My CODA Akira-class Heavy Cruiser(CH)

[Antonsb214]

Class and Type: Akira-Class Heavy Cruiser
Year Launched: 2368

Structure: 35
Size/ Decks: 7/ 19
Length/ Height/ Beam: 465m/ 88m / 316m
Complement: 550

Transporters: 4 personal, 4 cargo, 4 emergency
Cargo Units: 70
Shuttlebay: 2 (saucersection foreand aft)
Shuttlecraft: 7 size worth each
Tractor Beams: 1 fd, 1 fv, 1 ad

Sensor Systems: Class 3 ( 3/2/1/0/0 ) (D)
Operations Systems: Class 4 (E)
Life Support: Class 4 (E)

Impulse System: Class 8 (.95) (E)
Warp System: Class 7.6 (7/8/9.6) (E)

TACTICAL
Phaser Arrays: Type X (x3)
Penetration 6/5/5/0/0 (D)

Photon Torpedoes: Type VI (x4)
Penetration 6/6/6/6/6 (D)

Shields: Class 6 (D)
Penetration/ Threshold 17/4

Maneuver Mods: +1 C/ +2 H/ +2 T

I think this comes up to 88 spaces. But this suits my idea of the Akira-class. It could carry a few fighters and it has the torpedoes to do some damage. It's a tough state-of-the-art tactical response ship. It's systems have been tested on the Galaxy and Nebula classes. It's function borders on being a warship. But it is designed to go up against the Borg.

[Cmdr Powers]

Your take on the Akira is what I would consider right on with what has actually been seen of this class on the movie screen (First Contact) and on the TV screen (DS9 and STV). Good, normal, standard, job.

Its too bad that Alex Jaeger (the gent who created the Akira-Class) put out all that extra information about the ship. The outward appearance of the design supports Jaeger's contention of 15 torpedo launchers (6 or 7 tubes, approximately, in CODA) and the ability to carry an entire 'air' wing of fightercraft (at least 6 shuttlecraft bays or more). But don't accept Jaeger's Akira automatically, it's not canon since those capabilities have not been depicted.

To me, the challenge was in trying to recreate Jaeger's Akira without compromising canon too badly. My Akira-class does have 6 shuttlebays (42 spaces of shuttlecraft) and carries 8 Type II photon torpedo launchers. Phaser arrays are 3 Type X's, so this gives phasers of 5/5/4/0/0 and photorps of 7/7/7/7/7. A change here, a change there, and viola! you have the ass-kicking Jaeger version.

Of course, the 12 or so Starfleet Attack Fighters carried are a force multiplier which makes a single Akira-class able to take on the heaviest Jem-Hadar, Klingon, or Romulan vessel. You get your nose bloodied and your ribs broken, but you will get a kill.

[SIR SIG]

Originally posted by Cmdr Powers
Of course, the 12 or so Starfleet Attack Fighters carried are a force multiplier which makes a single Akira-class able to take on the heaviest Jem-Hadar, Klingon, or Romulan vessel. You get your nose bloodied and your ribs broken, but you will get a kill.

I beg to differ on the ass kicking part

Comander Sigimus
RSN Void Stalker
Akira vs D'deridex sim

[Lancer]

Originally posted by SIR SIG
I beg to differ on the ass kicking part

Comander Sigimus
RSN Void Stalker
Akira vs D'deridex sim

Don't be so sure about your little bucket of bolts.
We contacted you when you were still 2 hours away from our position, so how much is your Cloak really worth?
Wouldn't it cut your career a little short if we fired on you while you were still cloaked, hmm?

Lieutenant Tarin Veal
Acting CSO
USS Vanguard

[Cmdr Powers]

Gentlemen, gentlemen, let us hope that we don't have to test these contentions again. Vanguard already defeated RSN Star Runner (and took some pretty bad damage doing so- using Spacedock combat rules), but now we're 'buddies', right? We may need all the resources of both Void Stalker and Vanguard to defeat Deatheye (a moon-sized, or based, weapon along the lines of the Doomsday Machine).

And if all this confuses the rest of you, my sincere apologies. The PBEM game Star Trek: Vanguard has had a jerky career as of late, but we should get going shortly.

