The Sonora Project

This is the second in a series of posts I’m planning to expand the options for the beta version of Sword of Terra and reveal more of the game’s setting.

Following the Sonoran Declaration, the leaders of the newly formed Confederation of Free Colonies knew that they desperately needed to strengthen their naval forces.  While several former UTSN battle groups had joined the Confederation, they were outnumbered and generally considered inferior compared to the new ships fielded by the UTS.  The Confederation’s admiralty believed that the key to naval power was a line of battle ships capable of competing head-to-head against any ship in the UTSN fleet.  In order to develop such a warship, they began a series of new engineering projects collectively known as the Sonora Project.

Bombard Cannons

Bombard cannons were developed by the Confederation as an attempt to improve the damage potential of naval cannons. While the shells fired by bombard cannons are more effective at breaching armor, they suffer from a shorter effective range and are generally inaccurate.

• Light Bombard Cannon:  Ballistic, Range 6/12/18, Accuracy –1, Power 12
• Medium Bombard Cannon:  Ballistic, Range 6/12/18, Accuracy –1, Power 14
• Heavy Bombard Cannon:  Ballistic, Range 6/12/18, Accuracy –1, Power 15

Titan Cannons

One of the Sonora Projects resulted in the Titan Cannon, the largest ballistic weapon ever developed. The most notable feature of the Titan Cannon is that it is capable of firing either armor-piercing or high-explosive rounds.

• Titan Cannon (Armor-Piercing):  Ballistic, Range 8/16/24, Accuracy +0, Power 16, Multiple Fire Modes
• Titan Cannon (High-Explosive):  Ballistic, Range 8/16/24, Accuracy +0, Power 14, Damage 2, Multiple Fire Modes

Heavy Armor

Taking advantage of its heavy industrial base, the Confederation developed a form of armor plating that was more resistant to ballistic and explosive weaponry. The armor provides a +1 bonus to a ship’s Armor Rating against any weapons that deal either ballistic or explosive damage. Heavy armor cannot be destroyed as a result of a damage effect roll.

Sonora Battleship

First deployed roughly half-way through the Great Colonial War, the Sonora battleship was intended to be the Confederation’s ultimate warship. The ship was built to be more durable than any other warship and mounts enough fire power to destroy almost target. The titan cannon jutting from the ship’s prow is capable of devastating most targets while the ship closes, then each side bristles with three bombard cannons that can blast through ships at close range. A forward-firing laser cannon was added to provide longer range fire power, but the Sonora does suffer from a lack of missile weapons for fighting at even longer ranges.

Sonora Battleship

Target Number: 5

Armor Rating: 18/18/16

Hull Points: 12, Threshold: 5

Thrust: 2, Turn Cost: 1, Turn Distance: 2

Shuttle Bays: 3 (1 Starboard, 1 Port, 1 Aft)

Weaponry:

• 1 Titan Cannon (F)
• 1 Medium Laser Cannon (F)
• 3 Medium Bombard Cannons (S)
• 3 Medium Bombard Cannons (P)
• 3 Heavy Autocannons (FX)
• 3 Heavy Autocannons (AX)

Other Systems:

• Heavy Armor