Starfield Ship Build: Colonial Authority Frontier

 

Colonial Authority Frontier

 

Introduction

This was one of those builds that just came together. I was itching to build that evening and I had some thoughts about how the "white space" of a ship is just as powerful as filling in the empty places with habs or structural pieces. 

The head canon came because I had just finished to first few missions of the Vanguard questline and decided that I wanted to mount the Obliterators. I don't usually fall back on them, but this character is rather high level and I've used plenty of other weapon combinations. As I was talking to Vae Victis, it struck me and not for the first time, that he is criminal mastermind material left to rot as a glorified Mission terminal. Well, one thing led to another and the head canon was created.

I figure, if Bethesda is going to create a multiverse of identical universes, it's up to us to throw in the variety.

 

Head Canon/Lore

In one of the infinite universes that make up the multiverse, Vae Victis did not sit idly in the confines of his cell. Instead, he seethed with rage at the indignity of his situation all the while promising to help the UC put down their wartime liabilities. Always the clever tactician, Vae Victis chose another path. While he smiled at the intelligence officers and earned their trust, he recruited a small group of elite soldiers and spies to begin his ultimate goal; the overthrow of the UC government and the installation of himself as its new leader. After many years and the unwitting help of a Vanguard recruit, Vae Victis was able to enact his plan and succeeded with the coup.

Dominion became Vae Victis's goal. He gathered the disparate elements within UC space and reorganized them into an efficient machine of war. Part of that was the nationalization of Constellation and combing it with aspects of the organization formerly known as LIST and Vanguard. The new organization, renamed as the Colonial Authority, was tasked with the exploration and foundation of colonies. This new, militaristic UC, dispensed with the gentle probing into expansion and fully embraced it. Pushback from the Freestar was inevitable. Tensions are presently high and the United Colonies are preparing for war.

From this tension, the Colonial Authority received a great deal of funding for their exploration ships. As much warship as explorer, the new Frontier-class Deep Space Exploration Vessel serves as the new flagship of the Colonial Authority fleet. Heavily armed and armored, the Frontier is capable of "liberating" distant worlds from troublesome elements. It also serves as a long range patrol vessel, checking on distant UC colonies.

 

Components

 

1. (4) Deimos Skeg A - (3) Aft, (1) Fore
   
2. (4) Deimos 320 CB Landing Gear
3. (2) S202 Cargo Hold
4. (2) Nova Cowling
5. Deimos 120 LD Landing Bay
   
6. Deimos Belly - Fore
7. (2) Amun-7 Engine
8. (2) Deimos 220 CB Landing Gear
9. (2) Horizon Weapon Mount with PBO-300 Auto Neutron Turret
10. Deimos Workshop 2x1
11. (4) Deimos Bumper - (2) Aft, (2) Fore
    
12. (2) Stroud Engine Bracer
13. (2) Deimos Wing B
14. (2) Nova Galactic NG-15 Landing Gear
15. (3) Deimos Spine F - Fore
16. (5) Deimos Spine F- Aft
17. Deimos Infirmary 2x1
18. Deimos Engineering Bay 3x1
19. Deimos Computer Core 2x1
20. Deimos All-in-One Berth 2x1
21. (2) Deimos Spine C - Aft
22. (2) Deimos Spine D - Aft
23. Deimos Living Quarters 2x1
    
24. Deimos Companionway 1x1
25. (2) Amun Dunn X-300 Engine
26. Theta Pinch D9 Reactor
27. (2) Deimos Wing B with mounted Jishaku ND Rf Rapid Railgun Turret - Port/Stbd
    
28. (2) Deimos Wing A
29. (2) M50 Ulysses He3 Fuel Tank
30. Deimos Armory 2x1
31. Deimos Captain's Quarters 2x1
32. Assurance SG-1800 Shield Generator
33. Deimos Control Station 2x1
34. HopeTech Hope 11 Docker - Fore
35. J-52 Gamma Grav Drive
36. (4) Taiyo Side Cap covering the outer edges of the Reactor and Grav Drive
37. Deimos Tail A with mounted (2) PBO-300 Auto Neutron Turrets - Aft
    
38. Deimos Spine E - Aft
39. Deimos Spine E- Fore with Equipment Plate and Jishaku ND Rapid Rf Railgun Turret - Aft
40. Deimos Cowling - Aft
41. (2) Horizon Weapon Mount mounted with (2) Vanguard Obliterator Autoprojectors (4 total)
    
42. Deimos Phobos Cockpit (DS 10.1 used in build, but any of the Phobos cockpits are viable)
43. Deimos Spine C - Fore
44. Deimos Spine A - Fore
45. Deimos Spine C - Aft, with (2) Vanguard Obliterator Autoprojectos on the side mounts and a Jishaku ND Rf Rapid Railgun Turret - Fore on the top mount.
    

