Avenger Heavy Carrier

The Avenger Heavy Carrier's history will always be tied to the fighters it carried. Designed in conjunction with, and
expressly to carry, the first of the Starfury fighter line, the original Avengers were also meant to follow their fighters into
combat. For that roll, the Avenger relied on a combination of light lasers and medium/light plasma cannons, backed by
the new interceptors and the state of the art energy web. War games with the new carrier and a few actual battles would
quickly show the folly of risking large, jump capable carriers in direct combat. This realization resulted in the Beta
version which de-emphasized direct combat by reducing the anti-ship firepower in favor of increased numbers of lighter
defensive weapons and more interceptors. However, the primary plasma weapon suite was retained to allow the Avenger
to close and finish off targets worn down by fighter strikes. It would be the Beta version that would successfully shoulder
the burden of fighter support during the Dilgar war.

It was also the Dilgar war that finally pressed home the foolishness of using a dedicated carrier in any form of attack roll.
As a result the Avenger carrier was upgraded with the new light pulse cannon and enhanced thruster performance which
would allow the venerable carrier design to keep up with the newest ships of the line and, more importantly, avoid the
enemy while slipping in to recover its fighters which were, by far, its most important attack element. However, the
resulting Gamma model, in a cost cutting move, retained its medium plasma cannons instead of having them upgraded to
medium pulse cannons. In fact, EarthGov would continually be defer all future planned improvements and upgrades until
it was to late.

To late was the beginning of the Earth Minbari War, during which, the Avenger carriers conducted numerous hit and run
raids on Minbari forces that usually resulted in little more than the sacrifice of the fighter wings and often times
the carrier itself. By the wars sudden end there were but a handful of Avengers left. In years immediately following the
war, these vessels became the cores of ragtag squadrons whose primary roll was to present the illusion of continued
military strength. Operated continuously while the next generation of ships-of-the-line where assembled, the remaining
Avengers were quickly worn down with no Earthforce budget tagged for their refurbishment. Destined for the breakers, a
pair were saved when, in a surprise move, President Clark ordered two refurbished and slightly updated for a special
mission. The update replaced the medium plasma cannons with medium pulse cannon and updated the interceptors to
Mk-II standard. These two carriers would see action during the Earth Civil War, and in a surprise attack, scored the only
real victory Clarks forces would see against the forces of John Sheridan. Following the end of the Civil War, the two
carriers would see service for several more years as Earthforce once again rebuilt before finally being scrapped. Though
no more, the Avenger legacy lives on in the fighters it carried. What was once the Aries is now the Thunderbolt but all
are Starfury's and owe their lineage to the first carriers that took them to war.

Designer Notes
The Avenger is a bit of a conundrum, especially when one considers the weapon layout of the Beta and Gamma versions.
Why was the Std Particle Beam never used or the Lt Particle Beam for that matter? Instead there is this bizarre plasma
weapon suite which implies more of a direct combat role. In order to keep the flavor established by "official products",
my Alpha version was design as more of a "Strike" carrier and used a mixed bag of then current generation anti-ship
weapons (plasma and laser) to produce a vessel similar in concept to the Russian large carrier (A ship designed to field a
decent number of late generation fighters while retaining a significant anti-ship missile suite). I then theorized that while
this doctrine did change for the Beta version, the legacy of an anti-ship capable platform was slow to be removed. Thus
the beta version replaced the lasers with the new interceptor and some additional light plasma. The interceptors
improved anti-fighter capability and interception while the light plasma's allowed the Avenger to retain its close range
punch lost with the removal of the lasers.

When the Gamma finally arrived it was as a result of the Dilgar War and its massive numbers of fighters and fast attack
ships. Thus, once pulse technology arrived, the lt pulse weapons were all fully committed to anti-fighter and interception
with the whole sale replacement of the lt plasma cannons with lt pulse cannons. I was forced to theorize that the reason
the medium plasma were not similarly upgraded was as a cost saving measure.

Initially Agents of Gaming indicated that all of the Avengers were all destroyed during the Earth-Minbari War. However
they then included a pair in a Earth Civil War scenario. The Delta version I created is meant to be those carriers finally
outfitted with a complete pulse cannon suite like they ultimately should have been.
 Version 2: RLB/EW Name:______________ Counter:____________

EA Avenger Heavy Carrier (Alpha Model)

SPECS MANEUVERING COMBAT STATS WEAPON DATA
Class: Capital Ship Turn Cost: 5/4 Speed Fwd/Aft Defense: 14 (12) Med Plasma Cannon
In Service: 2168 Turn Delay: 1 x Speed Stb/Port Defense: 17 (15) Class: Plasma 3
Modes: Standard
Point Value: 420 Accel/Decel Cost: 3 Thrust Engine Efficiency: 4/1 Damage: 3d10+4 (-1 per 2 hexes)
Ramming Value: 260 Pivot Cost: 3+3 Thrust Extra Power: +0 Range Penalty: -1 per hex
Fire Control: +3/+1/-5
Jump Delay: 24 Turns Roll Cost: 2+2 Thrust Initiative Bonus: +0 Intercept Rating: n/a
Speed 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Rate of Fire: 1 per 3 turns
Turn Cost 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 10 12 13 14 15 Light Laser Cannon
Turn Delay 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Class: Laser
Modes: Raking 3
FORWARD HITS SENSOR DATA Damage: 2d10+7
1-4: Retro Thrust Range Penalty: -1 per hex
5-6: Lt Plasma Cannon Defensive EW Fire Control: +2/+1/-2
7: Med Plasma Cannon
Target #1 1 Intercept Rating: n/a
8-10: Interceptor Rate of Fire: 1 per 2 turns
11-18: Forward Structure Target #2 Light Plasma Cannon
19-20: PRIMARY Hit Target #3 2 2 Class: Plasma 2
SIDE HITS Target #4 Modes: Standard
1-4: Port/Stb Thrust Damage: 2d10+2 (-1 per 2 hexes)
5: Med Plasma Cannon Target #5 3 3 3 Range Penalty: -1 per hex
6-7: Lt Laser Cannon Target #6 Fire Control: +3/+1/-5
8-11: Port/Stb Hangar Intercept Rating: n/a
12-18: Port/Stb Structure Rate of Fire: 1 per 2 turns
19-20: PRIMARY Hit
Interceptor Prototype
AFT HITS Intercept Rating: -2
1-6: Main Thrust 10 11 Rate of Fire: 1 per turn 1
OFFENSIVE MODE:
7-10: Interceptor
11-18: Aft Structure 8 2 3 2 9 Class: Particle
Modes: Standard
19-20: PRIMARY Hit
Damage: 1d10+3
PRIMARY HITS 2 FORWARD 2 Fire Control: --/--/+4
1-10: Primary Structure Range Penalty: -2 per hex
11-12: Jump Engine
13-14: Sensors
15-16: Engine HANGAR
17: Primary Hangar 0 Fighters
18-19: Reactor 4 2 Shuttles Thrust: 3
20: C & C 2 3 Armor: 1 Defense: 8/10
6

