Earth Alliance Sagittarius Class Cruiser

Name: Sagittarius
Craft: Earth Alliance Sagittarius Cruiser
Type: cruiser
Scale: capital
Length: 562.35 meters
Skill: capital ship pilot
Crew: 79
Crew Skill: Astrogation: 5D; Capital Ship Pilot: 5D; Communications: 5D; Sensors: 5D; Starship Gunnery: 3D+1; Planetary Systems: 5D; Tactics: 5D; Command: 5D
Passengers: 1,000
Cargo Capacity: 1,000 metric tons
Consumables: 20 months
Nav Computer: yes
Maneuverability: 1D
Space: 6
Hull: 4D+1
Sensors

• Passive: 30/1D
• Scan: 60/2D
• Search: 90/3D
• Focus: 3/4D

Craft Carried: 2 Light Shuttles
Weapons

• 12 Standard Missile Systems

Fire Arc: 6 forward, 2 port, 2 starboard, 2 aft
Crew: 2
Skill: capital ship gunnery
Rate of Fire: 1
Damage: varies by missile type

• Anti-Fighter Missile

Scale: starfighter
Fire Control: 6D
Space Range: 1-15/30/60
Damage: 6D

• Anti-Ship Missile

Scale: capital
Fire Control: 2D
Space Range: 1-15/30/60
Damage: 3D+1

• Flash Missile

Scale: capital
Fire Control: 2D
Space Range: 1-15/30/60
Damage: 5D

• Heavy Missile

Scale: capital
Fire Control: 1D
Space Range: 1-5/10/20
Damage: 6D+2

• Multi-Warhead Missile

Scale: starfighter
Fire Control: 1D
Space Range: 1-5/10/20
Damage: 5D (see note)

• H.A.R.M. (High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missile)

Scale: capital
Fire Control: 2D
Space Range: 1-15/30/60
Damage: special (see note)

• R.M.T.S. Missile (Radioactive Monitor Tracking System)

Scale: starfighter
Fire Control: 2D
Space Range: 1-15/30/60
Damage: 3D+1 (see note)

• 4 Mark II Interceptors

Fire Arc: 1 forward, 1 port, 1 starboard, 1 aft
Crew: 1
Scale: starfighter
Skill: starship gunnery
Fire Control: 2D
Space Range: 1/3/7
Damage:

• Intercept: 3D+1
• Offense: 1D

• Particle Beam

Fire Arc: turret
Crew: 1
Scale: starfighter
Skill: starship gunnery
Fire Control: 2D
Space Range: 1-8/15/25
Damage: 2D

Notes

• Multi-Warhead Missile: Basically a group of singular warheads on timed-release triggers designed to slip past enemy defenses or saturate a single target with destructive power, the multi-warhead missile allows a single missile to effectively become three, hopefully getting past any defensive fire the target might be able to muster.

• Special: Although the launching missile system does not have the capability, a multi-warhead missile counts as a Rapid Fire weapon when fired.

• HARM (High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missile): Intended for use against the Minbari, the HARM missile specififi cally targets enemy sensor systems, rendering them temporarily blind with electromagnetic interference. These missiles do not carry normal payloads but instead pulse with ECM emitters when near to an enemy ship.

• Special: The HARM reduces the targeted ship’s Sensor rating by –1D(D) for 1D rounds if it ‘hits’ (in truth, the missile need only approach near the target for the effect to take place).

• RMTS (Radioactive Monitor Tracking System) Missile: A forebear of the HARM, the Radioactive Monitor Tracking System (RMTS) missile variant was a very expensive attempt to coat a Minbari target with easily traceable materials that further attacks and scanners could home in on, eliminating one of their most notorious edges. The materials used were unfathomably expensive and the missile was nowhere near as effective as the test scientists believed it would be, which is why they were discontinued before the end of the Earth-Minbari War.

• Special: Any ship hit by a RMTS Missile loses –1D to its Stealth rating for 1D rounds.

Description: The Sagittarius hull was a specialized design unveiled to the fleet at the dawn of the 23rd Century. The aim of the ship was to operate as a test firing platform for newly developing missile technology. As experimentation with the idea progressed, larger and more stable hulls were produced, eventually mounting no less than eight missile racks on a lengthy cruiser hull. Needing room for ammunition stores and multiple points of fire to make up for the time-consuming process of reloading and re-aligning proper lines of fire made the vessel grow to almost twice what they originally had planned for.

After what were considered several failures, Earth Force began to take interest in the hull as a potential warship design with the first actual Sagittarius in 2225. The ship was not particularly popular, primarily because of its lack of flexibility and utter dedication to missile bombardment. Because of its specialized role, the Sagittarius was totally unsuitable for use in anything outside a fleet environment, so few other missions could be undertaken with them. Worse still, the Sagittarius had little in the way of on-board defenses, lacking even a jump drive to make its escape should things go badly. Most were decommissioned, only to be hastily recalled – and summarily destroyed – during the Earth-Minbari War. Few survived, and those that did are now part of other missile testing projects throughout Earth Alliance space.

Source: Babylon 5: Ships of the Galaxy (pages 21-22); thedemonapostle