 

Assembly

The bottom three levels of the vessel should snap together pretty intuitively. Before placing the fourth deck, with the Amun Dunn X-300 Engines, remove the Deimos Spines C & D (#21 & 22). Group select the aft portion of the fourth deck and it should snap into place without issue. Flip Merge the Deimos Spine Pieces under the X--300 Engines.

Mount the shield to the second Deimos Spine F behind the Companionway 1x1. Group select the remaining pieces of the fourth deck and place them.

Everything else should just snap into place.

 

Upgrade Path

Without drastically changing the shape, there are only a few upgrades that are likely. The Dunn-7 engines can be replaced by the more cargo friendly White Dwarf 3xxx engines. The 3030's would probably have the best cargo pushing ability.

That might warrant a Reactor upgrade to the SF40 Sheared Flow, to offset the power cost of the new engines.

The Vanguard weapons are quite effective, but you could place larger PB-175 Helion beams or even PB-300/PBO-300 class C particle weapons in their place. That's more a matter of taste, because those Vanguard particles provide more than adequate damage output.

Final Build

Starfield Ship Build: Trade Authority Caiman

 

Trade Authority Caiman

 

Introduction

WARNING: This ship uses extensive merging techniques to combine the Reactor, Fuel and Grav Drive together. The Engines are also merged together. Rather than try to explain each step, please visit Crimson Flyboy's tutorial video on merging. I used Flip and Drop Merging technique on this build.

The Trade Authority Caiman just started out as an experiment to see just how far I was willing to take the whole merging thing. I really didn't have a story for it. I made it, flew it around a bit, and went back to the Dependable, which is featured both as another entry on my blog and a Crimson Flyboy video.

For literal months it just sat there in the character's roster of ships until I was scrolling through them one day and noticed that the Caiman and the Greenback had similar color schemes. As often happens, I started thinking about how they would work together and the connections became pretty obvious. The Caiman is very much an escort/fighter and the Greenback is very much a cargo hauler. Why wouldn't the Trade Authority pair up a couple of Caimans to safeguard a Greenback, particularly if said Greenback is shipping something of great value.

 

Head Canon/Lore

In an effort to expand their fleet and provide additional protection to valuable cargo vessels, the Trade Authority decided it needed a heavy fighter. After a lengthy process of elimination and refinement, the Caiman came in as the winner.

 

Components

 

1. (4) Hope 6 Landing Gear (Port/Stbd, Aft/Fore)
2. (2) NG-20 Landing Gear - Mid
3. (2) Nova Cowling 2L-BF
4. 100 DP Slim Docker - Bottom
5. Nova Galactic Storeroom 1x1
6. Taiyo Ship Bed 200 Landing Bay
7. (2) Jishaku Nd RF Rapid Railgun Turret
8. (3) Reza 300 PHz SX Laser
9. (2) Deimos Wing A
   
10. (4) Deimos Wing E
11. (2) Stroud Cowling
12. (2) Supernova 2100 Engine (Merged)
13. J-51 Gamma Grav Drive, SF-30 Sheared Flow Reactor, 600T He3 Tank (Merged)
14. Nova Galactic All-in-One Berth A 2x1
15. Magellan C2 Cockpit
16. (2) Stroud Cap A
17. (2) Deimos Tail A
18. (2) Deimos Spine A
19. Assurance SG-1800 Shield Generator
20. Equipment Plate
21. (2) Tsukisasu 40k Missile Launcher
22. (3) Nova Cowling (Aft, Fore, Mid)
    

 

 Assembly

Being such a heavily merged build makes this a little challenging. The engines will need to be merged into one entity and the Reactor, Grav Drive, and Fuel will need to be merged into another distinct construct. A merge tutorial video by Crimson Flyboy is linked in the Introduction above, if you need help. The assembly instruction below assume that the two merged constructs are built and the larger Structural and Hab pieces are attached to them as pictured.

We will start with the Weapons and Structural pieces to the right and work left.

1. Attach the Missile Launchers (#21) to the inner connect points of the Deimos Tails (#17).
2. Detach the Aft Deimos Wing E (#10) pieces.
3. Select the Deimos Tail (#17) and Deimos Spine A (#18) pieces and attach the Tails to the aft points of the Stroud Cowling (#11).
4. Flip merge the two Aft Deimos Wing E (#10) pieces into their previous locations.
5. Attach the two Aft Lasers (#8) and Railgun Turrets (#7) to the Deimos Wing A (#9) pieces.
6. Attach the Shield Generator (#19) to the Aft point on the All-in-One Hab (#14).
7. Attach the Equipment Plate (#20) to the Fore point of the All-in-One Hab. Attach the Fore Laser to the Equipment Plate.
8. Flip merge all three Nova Cowlings (#22) to the top of the Main Deck, starting with the Aft one. The aft one attaches to the top of #13. The Mid piece connects to the Aft and the Fore piece connects to the Mid.
   
