Hello and welcome all to yet another edition of Ship and Pilot.
As most of you know, Anvil Aerospace was allowed to offer their dedicated military grade explorer ship - the Carrack - to the general public. After five years of hearings, lawsuits, redesigns, and re-imaginings, this has finally come to fruition. The very first Chassis were delivered this weekend, and Ship and Pilot was there to claim their long term test vehicle.
As with any ship that has undergone as many changes as this one has, this one has both it's share of bugs and disappointments.
For instance, when using the EVA suit storage units for the first time, the buttons fall off. Thankfully, the standard remote access works fine...from the outside. Unfortunately, if you went in there for some reason and then shut the glass, you will find there is no handle on the inside to let you out. In addition, the glass prevents your standard remote from getting a signal to the processing unit. In other words, you are stuck in there until someone lets you out. There are a few other bugs too, including getting out of bed. Sometimes you can, but a lot of times, you can't, or you just get out of bed the wrong way, and slip down behind the bunk, and ultimately, out of the ship. Not a very nice way for the captain to wake up. Finally, there is the problem with thruster management system and it's interaction with the weight on pads sensors. Once down on all 3 of its landing gear, the Carrack thrusters will suddenly activate, pitching the ship into all sorts of...unique...positions. Fortunately, Anvil has promised us some software updates, and will be sending out people to secure those loose panels. However, it should be mentioned that there is one big disappointment among some of those that purchased the Carrack in anticipation of using it as a massive trader. Initially promised as being able to hold 1000 cargo, this number has been heavily revised downward. In fact, it will only hold 456 SCU of cargo. While this is still a very respectable number, traders will probably want to look at competitors in the cargo market like the Crusader C2, and the Drake Caterpillar for a medium capactiy atmosphere capable cargo ship.
That said, the bugs are relatively minor, and should be expected on such a massive ship that was just released to the public. On to our first flight.
The Carrack does not feel like a 125m long ship. It is fast and relatively agile. The massive engines will scoot you along at a very respectable 1235 m/s. That's about as fast as many fighters. However, it should be noted that this is a big ship, and those big engines are only on the back, so this ship does not change vectors easily or slow down fast unless you flip it and use those big main engines to bring your speed down. Those maneuvering thrusters do bring a certain lightness to the ship though, bringing the nose around to where you want to to point fairly easily. One is tempted to say that it may handle yaw, pitch, and roll better than a connie does...a ship half it's length and considerably lighter. However, this is one of the benefits of owning a military grade ship and one of the reasons it costs so much more.
The med bay is well equipped and you can set this as your ICU by interacting with the instrument panel on the wall just to the left of the MRI opening.
Combat wise, this ship can dish out the damage and also take it. It mounts 4 turrets, each with 2 Size 4 weapons. Now, the stock weapons are decent, but Attritions are also nice, especially with a 5 km range. The turret convergence is also nice, with the guns being able to converge on a point in the front of the ship, and most can converge in the back too. This means that overall firepower is sufficient for self defense. For ships that are tough enough to shrug off the damage the Carrack throws out, it's two large shields have enough capacity to absorb the damage it needs to until the quantum drive can spool up and get you out of there.
This unfortunately leads us to one of the biggest drawbacks of the stock Carrack...the enormous fuel consumption the stock Q-drive has. This ship just gobbles fuel. However, this gives the ship one of the fastest speeds in the verse today between planets.
Overall, this is a solid multi-crew ship, with good damage output, the ability to absorb damage, and fun for you and 5 others for combat situations (pilot, gunners, and pisces cargo) But, if you try and run this as a solo ship, it will most likely end in tears.
Fun with friends? 5/5
Solo 1/5
As most of you know, Anvil Aerospace was allowed to offer their dedicated military grade explorer ship - the Carrack - to the general public. After five years of hearings, lawsuits, redesigns, and re-imaginings, this has finally come to fruition. The very first Chassis were delivered this weekend, and Ship and Pilot was there to claim their long term test vehicle.
As with any ship that has undergone as many changes as this one has, this one has both it's share of bugs and disappointments.
For instance, when using the EVA suit storage units for the first time, the buttons fall off. Thankfully, the standard remote access works fine...from the outside. Unfortunately, if you went in there for some reason and then shut the glass, you will find there is no handle on the inside to let you out. In addition, the glass prevents your standard remote from getting a signal to the processing unit. In other words, you are stuck in there until someone lets you out. There are a few other bugs too, including getting out of bed. Sometimes you can, but a lot of times, you can't, or you just get out of bed the wrong way, and slip down behind the bunk, and ultimately, out of the ship. Not a very nice way for the captain to wake up. Finally, there is the problem with thruster management system and it's interaction with the weight on pads sensors. Once down on all 3 of its landing gear, the Carrack thrusters will suddenly activate, pitching the ship into all sorts of...unique...positions. Fortunately, Anvil has promised us some software updates, and will be sending out people to secure those loose panels. However, it should be mentioned that there is one big disappointment among some of those that purchased the Carrack in anticipation of using it as a massive trader. Initially promised as being able to hold 1000 cargo, this number has been heavily revised downward. In fact, it will only hold 456 SCU of cargo. While this is still a very respectable number, traders will probably want to look at competitors in the cargo market like the Crusader C2, and the Drake Caterpillar for a medium capactiy atmosphere capable cargo ship.
That said, the bugs are relatively minor, and should be expected on such a massive ship that was just released to the public. On to our first flight.
The Carrack does not feel like a 125m long ship. It is fast and relatively agile. The massive engines will scoot you along at a very respectable 1235 m/s. That's about as fast as many fighters. However, it should be noted that this is a big ship, and those big engines are only on the back, so this ship does not change vectors easily or slow down fast unless you flip it and use those big main engines to bring your speed down. Those maneuvering thrusters do bring a certain lightness to the ship though, bringing the nose around to where you want to to point fairly easily. One is tempted to say that it may handle yaw, pitch, and roll better than a connie does...a ship half it's length and considerably lighter. However, this is one of the benefits of owning a military grade ship and one of the reasons it costs so much more.
The med bay is well equipped and you can set this as your ICU by interacting with the instrument panel on the wall just to the left of the MRI opening.
Combat wise, this ship can dish out the damage and also take it. It mounts 4 turrets, each with 2 Size 4 weapons. Now, the stock weapons are decent, but Attritions are also nice, especially with a 5 km range. The turret convergence is also nice, with the guns being able to converge on a point in the front of the ship, and most can converge in the back too. This means that overall firepower is sufficient for self defense. For ships that are tough enough to shrug off the damage the Carrack throws out, it's two large shields have enough capacity to absorb the damage it needs to until the quantum drive can spool up and get you out of there.
This unfortunately leads us to one of the biggest drawbacks of the stock Carrack...the enormous fuel consumption the stock Q-drive has. This ship just gobbles fuel. However, this gives the ship one of the fastest speeds in the verse today between planets.
Overall, this is a solid multi-crew ship, with good damage output, the ability to absorb damage, and fun for you and 5 others for combat situations (pilot, gunners, and pisces cargo) But, if you try and run this as a solo ship, it will most likely end in tears.
Fun with friends? 5/5
Solo 1/5
Top deck, 3rd floor has access to the side turrets