There are basically two schools of thought on the Akira-class: Build it as it is depicted on the screen- pretty much what has been created at the top of this thread. Or build it as it is shown in Starship Spotter, Star Trek: Magazine, and other sources. YMMV of course.

What I'm truly looking forward to is seeing how CODA will 'officially' depict the Akira in the Starship book. Maybe Don could give us a hint?

[Lancer]

Originally posted by Cmdr Powers
The PBEM game Star Trek: Vanguard has had a jerky career as of late, but we should get going shortly.

Yeah right. I'll believe it when I see it happen.

And hey, I didn't want to suggest that we would open fire on Void Stalker. My sole intention was to get my Romulan colleague to reconsider a maybe somewhat overconfident point of view.

[Cmdr Powers]

Originally posted by Lancer
Yeah right. I'll believe it when I see it happen.

Be careful what you wish for. One of the reasons (among several) for the delays in Star Trek: Vanguard is my indecision on how to relay to you guys just how very precarious your situation actually is- and how best to do that in a PBEM game where I don't get to do sound effects, accents, dramatic pauses, and so forth. PBEM can do these things descriptively, but its not the same as face to face.

However, this thread is about making the Akira-class in CODA. Best keep on track!

[Evan van Eyk]

Well I prefer the Akira no-carrier variant. I simply feel, that carriers are not so much trek, because they are too militaristic. However my version still has several shuttlebays, simply to reflect the large one you can see at the bow of the ship.


Although I am an absolute Akira-fan, it simply looks great, I do not believe it could stand a Warbird. Even a Galaxy has a hard job to do defeat it in battle using the ICON rules. A Warbird is simply too heavy.

[Cmdr Powers]

Originally posted by Evan van Eyk
Although I am an absolute Akira-fan, it simply looks great, I do not believe it could stand a Warbird. Even a Galaxy has a hard job to do defeat it in battle using the ICON rules. A Warbird is simply too heavy.

It would be a lively fight. The two classes are equivalent in shields (Protection and Threshold). Disruptor banks on the D'Deridex are rated at 6/6/6/0/0 compared to this thread's Akira arrays of 6/5/5/0/0, so in a beam battle, the Romulan ship would pull ahead damage-wise. In Missile weapons, the D'Deridex has its 7/6/5/4/3 Plasma Torps versus the 6/6/6/6/6 Photorps on this Akira. The D'Deridex wins at the two closer ranges. Finally, the D'Deridex can take 50 structural hits and the Akira can only take 35 hits. The Akira's only hope is to keep the D'Deridex at Medium to long ranges and pummel it with photorps, hoping that the dice will fall its way. Winner: the Romulans.

Now, if you add few fighters into the mix, the situation improves. Even this variant of the Akira can carry 4 or 5 fighters. If you add a mere 4 fighters to the battle, you can begin to make up the difference. One of the Starfleet Attack Fighter designs has phasers of 4/3/3/0/0- worthless against the D'Deridex's threshold, but quite capable of reducing shield capacity in little bites. This design also has 5/5/5/5/5 photorps- capable of hurting the D'Deridex as well as reducing shields. If the fighters can last 3 or 4 turns, they might reduce the D'Deridex's fighting capacity to the point that the Akira can clean up. Unfortunately, with a structure of only 10, the Starfleet Attack Fighters won't be around for long. This would be a Medium range fight for Starfleet and Short range fight for the RSN.

Of course, YMMV, and the above assumes roughly equal crews. Each Starfleet Attack Fighter would have a Pilot (Systems Operation (Flight Control), Tactics (Space)) and a WSO (Systems Operation (Tactical), Tactics (Space)). The SAF design depicted above has Helm +2 and Tactics +2. All they need to worry about is rolling high enough to hit a Target Protection of 17 (admittedly difficult).

[Antonsb214]

I see the Akira as a ship designed for tactical operations, the firepower of the Galaxy in a smaller, more maneuverable package. It is not meant to take on a D'Deridex single handed. But the D'Deridex wouldn't have a cake walk either. I see the Akira working in a squadron of 3 to 6 ships. The standard tactic would be to concentrate fire on target one at a time, starting with the most dangerous threat and working their way down. I see the Akira being able to take on any ship of its size class in one-on-one combat. If you want the hunter-killer some people seem to like, take out a phaser array, and throw in another photorp launcher. The shuttles/fighters would only act as distractions. It would only carry SAF's during wartime.