9. Connect the 100 DP Slim Docker to the bottom of the Storeroom 1x1.
10. Group select the assembled Main Deck and drag it over to the Lower Deck and connect it so that the 2x1 Hab sits on top of both the Landing Bay and 1x1 Hab.
11. Attach the Fore Hope 6 Landing Gear to the forward points of the Landing Bay
12. Flip merge the Aft Hope 6 Landing Gear behind the Fore ones.
    
13. (Optional) - You could copy two additional Deimos Wing A and flip merge them into the Stroud Caps. It is not necessary and only fills into a little bit of the open space.The effect is very subtle. The pictured one has this merge done.
    

 

Upgrade Path

The biggest weakness that this vessel has is the lack of cargo. One or both of the Stroud Cowlings can be replaced with roughly equivalent cargo pods. This will necessitate the more powerful versions of the Supernova engines and may even require that a third one be merged in.

Aside from that, it's the same old song about better Reactor and particle weapons, though you really don't need the latter.

Final Build

Starfield Ship Build: Trade Authority Greenback

 

Trade Authority Greenback

Introduction

The Trade Authority Greenback is the product of a Starfield Anonymous Discord Build-Off challenge. Crimson Flyboy challenged the community to build a Trade Authority vessel and the Greenback was my submission.

 

Head Canon/Lore

The Trade Authority has always experimented with ships customized to suit their particular needs. A recent addition was a contract for a dozen ships that could move a large amount of cargo, to include delicate parcels. A sub-contract with Gal-bank necessitated the ability to encrypt data, so a Computer Room was included in the plans. Finally, the Trade Authority sometimes deals in materials of questionable legality. Counter-scanning measures with incorporated into the design schematics.

This new class of vessel is known as the Greenback, after the period slang for the currency of the defunct United States of America, back on Earth. Each vessel was painted in the Trade Authority Green, Yellow, and Gray palette, reinforcing the Greenback nomenclature.

 

Components

 

1. (2) Hope 5 Landing Gear
2. HopeTech Livng Quarters 2x1
3. HopeTech Nose A Stbd/Port
4. Deimos Belly - Aft
5. HopeTech Engineering Bay 3x1
6. (2) HopeTech Companionway 1x1
7. HopeTech All-in-One 2x1
8. Hope 4 Landing Bay
9. (2) de Gama 1010 Shielded Cargo Hold
10. Deimos Skeg B
11. (6) Galleon S202 Cargo Hold
12. HopeTech Captains Quarters 2x1
13. (4) SAE 5660 Engines
14. RD 3000 Beta Grav Drive
15. HopeTech Cargo Bay 3x3
16. 800T He3 Tank
17. (3) Hope 55 Landing Gear
18. HopeTech Hab Spine
19. (2) HopeTech Thruster
20. HopeTech Mess Hall 3x2
21. HopeTech Infirmary 2x1
22. Hope 11 Docker - Fore
23. (2) HopeTech Pipes - Mid
24. HopeTech Radiator - Top
25. HopeTech Pipes - Fore
26. (2) HopeTech Hab Cross Brace
27. (2) Horizon Weapon Mount
28. (3) KE-42 Cannon Turret
29. (3) Scorch-S 80MW Pulse Laser Turret
30. Z-Machine 4000 Reactor
31. HopeTech Computer Core 2x1
32. HopeTech Workshop 2x1
33. HopeTech Control Station 2x1
34. Armstrong 10 Cockpit
35. (4) Equipment Plate
36. CE-39 Missile Launcher
37. Multi-Frequency Scan Jammer
38. Deimos Spine A - Aft
39. Deimos Spine B
40. 28T Defender Shield
    

 

Assembly

There are a fair number of smaller parts, so we are going to assemble this beast from Right to Left, starting with the weapons and structural off to the right of the main structures.

