ONRC - 'Mainstay' class Armoured Cruiser

Introducing the ONRC - ‘Mainstay’ class Armoured Cruiser

"The Mainstay classes originally served as unmanned cargo freighters, sent light years in advance of the ‘great jump’ to supply the new system’s pioneers with resources and machinery that would be vital to the construction of the first extrasolar colonies.

The vessels were converted into armoured cruisers by the ONRC under the Operation: Aegis, after rising tensions with SMI militants prompted the requirement for a long range, capital ship capable of acting in lone engagements for long periods.

Under this directive, we have made several changes to the initial design, these include; addition of hydrogen thrust for improved manoeuvrability, a vast array of anti-capital ship weapons, external fighter clamps and a completely reworked interior. With the above modifications made, it is our hope that our long-time allies now stand a fighting chance in defending the system from a force that wants nothing more than to tear it down."

Block Count: 6,400 PCU Count: 44,800 Grid Mass: 5580t

Length: 137.5m Width: 87.5m Height: 85m

Space: Yes Planets: No Moons: Yes if Vertical (max 0.60g)

The Mainstay features 3 Rocket Launchers, 6 Gatling Turrets, 8 Assault Turrets, 4 Missile Turrets and 6 Artillery Turrets - all turrets have Auto-Repair. Primary forward thrust consists of 8 Large Ions and 1 Large Hydrogen, reverse thrust consists of 6 Large Ions, and Up, Down, Port and Starboard consists of 2 Large Ions each respectively.

The vessel also features 8 Large Hydrogen Tanks, 3 Jump Drives, 35 Batteries, 2 Reactors, 2 Hydrogen Engines, 3 Assemblers and 1 refinery. Rooms include Bridge, Reactor, Medibay, Server Room, Auxiliary Power, Briefing Room, Mess Hall, Flight Deck, Refining & Assembling Room, Gravity Room and Gyroscope Room.

The vessel consists of 6 DLC. Only three are required for functionality (Warfare 2, Heavy Industry and SotF), the other 3 (Warfare 1, Decorative 1 and 2) are not required for functionality - however some areas may depressurize as a result. Given a lot of the main systems are DLC (and keen has no method of auto replacing them with vanilla blocks), a more survival ready, DLC free version will be released later.

In reality the classification, ‘Armoured Cruiser’ refers to a late 19th to early 20th century cruiser defined by its thick belt armour that could protect it from fire similar to what early battleships would face.

Obviously, Space Engineers does not have such a large variety of armour that it alone could define a class. As such, I have taken some creative liberties, defining Armoured Cruisers as a midpoint between light and heavy cruisers, sacrificing armament for durability.

I define the Mainstay class as an Armoured Cruiser because of its auto-repair system and heavy plating. The manoeuvrability is not sufficient for a light cruiser, equally the weaponry not powerful enough for a heavy cruiser. The Mainstay is capable of holding its own against numerous lighter warships, however will likely fall in a 1v1 against heavier opponents.

Scripts Used:

- Whip's Weapon Salvo Script by Whiplash141 - Whip's Auto Door and Airlock Script by Whiplash141 - Floor Plan Script Mk1 by Alysius

Screenshot Assets:

- Luma by Major Jon - Space Just Got Real by Dr. Novikov

Additional Links

- [HDI] Omega Series ST-CS-296-Ariel an awesome redesign created by my friend Sevrys

At this moment, I consider the Mainstay to be my best work. With previous factions I have often struggled to achieve a good balance between function and form, however through numerous prototypes and a good deal of testing, I believe I have created a combat ready design that still projects the story I want to tell with the ONRC.

The creation of this design took me the better half of a month on and off and I believe the quality payoff was worth it, which is why I will be doing longer, standalone ONRC projects rather than publishing in bulk. Obviously this will mean a reduced output in ships, and I don’t want to spend all that time on ships no one will subscribe to - which is why I want to hear what you would like to see, so I can focus on those ideas when developing this faction.

Big thanks if you read all that. If you enjoy this build, please leave a like, star or comment below - helps me out a lot in boosting the ship.

Thank you, Omega