[Cmdr Powers]

Originally posted by Antonsb214
I see the Akira as a ship designed for tactical operations, the firepower of the Galaxy in a smaller, more maneuverable package. It is not meant to take on a D'Deridex single handed. But the D'Deridex wouldn't have a cake walk either. I see the Akira working in a squadron of 3 to 6 ships. The standard tactic would be to concentrate fire on target one at a time, starting with the most dangerous threat and working their way down. I see the Akira being able to take on any ship of its size class in one-on-one combat. If you want the hunter-killer some people seem to like, take out a phaser array, and throw in another photorp launcher. The shuttles/fighters would only act as distractions. It would only carry SAF's during wartime.

Believe it or not, I tend to agree with you. I've scratched my head a few times trying to figure out what all those fighter crew do when they're not flying missions. I figure that they have other duties on the ship and fly regular patrols when feasible (seeing as how the Akira-class can actually fly faster at warp than the fighters!). In the engagement between the Vanguard and the Star Runner, the fighters were very successful in distracting the Romulans and whittling down the lateral shields. The Vanguard administered the coup de gras in the flavor of quantum torps. Quite a fight, but the Vanguard was badly hurt in the battle and several fighters were lost/damaged. Your point about wartime fighter use is probably true, but how do you keep your training edge up? Simulations, wargames, patrolling the Neutral Zone, etc., etc.

[Phantom]

I just have to ask this one more time, it is one of those questions I just can't seem to get any, reasonable, answer for. Where does it state this thru-deck carrier non-sense for the Akira? Except for SD I haven't seen any official source.

[Lancer]

Originally posted by Phantom
Where does it state this thru-deck carrier non-sense for the Akira? Except for SD I haven't seen any official source.

This non-sense (and I completely agree with you) comes from an interview Alex Jaeger, the Akira's designer, gave to Star Trek The Magazine:

"This was my gunship/battlecruiser/aircraft carrier. It has 15 torpedo launchers and two shuttlebays - one in front, with three doors, and one in the back. I really got into it with this one, with the whole idea that the front bay would be th launching bay, and then to return they'd come into the back, because they'd be protected by the rest of the ship."

A lot of people seem to have accepted this, but if you are looking for any on-screen evidence that supports Mr. Jaegers statement you won't find any. OTOH as I understand it Paramount considers Starship Spotter as 'official information'.

Personaly I am inclined to ignore the "15 torps and thru-deck carrier" concept. After all, if you were to buy a new car would you trust the guy who designed the chassis when you want to know about the horsepower of the engine?

[NobAkimoto]

Hm, I think the biggest problem is that people automatically equate "15 launchers" with "15 launchers like the Galaxy that fire 10 torpedoes at once."

Given the Starship Spotter historical background(Kudos to those who tried desperately to rationalize everything int hat book...) the ship was a crash course development prior to the commissioning of the GCS and probably predated actual deployment of massive burst-fire launchers.

The launchers themselves are physically closer to those found on Voyager which have only been seen firing torpedoes in singular fire-mode. Tends to seem that then the Akira was designed with a large number of launchers to give it a high fire-saturation without resorting to "experimental" or "new-fangled" technology.(Afterall in war time you want what's best proven.)

Shuttle carrier, especially if it carried Danubes would make it ideal for multi-mission deployments. It seems that the through-deck concept works better for collecting VULNERABLE craft like shuttles and runabouts(note Jaegar specifically says shuttlebay, rather than "fighterbay".) One could argue this was a feature implemented so that production of the class could be justified in "peace-time." Given it's relatively small internal volume, such multi-mission capability with auxillary craft would be priceless.

As for the existence of fighters...if anyone ever needs "proof" they exist in canon, make them watch Sacrifice of Angels.

[Evan van Eyk]

There are certainly fighters in the series, but do we actually know if they are deployed by carriers? Maybe you put them just where you normally store the shuttles. Additiinally they could fly all the way on their own, after all they have warp engines.