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Description

Luna-Class Light Cruiser:

Introduced: 2282

Ships in Class: 80

Notes: While the Artemis-Class had highly-impressed Earth Force, the ships proved costly on a per-unit basis and it was clear that replacing the entire Hyperion-Class with such vessels would be impractical – particularly as the Omega-Class Destroyers were also now being wound down. It had not gone unnoticed that it was theoretically possible to build a brand-new Hyperion to Mk.III standards for a smaller cost compared with the Artemis, and so Earth Force Starship Development was given the greenlight to develop a ‘light’ cruiser based on the Hyperion Mk.III, using the same efficiencies in hull design exploited by the Artemis-Class but foregoing many of the more-advanced or more-expensive systems of the latter.

The missile pods were deleted entirely, and the basic armament reduced to the bare-minimum considered necessary for basic patrol duties, taking the Euphrates Sector as a basis: Four twin Medium PPCs, a single Particle Cannon, and four twin Light PPC/Interceptor mounts. The hangar of the Artemis-Class design was retained but reduced in scope to support six starfuries plus four reserves and two shuttles. The result was a ship almost 100m shorter, more manoeuvrable, and easily capable of routine patrol assignments. Even on the at-times volatile Centauri border, Luna-Class Light Cruisers have proven capable of defending themselves long enough for either heavier fleet units such as the Artemis-Class to reinforce or for their own vessel to retreat into Quantumspace.

***

While the Artemis-Class seems like a logical upgrade to the Hyperion, addressing most of the class' shortfalls, I also felt it maybe did too good a job at it. It felt like it would be too much in such a small package to be practical in large numbers, especially given Earth Force's position as detailed previously, so I figured there would be plenty of scope for a pared down version of the same design. Also, the fact the Hyperion was referred to as an Earth Force Heavy Cruiser implies that there was a Light Cruiser to complement it (presumably the Olympus Corvette filled this role?), so logically the Artemis would also have a 'light' counterpart.

Artistically, I started by reducing the ship's length and removing the missile pods. Then, I wasn't happy with what looked like a snub-nosed Artemis so I stripped back the dorsal armour plating to expose more of the actual hull structure, on the basis that it removes a lot of material cost and the ship is supposed to be pared down to the 'bare minimum' for patrol duties. As a result of shortening the forward hull, the turrets now seemed too close together, so I tweaked the positioning and moved the ventral forward turret onto a barbette emplacement on the bow armour slope. The eagle-eyed may also notice the single particle cannon is now protruding out of the armour cladding, rather than projecting from it. Since there's only one cannon on this ship, it made since that the mounting would be able to fit inside the armour cowling. It's also set further back into the ship. The sensor boom and antennae are shorter, and the spine towards the engine block has also been shortened, with the square 'fuel stack' replaced by an additional hemispheroidal fuel stack*.

*Different artists of the warlock have taken different interpretations of what exactly these red/orange greebles are supposed to be. They seem to be analogous to the square racks of red-lit greebles seen on the Omega and Nova-Class Destroyers, which were apparently supposed to be missile silos. However, I don't really think it's fair to count them as such: for one thing, we never once see them used in the show, and at least where the Warlock's concerned, it already has two outrigged missile pods - why put a series of further missile silos in the hull? Furthermore, in some shots the 'silos' seem to project from the hull to me in a dome, which doesn't make a massive amount of sense for silo doors. For me, it makes more sense that they're actually storage racks for hydrogen tanks to provide fuel for the fusion reactors, engines, and weapons - especially given their placement on the central spine of the ship where the reactors would be located.

Description

Luna-Class Light Cruiser:

Introduced: 2282

Ships in Class: 80

Notes: While the Artemis-Class had highly-impressed Earth Force, the ships proved costly on a per-unit basis and it was clear that replacing the entire Hyperion-Class with such vessels would be impractical – particularly as the Omega-Class Destroyers were also now being wound down. It had not gone unnoticed that it was theoretically possible to build a brand-new Hyperion to Mk.III standards for a smaller cost compared with the Artemis, and so Earth Force Starship Development was given the greenlight to develop a ‘light’ cruiser based on the Hyperion Mk.III, using the same efficiencies in hull design exploited by the Artemis-Class but foregoing many of the more-advanced or more-expensive systems of the latter.

The missile pods were deleted entirely, and the basic armament reduced to the bare-minimum considered necessary for basic patrol duties, taking the Euphrates Sector as a basis: Four twin Medium PPCs, a single Particle Cannon, and four twin Light PPC/Interceptor mounts. The hangar of the Artemis-Class design was retained but reduced in scope to support six starfuries plus four reserves and two shuttles. The result was a ship almost 100m shorter, more manoeuvrable, and easily capable of routine patrol assignments. Even on the at-times volatile Centauri border, Luna-Class Light Cruisers have proven capable of defending themselves long enough for either heavier fleet units such as the Artemis-Class to reinforce or for their own vessel to retreat into Quantumspace.

***

While the Artemis-Class seems like a logical upgrade to the Hyperion, addressing most of the class' shortfalls, I also felt it maybe did too good a job at it. It felt like it would be too much in such a small package to be practical in large numbers, especially given Earth Force's position as detailed previously, so I figured there would be plenty of scope for a pared down version of the same design. Also, the fact the Hyperion was referred to as an Earth Force Heavy Cruiser implies that there was a Light Cruiser to complement it (presumably the Olympus Corvette filled this role?), so logically the Artemis would also have a 'light' counterpart.

Artistically, I started by reducing the ship's length and removing the missile pods. Then, I wasn't happy with what looked like a snub-nosed Artemis so I stripped back the dorsal armour plating to expose more of the actual hull structure, on the basis that it removes a lot of material cost and the ship is supposed to be pared down to the 'bare minimum' for patrol duties. As a result of shortening the forward hull, the turrets now seemed too close together, so I tweaked the positioning and moved the ventral forward turret onto a barbette emplacement on the bow armour slope. The eagle-eyed may also notice the single particle cannon is now protruding out of the armour cladding, rather than projecting from it. Since there's only one cannon on this ship, it made since that the mounting would be able to fit inside the armour cowling. It's also set further back into the ship. The sensor boom and antennae are shorter, and the spine towards the engine block has also been shortened, with the square 'fuel stack' replaced by an additional hemispheroidal fuel stack*.

*Different artists of the warlock have taken different interpretations of what exactly these red/orange greebles are supposed to be. They seem to be analogous to the square racks of red-lit greebles seen on the Omega and Nova-Class Destroyers, which were apparently supposed to be missile silos. However, I don't really think it's fair to count them as such: for one thing, we never once see them used in the show, and at least where the Warlock's concerned, it already has two outrigged missile pods - why put a series of further missile silos in the hull? Furthermore, in some shots the 'silos' seem to project from the hull to me in a dome, which doesn't make a massive amount of sense for silo doors. For me, it makes more sense that they're actually storage racks for hydrogen tanks to provide fuel for the fusion reactors, engines, and weapons - especially given their placement on the central spine of the ship where the reactors would be located.