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Description
For NationStates; Modeled in DoGa with custom parts created in MetaSequoia and a background grabbed from one of those hazardous 'free background!' sites...

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Designed to offer a heavier armored landing capability than provided by the smaller Opposition-Class Destroyer, the Aphelion is now squarely centered around that role with only modest ancillary capabilities. The nose of the craft contains a single large bay that can house either four super-heavy Typhoon GravTanks or eight Super Aggressor Heavy Assault Fighters or sixteen Tsunami Marine Fighting Vehicles. Just aft of this, and protected inside their own armored citadel band, are two drop bays for individual Marines - power armor is assumed - of any variety and in numbers up to one hundred and twenty per bay. These open and armored bays also make it an attractive option when either hazardous conditions or potential hostility make the use of either civilian freighters - No, ZMI freighters do not by any stretch of the imagination count as 'civilian' - or the lightly armored but far larger Zenith-Class Transport unreasonable.

As suggested by the imagery, the Aphelion is fully FTL-capable though slower than most of the flock. Batteries mounted to either side of the middle bay give it some ability to suppress and destroy enemy ground defenses but for protection in space it must rely on ships such as the mentioned Opposition-Class and thus typically operated in convoys. While Republic strategic philosophy generally eschews ground combat, this plays well with a smash-and-grab tactic where a small body of Marines will insert after a specific goal - typically the recovery of important personages, information, or similar. Otherwise planets with heavy ground defenses are isolated, their orbital defenses destroyed, and any orbit-capable craft disabled or blockaded; Break out the picks and shovels, it's time to farm.

Description
For NationStates; Modeled in DoGa with custom parts created in MetaSequoia and a background grabbed from one of those hazardous 'free background!' sites...

----

Designed to offer a heavier armored landing capability than provided by the smaller Opposition-Class Destroyer, the Aphelion is now squarely centered around that role with only modest ancillary capabilities. The nose of the craft contains a single large bay that can house either four super-heavy Typhoon GravTanks or eight Super Aggressor Heavy Assault Fighters or sixteen Tsunami Marine Fighting Vehicles. Just aft of this, and protected inside their own armored citadel band, are two drop bays for individual Marines - power armor is assumed - of any variety and in numbers up to one hundred and twenty per bay. These open and armored bays also make it an attractive option when either hazardous conditions or potential hostility make the use of either civilian freighters - No, ZMI freighters do not by any stretch of the imagination count as 'civilian' - or the lightly armored but far larger Zenith-Class Transport unreasonable.

As suggested by the imagery, the Aphelion is fully FTL-capable though slower than most of the flock. Batteries mounted to either side of the middle bay give it some ability to suppress and destroy enemy ground defenses but for protection in space it must rely on ships such as the mentioned Opposition-Class and thus typically operated in convoys. While Republic strategic philosophy generally eschews ground combat, this plays well with a smash-and-grab tactic where a small body of Marines will insert after a specific goal - typically the recovery of important personages, information, or similar. Otherwise planets with heavy ground defenses are isolated, their orbital defenses destroyed, and any orbit-capable craft disabled or blockaded; Break out the picks and shovels, it's time to farm.