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Hunter (JumpShip class)

This article is about the JumpShip. For other uses, see Hunter.
Hunter JS TRO3057r.png
Hunter
Production information
Manufacturer unknown (Clans)
Use Exploration/Scout
Tech Base Clan
Introduced 2832
Technical specifications
Mass 95,000 tons
Length 302 meters
Sail Diameter 850 meters
Fuel 400 tons (4000)
Burn Rate 9.77
Top Thrust 0.1 Gs
Sail Integrity 3
KF Drive Integrity 3
LF Battery None
Armament
Armor 40 tons
DropShip Capacity 1
Crew 13[1]
  • 3 Officers
  • 8 Enlisted
  • 2 Gunners

(Crew Types)[2]

  • 2 Pilots
  • 2 Engineers
  • 6 Secondary Engineers
Grav Decks None
Escape Pods/Life Boats 0/4
Heat Sinks 93 double (186)
Structural Integrity 1
BV (1.0) 1,915[1][3]


Description[edit]

A scout JumpShip to seek out enemy fleets or explore new systems, the Hunter was designed by Clan Ghost Bear shortly after the founding of the Clans. It shares the best features of the Scout and Magellan classes: Like the former, it is small and stealthy, with a tiny emergence signature; like the latter, it is also equipped with an HPG to send messages over a distance of up to 50 lightyears. Like the other two designs, it is capable of prolonged independent operation; however, it also shares the lack of a Grav Deck, a drawback that requires the ship to spend fuel on thrust to generate gravity through acceleration (or risk deteriorating health and morale among the crew). This drastically shortens the actual time until the ship requires refueling, along with the depletion of cargo stores, and Hunters often are deployed no more than six months at a time.[1]

Armament[edit]

True to their nature, the Clans have armed even their nominally noncombatant JumpShips. Accordingly, the Hunter mounted five large pulse lasers, five streak SRM-4 launchers with one ton of ammunition each, and two anti-missile systems, with four tons of ammunition, in addition to adequate armor.

Cargo[edit]

The original Hunter design can carry between 1021 and 1097 tons of cargo depending on the exact variant (see below) and may have or not have room for 10 passengers. However, most have since been upgraded to mount a Lithium-Fusion Battery system at the expense of 950 tons of cargo space (1% of the ship's mass is required for the battery).

In addition to the DropShip berth, a K1C DropShuttle is often carried to facilitate the vessel's reconnaissance and exploration duties.[4]

Variants[edit]

The BattleSpace rulebook provides a step-by-step guide to the designing rules by designing a sample ship class; it is explicitly stated at the end of the process that the "completed JumpShip belongs to the Hunter class". However, this (prototype) Hunter and the stats given for the Hunter in the Large Ships section of the sourcebook differ from later published entries: It had room for 10 passengers, a cargo capacity of 1,031.5 tons, and mounted one anti-missile system. with three tons of ammunition (instead of two systems with four tons). The stats also contain a cargo capacity of only 1021 tons, which may be in error as they are otherwise identical.[2]

The standard version (from Technical Readout 3057) is presented here and has no passenger capacity, but 1097 tons of cargo.

By the mid-thirtieth century, most Hunters have been upgraded with a Lithium-Fusion Battery system, at the cost of a greatly reduced cargo capacity (only about 120 tons). The unmodified vessels were given to freebirth units. It is unknown whether or not those vessels serving among Wolf's Dragoons were upgraded.[1]

Named Vessels[edit]

see Category:Individual Hunter-class JumpShips

Notes[edit]

  • In German products, the unit's proper name was translated to Jäger.

Gallery[edit]

References[edit]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Technical Readout: 3057 Revised, p. 110
  2. 2.0 2.1 BattleSpace rulebook, p. 63
  3. AeroTech 2 Record Sheets, p. 265
  4. BattleSpace sourcebook, p. 52

Bibliography[edit]