Broadsword class Mercenary Cruiser
| Broadsword class Mercenary Cruiser | |
|---|---|
 Published, canon starship design with a Keith illustration. Classic Traveller core ship design. | |
| Type: CY Mercenary Cruiser | |
| Size | 800 Tons |
| Hull Configuration | [[Sphere Hull]] |
| Streamlining | Unstreamlined Hull |
| Tech Level | TL–12 |
| Engineering | |
| Computer | Model/5 |
| Jump | J-3 |
| Maneuver | 3 G |
| Armaments | |
| Hardpoints | 8 |
| Accommodations | |
| Staterooms | 0 |
| Personnel | |
| Crew | 9 |
| High/Mid Passengers | 0 |
| Payload | |
| Cargo | 80 Tons |
| Fuel tank | 0 Tons |
| Construction | |
| Origin | Third Imperium |
| Price | |
| Cost | MCr285.95 |
| Statistics | |
| Images | |
| Blueprint | Yes |
| Illustration | Yes |
| Source | |
| Also see | Type C class Mercenary Cruiser |
| Canon | Unpublished, fan design |
| Era | 1105 |
| Reference | Starships 20. |
| Starships are designed with the Classic Traveller format, using High Guard. | |
The Broadsword class Mercenary Cruiser is an 800-ton spherical hulled starship designed for a wide range of military and quasi-military missions, and is essentially a type C cruiser. Some changes, alterations, and modifications, however, have been imposed to make the ship more adaptable to a variety of different operations.
- It is a paramilitary ship, a warship, most often used by mercenaries; it's a Mercenary Cruiser.
Description (Specifications)
The ship itself is unstreamlined, although it has sufficient lack of projections to allow it to skim hydrogen from gas giants in order to refuel. It may land on vacuum worlds, but generally interacts with the surfaces of worlds through its complement of 50-ton cutters, their interchangeable modules, and the ship's single air/raft. The cutters can carry cargo and supplies from a starport to the ship, troops and ATVs to a world surface for battle, or passengers from point to point. The air/raft, while slower, also has orbital capability and can be used when the cutters are otherwise occupied.
Basic Ship Characteristics
Following the Imperial Navy and IISS Universal Ship Profile and data, additional information is presented in the format shown here. The small craft factor indicates the number of squadrons (of ten craft) carried on the ship. Tonnage on the universal ship profile is shown in kilotons (thousands of tons) where necessary. [1]
| #. | Category | Remarks |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Tonnage | 800 tons. The hull is unstreamlined. |
| 2. | Crew | x9 crew. The minimum crew necessary for the mercenary cruiser is nine: commanding officer, pilot, navigator, four engineers, and medic. Gunners, cutter pilots, troops, and administrative personnel may be added as desired. |
| 3. | Performance | It has Jump drive-M, ]]Maneuver drive]]-M, and Power plant-M, giving Jump-3 and 3-G acceleration. |
| 4. | Electronics | Adjacent to the bridge is a computer Model/5. |
| 5. | Hardpoints | x8 hardpoints. |
| 6. | Armament | Eight turrets are installed, with fire control, but no standard weaponry is carried. |
| 7. | Defenses | Ship defensive equipment is classified. It is believed to be heavily armored. |
| 8. | Craft | The ship carries two 50-ton cutters, each with an ATV module (which includes an ATV). There is provision inside the ship for two additional modules. There is an air/raft carried in a hull compartment. |
| 9. | Fuel Treatment | Yes. Fuel tankage of 318 tons supports the power plant, provides for one Jump-3, and holds 48 tons in reserve for its small craft and for long term operations. |
| 10. | Cost | The ship costs MCr445.95. |
| 11. | Construction Time | It typically takes twenty-five months to build. |
| 12. | Comments | It’s a very tough design that has been designed, redesigned, and manufactured by numerous manufactures at different tech levels. |
History & Background (Dossier)
Used extensively in the outer areas of the Imperium, the Broadsword class mercenary cruiser is designed to perform light military functions over extended periods of time and with great coverage of distance. The cruiser design was specifically commissioned by the Imperium, and examples are used by independent military organizations operating with Imperial approval. In effect, mercenary organizations serve to enforce a basic policy of peace and order in areas where the lmperium itself does not have the resources.[3]
Class Naming Practice/s & Peculiarities
The first ship of this class bore the name Broadsword, and following ships of the class have been named for edged weapons and polearms. As the class grew and more ships were built, the general category of non-missile firing weapons was assumed for naming of additional ships.
Class Members
| Named Ship | Named Ship | Named Ship |
|---|---|---|
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Representative User
New Frontier Trading Partners, a limited corporation based on Excalibur in the Sword Worlds Confederation, procured a fleet of ten mercenary cruisers for use in operations outside the Marches far to spinward. Those vessels carried the names of ten planets within the Sword Worlds— all of them incidentally cognomial swords and thus appropriate to the ship name class. Incidentally, there is some conjecture that the swashbuckling name for the class was a clever marketing decision intended to appeal to the mercenary units that need these vessels; it apparently did influence the Sword World decision, as the competing ship class for the contract was named for Imperial naval heroes.
Additional Data
NON-CANON: Within the Trouble in the Spinward Marches (CT) Play By Email Campaign The Broadsword Class Cruiser is a primary Imperial Navy Cruiser. The setting tends to be a small ship universe, as such, the Broadswords fill the roll of naval Cruiser quite handily.
- The Cruiser Mameluke is frequently found within the marches, clashing with enemies of freedom and justice.
Selected Variant Types & Classes
Image Repository
No information yet available.
References & Contributors (Sources)
| This article has metadata. |
- Marc Miller. Starships (Game Designers Workshop, 1977), 20.
- Loren Wiseman. "Broadsword class Mercenary Cruisers." Journal of the Travellers' Aid Society 08 (1981): 24-37.
- Timothy B. Brown. Fighting Ships (Game Designers Workshop, 1981), 21. (Classic Traveller Supplement 9)
- Loren Wiseman. Broadsword (Game Designers Workshop, 1982), 16-31.
- Marc Miller. Imperial Encyclopedia (Game Designers Workshop, 1987), 83.
- Frank Chadwick, Dave Nilsen. Traveller: The New Era (Game Designers Workshop, 1993), 377.
- Frank Chadwick, Dave Nilsen. "Technical Booklet." Brilliant Lances (1994): 30.
- Don Perrin. Starships (Imperium Games, 1996), 42-44.
- Dom Mooney. Power Projection: Fleet (BITS, 2003), TBD.
- EXTERNAL LINK: Adventure 7: Broadsword
- EXTERNAL LINK: Longsword subclass of the Broadsword Class 800 dton Mercenary Cruiser Deck Plans
- EXTERNAL LINK: RAFM Broadsword Class Mercenary Cruiser Model and Images
- EXTERNAL LINK: Traveller Starship Design - Broadsword class Mercenary Cruiser
- Traveller Wiki Editorial Team
- Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master of Sophontology Maksim-Smelchak of the Ministry of Science
- ↑ Timothy B. Brown. Fighting Ships (Game Designers Workshop, 1981), 10.
- ↑ Timothy B. Brown. Fighting Ships (Game Designers Workshop, 1981), 10.
- ↑ Timothy B. Brown. Fighting Ships (Game Designers Workshop, 1981), 21.