3 5 3
1
OTHER HANGARS
6 Fighters
0 Shuttles
6 6 4 6 6
3 3 3 3
5
STARBOARD

4 3
PORT

3 3 3 3

4 4
3 3

6 6 4 6 6

ICON RECOGNITION
3 3 3 3
Thruster 4 6
C&C 2 2
Sensors
4
Engine

Jump Engine
2 PRIMARY 2
Reactor 5 AFT 7
Hangar
3 3
Med Plasma Cannon 12 13
Lt Plasma Cannon 3
Lt Laser Cannon
2 3 3 2
Interceptor Prototype DESIGN and SCS by Richard Bax (HRT), 2004
PERMISSION GRANTED TO PHOTOCOPY FOR PERSONAL USE

FORWARD HITS
1-4: Retro Thrust
5-6: Lt Pulse Cannon
7: Med Pulse Cannon
8-10: Interceptor
11-18: Forward Structure
19-20: PRIMARY Hit
SIDE HITS
1-3: Port/Stb Thrust
4: Med Pulse Cannon
5: Lt Pulse Cannon
6-7: Interceptor
8-11: Port/Stb Hangar
12-18: Port/Stb Structure
19-20: PRIMARY Hit
AFT HITS
1-6: Main Thrust
7-10: Interceptor
11-18: Aft Structure
19-20: PRIMARY Hit
PRIMARY HITS
1-10: Primary Structure
11-12: Jump Engine
13-14: Sensors
15-16: Engine
17: Primary Hangar
18-19: Reactor
20: C & C
6 7
2 2
ICON RECOGNITION
Thruster
C&C
Sensors
Engine
Jump Engine
Reactor
Hangar
Med Pulse Cannon
Lt Pulse Cannon
Interceptor
Version 2: RLB/EW Name:______________ Counter:____________
EA Avenger Heavy Carrier (Delta Model)
SPECS MANEUVERING COMBAT STATS WEAPON DATA
Class: Capital Ship Turn Cost: 5/4 Speed Fwd/Aft Defense: 14 (10) Med Pulse Cannon
In Service: 2261 Turn Delay: 1 x Speed Stb/Port Defense: 17 (13) Class: Particle 3
Point Value: 650 Accel/Decel Cost: 3 Thrust Engine Efficiency: 4/1 Modes: Standard
Damage: 10 1d5 times
Ramming Value: 260 Pivot Cost: 3+3 Thrust Extra Power: +0 Maximum Pulses: 6
Jump Delay: 24 Turns Roll Cost: 2+2 Thrust Initiative Bonus: +0 Grouping Range: +1 per 4
Range Penalty: -1 per hex
Speed 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Fire Control: +4/+3/+1
Turn Cost 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 10 12 13 14 15 Intercept Rating: -2
Turn Delay 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Rate of Fire: 1 per 2 turns
Lt Pulse Cannon
SENSOR DATA 1 SPECIAL NOTES Class: Particle 2
Defensive EW Unique Ship (Only 2 Exist) Modes: Standard
Damage: 8 1d5 times
Target #1 Maximum Pulses: 6
Target #2 Grouping Range: +1 per 4
Range Penalty: -2 per hex
Target #3 3 3 Fire Control: +3/+3/+4
Target #4 Intercept Rating: -2
Rate of Fire: 1 per turn
Target #5 4 3 4 Interceptor Mk-II
Target #6
Intercept Rating: -4
Rate of Fire: 1 per turn 2
OFFENSIVE MODE:
Class: Particle
Modes: Standard
10 11 Damage: 1d10+8
Fire Control: --/--/+8
4 2 4 2 5 Range Penalty: -2 per hex
2 FORWARD 2 HANGAR
0 Fighters
2 Shuttles Thrust: 3
Armor: 1 Defense: 8/10
5
2 3
8
3 3 OTHER HANGARS
5 6 Fighters
1 0 Shuttles
6 6 5 6 6
3 3 3 3
6
STARBOARD
5 3
PORT
4 4 4 4
5 4
3 3
6 6 5 6 6
3 3 3 3
12 14
2 2
2 2
5
8 2 PRIMARY 2 9
13 AFT 15
4 4
16 17
4
2 4 4 2
DESIGN and SCS by Richard Bax (HRT), 2004
PERMISSION GRANTED TO PHOTOCOPY FOR PERSONAL USE