1. Starting with the Equipment Plates (#35), snap those to the top of the Engines (#13) on the Top Deck and the top of the HopeTech  Hab Cross Brace (#26). Snap the Aft facing Laser and Ballistic turrets to the engines and the Missile Launchers to the Hab Cross Braces.
2. Attach the Scan Jammer (#37) to the weapon point on the Deimos Spine A - Aft (#38).
3. Attach the Deimos Spine B (#39) and Deimos Spine A - Aft (#38) to the top of the Companionway (#6) and Forward snap point of the Control Station (#33).
4. Attach the Horizon Weapon Mounts (#27) to the ends of the Hab Cross Braces (#26). Attach the Laser and Ballistic Turrets to the Horizon Weapon Mounts. Some Flip Merging might be required to seat them.
5. Detach the Hopetech Pipes - Fore (#25).
6. Group Select the entire Top Deck, minus the HopeTech Pipes - Fore, and drag it over to the Main Deck, so that the Cockpit sits right behind the Docker. Flip Merge the HopeTech Pipes - Fore into position at the forward point of the HopeTech Pipes - Mid.
7. Group Select the combined Top and Main Deck structure and drag it over to the Bottom Deck, so that the Landing Bay sits right behind the Docker.
8. Double check that the Deimos Skeg B is properly connected to the Cargo Hold Above it.
   

 

Adding the Mtfreeman Crane

I separated the crane that Mtfreeman came up with, as it is not my original work. If you wish to add it yourself, you can assemble it as follows;

Components

1. HopeTech Riser A
2. HopeTech Riser B
   
3. Stroud Engine Mount
4. HopeTech Companionway 1x1 (or, alternatively a Deimos Hull Part)
   
5. (4) Porthole (Top, Fore, Port, Starbord) 
6. HopeTech Pipes - Mid
7. HopeTech Pipes - Aft

 

 Assembly 

1. Place the HopeTech Riser A, just behind the Deimos Spine A - Aft
2. Attach the Stroud Engine Mount to the top of the HopeTech Riser A
3. Attach the 1x1 Hab or Structural Piece to the front of the Stroud Engine Mount
4. Attach all of the Portholes to the 1x1 Hab.
5. Attach the HopeTech Pipes - Mid to the rear of the Stroud Engine Mount
6. Attach the HopeTech Pipes - Aft to the rear snap point of the HopeTech Pipes - Mid
7. Attach the HopeTech Riser B to the bottom of the HopeTech Pipes - Aft.

All credit to Mtfreeman on the Starfield Anonymous Discord. The crane is pictured in the Final Build section. You can get an idea of what it looks like there.

 

Upgrade Path

I left a little bit on the table that you can upgrade. The shield is the max protection B-class shield, but the Reactor and Weapons can both be upgraded. It should have plenty of Fuel and Cargo.

Final Build

Starfield Ship Build: Copinger

 

Copinger

 

Introduction

We recently lost one of our members of the Starfield Anonymous Discord. Before his passing, he posted a Build-Off challenge to make ships based on the Expanse TV series. This prompted me to watch the Expanse and I can totally see why he wanted to build around this incredible series.

This build uses Ballistics and Missiles only. The missiles are ideal for stripping shields and the ballistics are used to finish off the enemy.

This wasn't built with fully developed in-game lore. I designed it to be a smuggler ship but haven't really developed any sort of cast of characters. I didn't know what to name it, so I looked up famous smugglers and came across a British character known as Cruel Copinger. Thus the ship got its name.

 

Components

 

1. (2x) 500 He3 Tank
2. (4x) Hope 6 Landing Gear, 2 Fore/2 Mid
3. (2x) Accu-Lander 11 Landing Gear
4. Stroud-Eklund All-in-One Berth A 2x1
5. NG-6 Landing Bay
6. (3) Supernova 2100 Engines
7. Theta Pinch D9 Reactor
8. (4x) Jishaku Nd RF Rapid Railgun Turret
9. (4x) Horizon Weapon Mount (note two forward mounts not labeled)
10. (2x) Stroud Engine Bracer A
11. (4x) de Gama 1020 Shielded Cargo Hold
12. (2x) de Gama 1020 Cargo Hold
13. Aurora 13G Grav Drive
14. Assurance 1800 Shield Generator
15. Stroud Workshop 2x1
16. Stroud Control Station 2x1
17. Nova Weapon Mount
18. (4x) Jishaku Nd Railgun 
19. CE-59 Missile Launcher
20. 10ST Hauler Shielded Cargo Hold
21. Stroud Storeroom 1x1
22. Stroud Companionway 1x1
23. Magellan C1 Cockpit
24. Porthole-Top
25. 100 DP Slim Docker - Top
26. (4x) Nova Thruster Array
    

There is also a Multi-Frequency Scan Jammer attached to one of the Horizon Weapon mounts. It is not labeled. You can pick one up from the Red Mile and it mounts to any weapon point.

Assembly

Assembly should be relatively easy. There is one flip merge to cover the Shield with the aft Cargo hold. Starting from Right to Left, simply place the Porthole, Docker and Missile Launcher directly on top of the component to the left. Place the Shield on top of the Grav Drive.

Select the Top Deck, minus the Cargo Hold, and drag it over to the Main Deck. Flip Merge the Cargo Hold over the Shield.

Group select the new combined layer and drag it over to the Lower Deck.

 

Final Build