Lancer Frigate
Name/Model# : | Lancer-class Frigate
Designer/Manufacturer : | Kuat Drive Yards
Combat Designation : | Anti-Starfighter Screening Vessel
Scale : | Capital
Length : | 250 Metres
Skill : | Capital ship piloting: Lancer
Crew Skill : | Astrogation 3D+2, capital ship piloting 3D+2, capital ship shields 4D and starship gunnery 4D
Crew : | 850 Crew 810 + Gunners 40
Skeleton Crew : | 375 (+10 DIFFICULTY)
Cost of Vessel : | Not available for sale
Nav Computer : | Yes
Sublight Speed : | 4 Space Units
Hyperdrive Rating : | Class 2
Hyperdrive Backup : | Class 15
Atmospheric Speed : | Cannot enter atmosphere
Manoeuvrability : | 1D
Cargo Capacity : | 300 Metric Tons
Consumables : | 1 Week
Weapons : |
20 Corellian AG-2G Quad Laser Cannons (5 Forward, 5 Left, 5 Right, 5 Aft) Crew: 1 Gunner per cannon for 5 cannons, 2 Gunners per cannon for other 10 cannons, 3 Gunners per cannon for 5 cannons Scale: Starfighter Fire Control: 4D Space Range: 1-3/12/25 Space Units Atmospheric Range: 100-300 metres/1.2 km/2.5 km Damage: 4D
Modified Lancer Frigate
10 Quad Laser Canons Scale: Capital Fire Control: 3D Damage 4D
Sensors : | Passive : 35 Space Units/1D Scan : 60 Space Units/1D Search : 100 Space Units/2D Focus : 3 Space Units/2D+1
Hull : | Titanium Hull Plates
Shields/Hull Rating : |
Shields 576 SBD. Hull 304 RU (WEG=Shields 2D+2. Hull 4D)
Modified Lancer Frigate
Shields 1D+2. Hull 4D
Starfighter Squadrons : | None
Troop Capacity : | 40 Troops Unknown number of unknown vehicles
Support Craft : | 2 Shuttles
Note : | Consumables - must be an overlooked error by WEG, since it is ridiculously too low for a capital ship. Only starfighters and shuttles have such load outs. XA (Tech Library) incorrectly states 227 metre length and 810 crew. EGVV and ISB disagree on cost - ISB states as much as cruiser, but EGVV states as much as heavy combat cruiser. XWS#1 incorrectly states the Lancer uses TIE Bomber laser cannons.
The Lancer-class Frigate was conceived after the Battle of Yavin debacle, at a time when Imperial Naval Command was in the midst of a gripping, but understandable fear of Rebel starfighter attacks, all due to the loss of the first Death Star by a mere 30 Rebel starfighters. Admiral Drez who led a group of senior admirals argued that a lack of starfighter screening vessels was responsible for the Death Star's loss. To quote Admiral Drez, "until an anti-starfighter screening vessel is brought into service, every capital ship in the fleet is in imminent danger." Designed expressly to eliminate Rebel starfighter attacks, the Lancer Frigate was born. In order to rush the Lancer's production, KDY adopted some of the B-12 Bacta Transport's (another KDY design) basic hull designs as the basis for the Lancer's hull. Imperial Naval Command authorized only a limited number of these four engine ships to serve as evaluation vessels. While the predicted level of Rebel starfighter attacks fortunately never materialized, this frigate is not meeting the expectations placed upon it and appears to becoming an overall disappointment. Admiral Drez and colleagues claim that the predicted level of attacks had not occurred due to the introduction of this frigate, however, others correctly point out that there is an insufficient number of Lancers in service to make such a bold claim. Even though gun for gun this is the best anti-starfighter platform currently in service, and it has proven its worth in the first few encounters against the Rebels, a number of problems however remain. While this design performs admirably against starfighters, the Lancer costs as much as a cruiser, yet it is impotent against capital ships due to its lack of capital-scale weapons and insufficient hull armour and shield protection against capital-scale weapons. Because of their impotence, they have proven vulnerable to Rebel capital ships, and in fact Lancers have become their target of choice. In addition, starfighters are often able to outrun these ships if the Lancer attempts to pursue, due to the frigate's abysmal speed. Furthermore, in the few fleet engagements that the Lancer participated in, its performance was found to be quite poor. One Lancer Frigate, the Pulsar replaced its 20 starfighter-scale quad laser cannons with 10 capital-scale quad laser cannons. The Pulsar retained its function as an anti-starfighter platform, however its effectiveness is unknown. As screening vessels, Imperial doctrine originally placed them on a fleet's outer perimeter, but due to their vulnerabilities they were reassigned to flank Star Destroyers and other large ships. The new arrangement protected the Lancers from enemy capital ships, while the Lancers warded off mass starfighter attacks against its protector. When the rare opportunity arose to attack Rebel starfighter bases, Lancers were best employed against these targets. Since the Empire fielded only a small number of these frigates, it was an impossibility to assign them to escort each and every convoy. Nonetheless, these frigates are more than a match for Rebel starfighters. Each of the AG-2Gs, which are specifically calibrated against high-speed and manoeuvrable starfighters comes fitted with a targeting device converted from those employed on the TIE Bomber. Each cannon is mounted on its own elevated tower (that can retract into the hull) to allow for a superior field of fire. And because of their targeting systems, the cannons afford multi-fire cover with splendid fire control. Unfortunately, the modified targeting systems still have a few bugs that need to be resolved. Because of these bugs, less than half of the weapons are working flawlessly on any given day. A single power generator feeds each bank of cannons, while backup gunners balance power demands to ensure the laser cannons are operating at full capacity. To say the least, the Lancer's laser cannons make it the equivalent of 80 TIE( Fighter?)s. Located above the bridge level is the computer and sensor control level. On the dorsal forward section of the ship is a docking port. Flanking the upper forward section are two tear drop shaped structures, these are the deflector shield projectors. Targeting computer arrays (shaped as dishes) are found on the dorsal and ventral sections of the Lancer. The bulbous structures ringing the engines are power storage capacitor bays, and located in front of those is the power core overload chamber. Should the control links between the bridge and engines be cut in combat, automatic safeguards kick in to shut down the frigate's engines. Its tiny internal hanger can only fit two shuttles. *After Endor* Lancer Frigates became the screening vessel of choice against starfighters. The brilliant Grand Admiral Thrawn exploited these frigates as key components of Imperial raiding operations. He employed them to smash New Republic fighter squadrons, while at the same time weakening the target's defences so that heavy Imperial cruisers could engage the enemy fleet, and disable and capture lightly crewed New Republic ships with their ion cannons.
Pictures For This Data Entry - Click Here |
Sources: DFRSB***Pg 139, 140 / EGVV***Pg 102, 103 / GMSR***Pg 39 / ISB***Pg 55 / LOTEBS (Sector Guide)***Pg 42 / R (Galactic Encyclopedia+Ship Database+Lancer Frigate) / TTSB***Pg 220 / XA (Tech Library) / XWS#1***Pg 228, 232-234
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