Ship Roles

The Gudersnipe Foundation employed a rigid series of starship type classifications to define various vessels. These same classes are used to describe both GS and non-G.S. equipment. These are type-classes and do not refer to specific ship designs.

In ship registry information, design-class comes before type-class. For example, G.S.S. Saratoga is a Glorious Heritage-class Light Destroyer. The design-class is Glorious Heritage, the type-class is Light Destroyer.

Warships

Though it could be reasonably argued that all GS ships are warships, there are some that are actually meant for combat at some that are not. To be considered a "warship", a vessel must have been designed primarily for making other things dead.

• Corvette: Smallest of the small, the GS Corvette is only a few steps above a fighter. They are lightly armed and highly manuverable, designed primarily for reconasance as opposed to direct combat. The Gudersnipe Foundation has employed primarily one basic design for the corvette since the Mage Wars, and though it has been through many revisions and updates, the basic style and function of the GS Corvette has remained unchanged. Corvettes carry a crew of 4(GS) or 6(CB).

• Cutter: Smallest of the long-endurance(read: actual starship) ships, the cutter is a light, high-speed, high-manuverability vessel used cheifly for reconsance. Cutters will often run point for a battle group, carrying an array of comunication and scanning systems

Transports

Though many types of ships are used to move things, to fall into the "transport" catagory, a ship must meet two key criteria: it must be small enough to fit inside a large ship, incapable of FTL, and and used primarily for moving stuff.

• Hopper: Small ship-to-ship shuttles designed for moving people around, usually within a fleet or battle group. There is no standard design and most carry 4-6 people including a pilot and co-pilot, or 2-4 passengers. Hoppers are typically employed durring fleet operations while underway, when establishing a space link would be inconvient. Hoppers are not typically considdered "commissioned" ships of the line, however they are technically so.

• Shuttle: Basically one step above a hopper, the key difference in the shuttle is the addition of a heat shield and atmospheric thrusters, allowing a shuttle to move bettween a ship and a planet surface, not just a ship and another ship. Shuttles also tend to be somewhat roomier, accomodating up to 8 passengers and a pilot/co-pilot.

• Drop Ship: Though drop ships can range in size from smaller than a shuttle to large enough to accomodate 40 passengers, the key distinction lies in armor and weapons. Drop ships are designed to carry troops to and from the surface in combat conditions. This can mean flying through enemy blockades and evading enemy fighters. Drop ships are typically equiped with heavy defensive weapons, thick armor, and active shield generators on the larger versions. Drop ships are sometimes used to ferry troops and personnel between ships, this is seldom neccessary as any transfer which cannot be accomplished by shuttle or hopper will usually neccessitate the use of a space link.

• Drop Pod: Similar in function to a drop ship, only without the "from" part. Drop pods are meant for one-way trips, carrying men and equipment from a ship to a planet surface. Typically, a drop pod will be employed to carry vehicles and equipment, and the pod itself scrapped for building material. Drop pods are not part of the official registry and intended to be disposable, though they are occasionally retrieved after combat to be refurbished. Only in a large-scale, first-wave invasion do drop pods usually carry people, otherwise its strictly dispensible things.