Planetside - Ships of the Fleet

Ships of the Fleet

Last Updated June 24, 2007

Medusa Battleship (Alpha)

Owner	Earth Alliance
Class	Capital Ship
Availability	Unique Ship
In Service	2240
Out of Service	2243
Source	Earth Wars Playtest Pack
Author	Ivan Edgerly
Last Updated	April 25, 2003

Description:

Well before the Earth-Minbari War, the Alliance attempted to construct a huge warship which could go toe-to-toe with the largest vessels then known to be in service by other races (e.g., the Centauri Octurion Battleship). The Nova Dreadnought, while well armed, had a variety of limitations (such as the lack of long-range firepower) that the Alliance hoped to resolve. The Medusa Project was thus initiated.

The first (and only) Medusa-class vessel began construction in Spring of 2240, occupying an entire major shipyard at the Proxima drydocks. By the time the Earth-Minbari War began, cost overruns and production difficulties had delayed the project such that only the basic superstructure framework had been completed. The Alliance made a half-hearted attempt to accelerate production with the on-set of the War, but design problems intervened. The hulk that orbited Proxima was destroyed by Minbari attack craft after the rest of the colony's defenses had been destroyed.

The battleship shown here is entirely conjectural, and is a hybrid of several different design plans (most of which had been rejected or proven to be invalid). It is unlikely that anything like this could ever have been fielded by the Earth Alliance, and even if it had, its operating and construction costs would have been too high to make it a viable warship. The Minbari probably did the EA a favor by destroying the incomplete prototype.

The Medusa is severely overgunned, and even the largest reactors available to EarthForce would not have been able to power all of its weapons at the same time. In addition, all non-weapon-related systems (jump drives, fighter bays, etc.) would probably have been left out of the design.

If allowed in a campaign, the construction cost of the Medusa should be at least twice the Combat Point value shown on the SCS and its build time should be at least triple that of a normal capital ship.

Ship Control Sheet(s):

	Medusa Battleship (Alpha) - SCS
	Unique Ship

Related Entries:

No Related Entries

Design Notes:

From the EA Playtest Pack. SCS by Ivan Edgerly.

Questions, comments, or suggestions? Please contact Tyrel Lohr at contact@tyrellohr.com.