Heavy Starship Subtypes

Heavy starships are the workhorses of space travel: battle cruisers, battleships, fleet carriers, tankers, liners, and heavy transports. They move relatively quickly—thanks to massive engines—but maneuver very slowly. Their real strength lies in their armor and armaments; even civilian heavy starships are built to take a pounding.

A heavy starship measures 1,001–1,500 feet long. It has a 1,500- foot-by-1,500-foot fighting space (9 500-foot squares).

In addition, all heavy starships share the following design specs.

Engines: All heavy starships have thrusters plus one other type of engine (see Starship Engines).

Armor: A heavy starship has one type of armor (see Starship Armor).

Defensive Systems: A heavy starship has a maximum of one defensive system per 50 Hit Dice (see Starship Defense Systems).

Sensors: A heavy starship has a maximum of three sensor systems (see Starship Sensors).

Communications: A heavy starship has two external communication systems (see Starship Comm Systems).

Weapons: A heavy starship has one beam, projectile, or missile weapon per 50 Hit Dice (see Starship Weapons). These weapons are often arrayed in batteries. A minelayer is considered a single weapon. Although it weighs no more than a few thousand pounds, each mine consumes 100 tons of a ship’s cargo capacity (most of it taken up by the launch system and radiation shielding).

Grappling Systems: A heavy starship may have up to two grappling systems (see Grappling Systems). Each grappling system takes away one of the ship’s weapon slots (see above).

Heavy Ship Descriptions

Specific subtypes of heavy starships are given here.