Solan-Class Defensive Platform
The original doctrine of the Tarken empire was defensive only; trying to control such a long border would’ve been impossible while on the offensive.
As such, one of the most common warships seen before year 800 would’ve been the Solan. Built with two of what was, at the time, the largest envelopes possible within the northern power, the Solan was classed as a heavy defensive platform. Brimming with guns, it posed a deadly threat to nearly any ship in a one-on-one engagement.
The 286mm rocket-assisted cannons, considered long range at the time, carried lightweight explosive warheads which could shred another ship’s balloon with high efficiency.
Aside from these guns, the Solan also carried a full battery of 67mm autocannons, and two 86mm HVRC dual-barrel cannons on the two forward platforms.
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Sadly, though it was once a force to be reckoned with, the Solan fell out of service rapidly, as it’s aged guns no longer had the power needed to deal lethal blows to the newer, more heavily armed and armored transports which made dashes across the border. On the flipside, the Solan’s own armor was now frail in comparison to the weaponry leveled against it.
As if these problems weren’t enough, the Solan had been designed with a defensive doctrine in mind, where top speed was a low priority. This meant that against ships like the Type 4 N.E.S.T. transport, not only could the Solan not deal critical damage fast enough, it wouldn’t be able to catch the ship should it try to run, or escape if it turned to fight.
The Solan was quickly phased out of service and was replaced by the Pilum in year 814 of the new world calendar.
Some were sold off, and others scrapped, the materials being re-purposed for a new life in another hull.
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Cheers for reading to the end, as usual I’m including a link to the ships mentioned, and I also started a donation thing. Feel free to take a look if you’ve got some spare time!
N.E.S.T 4: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2529155115&searchtext=NEST
Pilum: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2537446045
