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Y-Wing "Firelight" Forward Air Control Starfighter
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CRMcNeill
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Joined: 05 Apr 2010
Posts: 16283
Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.

PostPosted: Sat Aug 15, 2015 12:22 am    Post subject: Y-Wing "Firelight" Forward Air Control Starfighter Reply with quote

Y-Wing Firelight Forward Air Control Starfighter

Alliance ground forces are almost always outnumbered and outgunned, as well as being equipped with outdated equipment. As such, they depend heavily on air support and artillery to even the odds. A key facet of that support is the Y-Wing Forward Air Control Starfighter, known more commonly as the Y-Wing Firelight. The Firelight operates at extremely low altitudes, circling over battlefields and directing artillery fire and starfighter bombing runs onto enemy positions and equipment, sometimes within meters of Alliance troops.

Forward Air Control operations generally require the Firelight to fly relatively straight and level at low altitudes, making it a much easier target for enemy air defenses. To compensate, the Firelight sacrifices all of its internal ordnance capacity to make room for specialized equipment to increase its survivability. The Firelight mounts the same fire control jamming suite mounted on the A-Wing, and also includes a terrain following navigation sensor to facilitate low-level operations.

While the Firelight is primarily intended for atmospheric operations, some attempt has been made to use them to designate capital ship targets in deep space battles. This has met with mixed results, as space operations deprive the Firelight of the cover provided by terrain at low altitudes.

Craft: Koensayr BTL-A5 Y-Wing
Type: Forward Air Control Starfighter
Scale: Starfighter
Length: 16 meters
Skill: Starfighter Piloting: Y-Wing
Crew: 2 & 1 Astromech Droid (can coordinate)
Crew Skill:
Astrogation 3D+2
Gunnery 4D+2
Piloting 5D+1
Shields 3D
Sensors 4D+2
Cargo Capacity: 110 kg
Consumables: 1 week
Hyperdrive Multiplier: x1
Nav Computer: None (uses astromech)
Maneuverability: 2D
Space: 7 (3D+2)
Atmosphere: 350; 1,000 kph
Hull: 4D
Shields: 1D+2
-Fire Control Jamming System: -1D to Enemy Fire Control in All Arcs, or -3D in a single Arc.
Sensors:
Passive 40 / 0D
Scan 70 / 1D
Search 80 / 2D
Focus 4 / 3D
-Terrain Following Navigation Sensors: +2D to Piloting for Terrain Rolls.
-Target Designation: Can share targeting data with other starfighters. On a successful Sensor Lock-On, friendly starfighters add +2D to Fire Control when attacking a designated target.
Weapons:
2 Laser Cannon
Fire Arc: Front
Crew: 1 (Pilot)
Skill: Starship Gunnery
Fire Control: 2D
Space Range: 1-3/12/25
Atmosphere Range: 100m-300m/1.2km/2.5km
Damage: 5D
1 Dual Blaster Cannon
Fire Arc: Turret
Crew: 1 (Gunner)
Skill: Starship Gunnery
Fire Control: 2D
Range:
--Space: 1-5/10/17
--Atmosphere: 100m-500m/1km/1.7km
Rate of Fire: 2D Auto-Fire
Damage: 3D
Special Rule: Flight Controller
The back-seat gunner of the Firelight can serve as a flight controller, providing advance warning and course guidance to incoming starfighters to optimize their attack runs. The Firelight's comm system has been upgraded to operate more effectively in combat zones, including more powerful transceivers, jamming resistance and the ability to broadcast and receive on multiple channels simultaneously. In game terms, any starfighter pilot acting under direction from a Firelight receives a +1D bonus to any single Piloting or related roll in a round.

House Rule Notes:
    SHIELD & SHIELD CONTROL: 1D+2 @ 1D
    VELOCITY MODIFIER: 2D Flight

_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index


Last edited by CRMcNeill on Thu Jan 20, 2022 10:08 pm; edited 8 times in total
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garhkal
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Joined: 17 Jul 2005
Posts: 14173
Location: Reynoldsburg, Columbus, Ohio.

PostPosted: Sat Aug 15, 2015 12:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nice.. I like the rules for the targeting lazer.
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CRMcNeill
Director of Engineering
Director of Engineering


Joined: 05 Apr 2010
Posts: 16283
Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.

PostPosted: Sat Aug 15, 2015 12:37 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

garhkal wrote:
Nice.. I like the rules for the targeting lazer.

