostbeams had been fulfilling. The Keening Abyss has larger drives, making it faster despite its greater size and yet the same protection. The Keening Abyss’ primary armament is a cut-down version of the Howling Void’s, “god-killer” thaumic lighting cannon. (This has been humorously termed the “god-botherer” by the crews.) The single array, while not more powerful than the Frostbeam’s initial turrets in tandem, has the same range as the Howling Void’s. While nowhere near as powerful as the Howling Void’s the Keening Abyss’ ritual core functions in the same way, allowing the same sort of weapon enchantments to be applied; though at either greater caster investment or a significantly smaller return. Theoretically, a Keening Abyss could even function is place of a Howling Void in “god-slayer” formation with a Liche’s Wrath, though likely such an instance would have to carefully monitored so the channelled power did overload the Keening Abyss’ less powerful array.

    The Keening Abyss also mounts three short-range plasma-pulse cannons. In concert with the thaumic lightning array, the Keening Abyss can strip away a lot of enemy shields and armour, allowing the Subterfuge that it is often deployed to accompany to slice the enemy to pieces. Even alone, the greater efficacy of the plasma-pulse cannons against an unarmoured hull makes it a dangerous vessel.

    A quartet of light coldbeam turrets provide a little defence against missiles and fighters – or further offence against capital ships who shields and armour is has blasted away.

    Spectral Glow Defense Corvette

    Length: 19.0m
    Width: 315.1m
    Height: 96.0m

    Introduced in 2336, the Spectral Glow is a fast heavy corvette to provide additional anti-fighter and anti-missile protection to groups too small or too fast for the Spiritwrack.

    The Spectral Glow carries the same double warhead launcher that the larger Spiritwrack does, though its internal magazine is significantly smaller. It is thus usually only equipped with the point-defence missiles as it lacks the capacity to perform its primary job and perform anti-ship duties at the same time. It carries only a couple of light coldbeam point-defence turrets for its own defence against missiles.

    The Spectral Glow is armed with a small thaumic lightning cannon. While nowhere near as powerful as the Howling Void’s, or even the Keening Abyss’, it affords the Spectral Glow some offensive against starships, albeit at close range. The thaumic lightning cannon was chosen as a compromise, as despite the higher manufacturing cost compared to a like coldbeam, it did not require as much mass or a bulky turret to fulfil the same role. The ritual cores of the Spectral Glow are not powerful, but enough that a single one-lich meditation circle was added to allow the use of some ritual casting.

    The vessel relies on speed and evasive capability for protection, possessing minimal shields and little armour. Given it is a highly evasive corvette and found performing escort duty, it would generally expected to suffer less fire, as the vessel it is escorting is a higher priority target. But its reliance on expensive warheads on a relatively fragile hull makes it a tempting target.

    With a faster manufacturing rate than the larger Spiritwrack, a small number were quickly deployed to every fleet group.

    #143048
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    Models available from Aotrs Shipyards direct (contact us on Facebook (catalogue available from Aotrs Shipyards Task Force Group) or at [email protected]) or via the webshops at:

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    #143049
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    ___________________________________________________________________________________________________
    Photos of Sorrow Skean, Shadowfang, Shadowfang Mk II, Hoarfrost,Keening Abyss and Spectral Glow in nylon (Shapeways VPN), all others of Replicator 2 versions.

    Next month, we will continue with the second wave of Aotrs forces, complete with more lore. There’s a lot to cover: Gate magic and technology, the supercruisers, notable world, notable persons to name but a few elements!

    #143046
    Avatar photoAotrs Commander
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    Accelerate and Attack! Aeons of War
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    ___________________________________________________________________________________________________
    Photos of Sorrow Skean, Shadowfang, Shadowfang Mk II, Hoarfrost,Keening Abyss and Spectral Glow in nylon (Shapeways VPN), all others of Replicator 2 versions.

    Next month, we will continue with the second wave of Aotrs forces, complete with more lore. There’s a lot to cover: Gate magic and technology, the supercruisers, notable world, notable persons to name but a few elements!

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