Gunstars are big ships, not as big as a Battlestar or a Fleet Carrier, but bigger then almost any other warship in the Colonial Fleets. Despite the size of the ship it carries very few Vipers, only thirty, and has a rather small crew for its size. The bulk of a Gunstar is primarily its power plants and its Heavy Laser arrays. A Gunstar mounts more heavy lasers then any other ship in the Colonial military. Eight double batteries that are able to track and fire independent of each other (a total of 16 Hvy Laser canon) allow the Gunstar to see off most threats that attempt to approach it from aft or abeam. But the main weapon of the Gunstar, that for which the class is named, is a central array of twelve linked and amplified Heavy Lasers that fire as one weapon. This Primary Array is fixed and requires the ship to be turned to target an enemy, there is only a few degrees of variance in the weapons aiming. The Array is a fearsome weapon and has proven capable of tearing holes in Cylon Baseships. Unfortunately its very power makes it a priority target for Cylon Raiders which will seek to damage or destroy the Beam Emitters of the Array. To help protect the array from such attacks the Gunstar was designed with twin hulls extending forward from the primary superstructure which houses the power plants, engines, laser core and control centers. The twin hulls provide shielding to the emitters and the interior faces, which are equipped with light laser turrets, create a formidable barrier to attacking fighters. The space between the hulls, down which the Laser Array fires, is known as ‘The Corridor‘ to the crews of the Gunstars. The twin hulls also house the bulk of the crew and have internalized landing bays for the small Viper detachment (thirty Vipers, fifteen per bay) that provide fighter protection for the Gunstar. Damage to the twin hulls can be absorbed without impacting the Gunstar’s combat effectiveness.
Battle tactics for a Gunstar involves charging straight at the largest enemy ship and pounding it until it is destroyed. The independent heavy laser batteries and the medium laser batteries can fire at other ships as needed and the four forward mounted ones can be linked to fire in sync with the Primary Array, adding an additional eight heavy lasers to the firepower the Gunstar can bring to bear on one target. In addition to its lasers the Gunstar carries a variety of torpedos and missiles.
Like Battlestars and the Fleet Carriers, there were never enough Gunstars to fill the demands of the Colonial Military. The primary limiting factors in the construction of Gunstars are the large, expensive power plants and the amplified laser cores. The manufacture of these cores was a slow and painstaking process that proved a source of frustration to the Colonial strategists and planners.
Gunstar Top View
Gunstar Side View
Surviving Gunstars : ?
Commander: Commander
Executive Officer: Colonel
Crew- 900
Max. Speed- 10x Light Speed
Armament-
(4) Heavy Torpedo Launchers
(6) Medium Torpedo Launchers
(12) Small Torpedo Launchers
(24) Light Laser Batteries <12 port,12 starboard>
(6) Light Laser Batteries mounted to fire down the length of the Corridor and destroy fighters attacking the Array.
(6) Medium Laser Batteries (12 total)
(8 ) Independent Heavy Laser Batteries (16 total)
Primary Laser Array: 12 Heavy Laser Cannon designed for simultaneous discharge
Defenses-
Ablative Armor
Star Shield (Heavy Armor Plate)
Electronic Defense Shields
Compartmentalization
Stealth Suites
Auxiliary Craft-
(30) Medium Fighters
(2) Recovery Shuttles
(4) Shuttles Type 1