I was thinking about your earlier topics on artillery and lazing targets when I wrote this up.
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index
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Pel
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Joined: 10 May 2006
Posts: 983
Location: Texas

PostPosted: Sat Aug 15, 2015 7:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I like where you're headed with this and it makes sense. Just a few things:

As a dedicated FAC platform, this craft must maintain LOS to the target(s) and circle high overhead to maintain a picture of the entire battlespace. To that end, it won't spend much time in low level terrain mode, which is more the domain of strike or close support ships.

To survive flying figure 8's over the battlespace, it needs better shields (at least 2D), more range on the targeting laser (at least double atmospheric range), and I'd replace the astromech with a gunnery droid, freeing up the flight controller to vector friendly forces, handle communications, and designate targets.

Install a limited nav computer like the A-wings carry to compensate for the lost astromech and you're good to go.

May I also suggest a light freighter or starfighter gunship, similar to the AC-130 to complement this ship?
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garhkal
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Location: Reynoldsburg, Columbus, Ohio.

PostPosted: Sun Aug 16, 2015 12:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

crmcneill wrote:
garhkal wrote:
Nice.. I like the rules for the targeting lazer.

I was thinking about your earlier topics on artillery and lazing targets when I wrote this up.


Thought i recognized some stuff..

Glad you liked what i had wrote.
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CRMcNeill
Director of Engineering
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Joined: 05 Apr 2010
Posts: 16283
Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.

PostPosted: Sun Aug 16, 2015 1:18 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pel wrote:
As a dedicated FAC platform, this craft must maintain LOS to the target(s) and circle high overhead to maintain a picture of the entire battlespace. To that end, it won't spend much time in low level terrain mode, which is more the domain of strike or close support ships.

This is not how FAC aircraft typically operate. FAC aircraft are almost always low altitude platforms, such as the O-2 Skymaster, the OV-1 Mohawk, the OV-10 Bronco, and the OA-10A Thunderbolt.

Quote:
To survive flying figure 8's over the battlespace, it needs better shields (at least 2D), more range on the targeting laser (at least double atmospheric range), and I'd replace the astromech with a gunnery droid, freeing up the flight controller to vector friendly forces, handle communications, and designate targets.

The Y-Wing is already the toughest starfighter in Alliance service (combined soak of 5D+1), the targeting laser already outranges the turbolasers on a capital ship, and I don't see the need to replace the astromech just to have a droid handle the guns when there are so many other things the astromech is useful for.

Quote:
May I also suggest a light freighter or starfighter gunship, similar to the AC-130 to complement this ship?

The closest I've ever gotten was proposing a YT-1300 Special Operations Variant, combining the features of an MC-130 Combat Talon and an MH-53 Pave Low, which I never got around to statting. In any case, an AC-130 doesn't really need a FAC, as it is equipped with a pretty extensive array of sensors to do its own hunting. The original AC-130A's had Night Vision, FLIRs and even an RF detector that could pick up the emissions from the engine coils used by the Vietnamese supply trucks.

Ultimately, rather than introducing something as specialized as the AC-130, I'd probably just use something like this.
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index
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Pel
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Joined: 10 May 2006
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PostPosted: Sun Aug 16, 2015 5:25 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Apologies. I thought you were going for something akin to the E-3 Sentry. What about a short range tactical communications array to talk with ground forces?

Nice work on the gunship. Reminds me a lot of the B-25J.
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CRMcNeill
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Joined: 05 Apr 2010
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Location: Redding System, California Sector, on the I-5 Hyperspace Route.

PostPosted: Sun Aug 16, 2015 8:15 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Pel wrote:
Apologies. I thought you were going for something akin to the E-3 Sentry.

You mean like this?

Quote:
What about a short range tactical communications array to talk with ground forces?

Already included in the Flight Controller special rule; I just didn't feel like making a rule for it. If I did, it would probably just be a +1D or +2D bonus to Communications.

Quote:
Nice work on the gunship. Reminds me a lot of the B-25J.

The power of energy weapons in the SWU makes a transport or bomber-sized platform armed with heavy guns even more practical than it has been in the RW. Yeah, that ship is one of my favorites...
_________________
"No set of rules can cover every situation. It's expected that you will make up new rules to suit the needs of your game." - The Star Wars Roleplaying Game, 2R&E, pg. 69, WEG, 1996.

The CRMcNeill Stat/Rule Index
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